Jogging Is Exhausting but So Is Looking at Art

As nosotros move into notwithstanding another schoolhouse year affected by the pandemic–that'southward three at present, if y'all're counting–so many teachers are completely exhausted. And how could yous be feeling any other style? In today's episode, Tim shares his thoughts on why that feeling never goes away, how we can attempt to navigate this school yr, and how we can help each other correct now. Full Episode Transcript Below.

Resources and Links

• Find The Art of SEL podcast that Tim mentioned
• Follow AOEU on Instagram
• Taking Stock of Where You lot Are

Transcript

Tim: Welcome to Art Ed Radio, the podcast for art teachers. This show is produced by The Art of Education Academy, and I'yard your host, Tim Bogatz. Before we go started today, I want to remind you about The Fine art of SEL podcast hosted by Jonathan Juravich from The Fine art of Education University Podcast Network. The Fine art of SEL is an viii-episode mini-serial that is all about social and emotional learning in the art room. In the episodes, Jonathan talks to educators and experts about how we tin can assist our students, and frankly help ourselves, empathise thoughts, feelings, emotions, and behaviors, and why that agreement is crucial right now. You can cheque out The Fine art of SEL on the AOEU website or wherever you get your podcasts.

At present, every bit nosotros starting time this episode today, the reason I wanted to remind yous of Jonathan's podcast is because I call back it's of import that nosotros accept stock of our feelings. I think as we get-go to go dorsum to school, equally we start to plan for this school year, I think a lot of people are in a bad place right now. We're wearied. We're completely exhausted, and the idea that I desire to get across today is that it's okay to be wearied. We are on our tertiary school year that has been affected by the pandemic, and it's actually hard to go back to school when COVID case counts are ascension like they are. And it's really hard for me, personally, to ship my own kid back to school who has non been vaccinated still, and whose schoolhouse is saying, "Masks are optional." It's hard. Information technology's exhausting. And it's actually difficult to function as best we can in a situation like that. How do we plan for all the contingencies for what nosotros might need to bargain with, professionally and personally? I'thousand making fill-in plans for my backup plans at this point.

And equally yous retrieve about the school twelvemonth, it'southward really tough to navigate that. What does it await like if you're going to exist gone long term? What does it look like if you're going to be gone two weeks? What if you're gone considering a close exposure happens and you can come dorsum with a negative exam? What does your classroom expect like in the interim? It'south tough to effigy all of those things out. And every time we do, it takes a piffling bit of your mental energy. It takes some of your physical free energy, and that stuff builds and builds and builds and information technology leaves the states feeling exhausted.

And nosotros had a little bit of a respite. Summertime was groovy. I felt, for me, the last couple of weeks of June and a lot of July, information technology felt really skilful. We didn't do as much equally a normal summer, only more we did last summer. Just somehow, even though it was express in what we could practise, it all the same felt similar likewise much. We're just not used to doing all of these things. And and then, I've been trying to work less. I've been trying to do less. I'thousand trying to let some things get, but I'm withal exhausted. And now that nosotros're starting to go dorsum to school, it's even worse. It's like starting school last year, remembering back to what nosotros did last year, but much, much worse in so many ways.

And and then, I spent some time thinking most that. Why does it experience so much worse? Now, I think information technology'southward because the pandemic is all the same going and in just so, so many ways, the pandemic is exhausting. In that location are all of the obvious means, just there are the little ways too. Just the low level anxiety that never quite subsides, and to say naught of the likewise frequent high level anxiety. I'm a patient person. I give people the benefit of the uncertainty. I give them grace. Just always having to worry can cause even the about patient person to run out of patience sometimes. Our personal store of empathy and kind of thoughts near other people, that can get depleted. And when that gets depleted, it's really tough to refill because I don't call up nosotros've had the time to properly recover from everything that we've been through.

