I have a confession to make...
I am... an overachiever.
This is not much of a confession to those readers who are well-acquainted with my push-myself-and-sometimes-everyone-around-me-a-little-farther ways. To those who don't... well, now you know.
They say that admitting you have a problem is the first step to getting help.
When I was in high school my mom would say, Jen, stop pushing yourself so hard! Slow down and enjoy life! What kind of mother actually tells her daughter to stop studying so much?
A tuned-in mother who knows just what her daughter needs.
I often tell this story to my students who give the tell-tale warning signs of budding overachievers. I don't want to hold them back, I just want them to have a life. Balance is so important!
Saying those words is incredibly easy; practicing what I preach... not so much. This past week I have done the following:
1. Run seven miles in preparation of a half-marathon I'm running in January. (Already looking ahead to Saturday morning's eight-miler)
2. Presented to the freshmen parents at My Small Town High School at an event that I organized, creating a 13+ hour workday on Monday
3. Driven to Dr. Phillips on a weeknight to use my expiring-next-day Groupon for a deliciously amazing Greek restaurant, which I will be returning to, Groupon or not!
4. Created a two-hour presentation for My School District School Counselors, which I am giving tomorrow.
There's more (much more...) but these are the four biggies. The last action item is the reason I have a mild case of hives on my legs and chest. A month ago when I gave my cute little presentation on the many ways counselors can use technology to improve the efficiency of their comprehensive guidance program and I was all full of endorphins from the feeling that giving a good presentation can provide, of course I offered to do more! Two hours teaching counselors how to use Excel and Mail Merge? No problem! I am Jen Single! I can do anything!!!
Do I know the first thing about teaching other people how to use technology? Ummmm... NO.
That said, today my department chair asked us to look at third-year students behind in credits who would benefit from a period in our credit recovery lab. My "roommate" (the counselor I share a portable with while our building is under renovations) told me she wanted to run a report that would give her those students. Judy is a very neat person and we actually tremendously enjoy sharing a space and are not looking forward (at all) to being separated in January when our building is complete. I love her very much and feel fortunate that we've had these few months together. It's kind of like having an internship all over again. I've learned a lot from listening to her counsel students.
I digress.
Judy is retiring this year and very technologically challenged. (I am not calling her out... she would tell you this herself.) This was a perfect opportunity-- I gave her the instruction sheet that I had typed up to give My School District School Counselors at the training, and... it worked! She exported to Excel, she undid formatting, she deleted unnecessary rows, she sorted. Mostly on her own. (Her minor hiccups helped me to make clarifications on the handout.)
Success!
The stress, the tears, the hives... it's all worth it because I helped my friend, who could not have exported, formatted, or sorted without my little instruction sheet. And I know that tomorrow I'll be helping other counselors too, and in turn helping their students.
While the overachiever in me really does a lot of good at My Small Town High School and My Ever-Growing School District... please... next time you are around and I'm about to bite off more than I can chew without stress, hives, and tears... please stop me. Balance is so important.
I so agree - it's sometimes hard to say "no." And when you you're a perfectionist on top of it, all the more stress added. A National Teacher of the Year said that it was important to have a life outside of school to help maintain that balance so one could better serve their students. I learned another lesson early in my career when I decided to teach summer school. It was fine at the time, but by the following Spring, I was tired and burnt out. Teachers need time away from students to rejuvenate and remain innovative and forward thinking. If all you do is school work all the time, the quality you have to offer will begin to diminish. I have never taught another summer school class in the close to 40 years I've been in education. I may use the summer for professional development and to get together with other top professionals in my field, but I need time away from the classroom setting.
ReplyDelete-Barb
Thank-you for your thoughtful comment, Barb. Today was actually a really good day. I went very, very slow and I hope that my fellow counselors use what I taught them at least once this year. And if not, I learned that I can do something that is completely and totally outside of what I thought was my skill-set. :-)
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