Now, like I said, summer maybe looked a piddling fleck more than normal, just I think people were and then excited to get back to doing things, to become back to what felt like a normal life or close to a normal life. And because nosotros were so excited to do that, we didn't slow down. Nosotros couldn't take the time that nosotros needed to reverberate and to process everything that happened. We didn't take the time to heal. And even if nosotros have that time, or even if we accept the desire to do those things, how could we? We knew that the pandemic was still kind of hanging over our heads and we knew that, in the back of our minds, we weren't ready for a normal schoolhouse year in the fall. And and then, nosotros're at that point now and nosotros're having to go back to school. Nosotros're having to try and balance all of these things. And nosotros're having to take care of ourselves and our families and our jobs, and there's so little support for any of it.

Call up near from the outside world. How much is your admin supporting y'all right now? How much is the community supporting you right now? You tin find places that are supporting you and those are wonderful things. Those are wonderful people. Only we don't have the support we demand to exercise our jobs fully. If y'all exercise, that is spectacular, but that is not the reality for so many people. And without that back up, we're heading back to school and nosotros're just supposed to do it all over again, I judge. We're just supposed to do all of these same things once more that nosotros had to go through last twelvemonth, and merely that knowledge creates this mental burden, I guess. And that burden that we have on us is but immense.

I accept all of these feelings of resentment, or maybe bitterness is a better word, that we could exist done with this pandemic. We could take rebounded. We could have even been back amend than before. But somehow, we find ourselves in a spot where we're just running it all dorsum over again. And somehow, even though we've been through it and we should've learned our lessons, everything is somehow worse. All of those feelings just boil upward and I've tried to identify them, tried to proper name them, and information technology'due south not fear really. It's not dread. We've done this before and we can do it once more. And I'thou non scared necessarily. Maybe some unease, similar I said, sending my kid back to school without masks and without being vaccinated. That's difficult to exercise.

And I call up as we're there in the classrooms ourselves, I think merely the uncertainty of not knowing what this volition look similar for united states of america or for our families or for our students or for anyone. And I think all of that adds upwards to a feeling… The feeling I have more than anything else is fatigue. I'm tired of doing this. I'k tired of all of this. It is exhausting.

At present, I saw a author say that this pandemic has been 18 months of slow motion trauma. And if we accept that argument, which I practise, we know that information technology'southward nearly impossible to come back from that chop-chop. And there were some people that were able to use that 18 months to residual and to reflect, to savor themselves, to improve themselves, and good for them. I'm very, very happy for them. But for people with children and people who were pedagogy and so many others, that was non an opportunity that we could even contemplate. Nosotros had to bear the brunt of helping ourselves and helping others survive through this, and we're going to take to practice it again.

Now, I don't want to sound like I'm dreading this because the school yr is not something that you should dread. Nosotros have opportunities. Nosotros've learned lessons. We tin can exercise wonderful things with our students. And I know that we will because, every bit art teachers, we always are able to do wonderful things just it's going to be hard. And I call back just having, like I said, the mental burden of knowing we have to go through this state of affairs one more time, it causes us to wake upwards tired every morning. And I think along with all of the difficulties that we're facing with instance counts rising, with all of the doubtfulness, nosotros're nonetheless having to teach in an incredibly difficult state of affairs. And I think maybe that'due south why our task or our school year that nosotros're facing seems more difficult than it did earlier, and that's why we are nevertheless wearied.

Now what? I capeesh y'all letting me turn this into a therapy session and but tell you everything that I'chiliad feeling, only I call back it's of import to share how we're feeling. I think it's of import to share our stressors and our thoughts and our feelings, because nosotros're going to need to back up each other. We need to know that we're not going through this lonely. And the more we tin can talk about information technology, the more we can aid each other, the easier it's going to be to go everyone through this. And and then, like I said, now what? I wish I knew. There are lessons that anybody has taken from the past yr, from the past twelvemonth and a half, that tin can be helpful. I encourage everybody to share those on social media, whoever you're collaborating with, wherever you lot're talking to other art teachers, help each other get through.

And I think in that location are some things that we can do for ourselves also. A couple of things that have helped me. Number one, thinking about the question, like, "What does rest, bodily remainder, look like for y'all? And how tin you get that?" It's always tough. We ever call up a short break can do this for me, and it can. Breaks tin can do wonders. Merely what does actual rest look like for you lot? I retrieve it's worthwhile to think about, to retrieve about what you need and, if possible, actually take some fourth dimension to residual. Now, that's going to aid you mentally. Information technology's going to help you physically and, in the long term, it's going to help your teaching.

Another thing that really helped is just thinking virtually how things are done at dwelling house. Responsibilities may demand to shift with your family unit. You may need to remember about different ways to exercise things, easier ways to exercise things, and realize that not everything needs to be perfect. Not everything can be perfect. Your job right now is to take care of yourself and to take care of your family, and that might involve shifting around somehow some things are done or accepting that some things are going to exist done differently. Only I recall it's worth taking inventory of how things are done at domicile and seeing if anything tin can change to make information technology a little easier on you lot, a little less exhausting on you lot.

And I call back, professionally, can yous stride away from some things at school? There might be a club that y'all love, but information technology isn't worth information technology right at present. Information technology might be a steering committee that you really wanted to exist on but, in the long run, is it really that big of a deal to yous? I call up, once again, just taking stock of everything that you're doing at school. Let's be honest, nosotros're all doing too much schoolhouse. And if you lot can observe a thing or two to step away from, that tin be helpful equally well, and those are merely piddling places to start. Like I said, we're not going to solve this correct away, just just taking little steps can be incredibly helpful.

And so, too, I wanted to share some advice from Sarah Krajewski. I know anybody knows Sarah. She was on the podcast terminal week. She hosts Instagram Live. And on this podcast, she and I take talked multiple times about mental wellness. And I asked her if she had any advice that she wanted to share for people, and she said three things. Number 1, y'all do you. Attempt not to compare yourself to others. Every art instructor and every person has their ain highs and lows that they're managing, and it's important to recall the things that we can't run across. Later on all, this isn't a game where you're trying to win, and I think that'southward very apt when yous're spending time on social media.

Call back that everything on social media is not every bit perfect as information technology looks. And again, if you tin can take some ideas, if you tin can share some ideas, then social media can be incredibly helpful. Just one of the worst things y'all tin can do is get on social media and spend all of your fourth dimension comparing yourself to others, considering that is non going to help you in any way, shape or form. Simply pay attention to yourself. Y'all do you.

Number two from Sarah is to sit still. And these are, again, simply modest things that I recollect can be helpful. She said, "Maybe it's just laying apartment on the floor for 2 minutes when you get domicile or staring into the center distance for a minute during lunch. Whatsoever it may exist, give yourself a moment to remainder and zone out then you tin give your full energy to your students." Again, those pocket-sized things, taking small breaks in the middle of the day and being able to conserve energy where you tin can is going to exist incredibly helpful as you lot're trying to get through your day.

And then, number iii from Sarah was to wear your kindness glasses. She said, "Aim to do everything by looking through the lens of kindness. Everyone is struggling and trying their all-time. Being kind can exist the all-time mode to support yourself and others."

At present, every bit I talked about earlier, your stories of kindness, your stories of empathy can run dry. We've needed those a lot in the past year and a half, and it tin be exhausting, merely it can exist helpful to you and it can be helpful to everyone. If you just look at everything through the lens of kindness.

At present, are my ideas and are Sarah's ideas going to solve all of your problems? No. No. They're non, not even shut. But doing those pocket-sized things can help. Information technology'due south going to accept a lot for us to practise this all again, to run it all back, in what might even exist a worse state of affairs. But we can do it. And, as I said, I encourage everyone to share ideas for what's helping y'all. Share ideas for what's getting through. And if we tin make connections, if nosotros can aid each other, it'south going to be a lot smoother ride for all of us as we endeavour and navigate this school year.

And so, I would say, just to wrap things up, like I said, it's okay if you're notwithstanding exhausted. We all are. Only if we do things right, nosotros can help each other make our manner through this year.

Art Ed Radio is produced past The Fine art of Didactics Academy with audio engineering by Michael Crocker. Thank y'all all for listening and nosotros will be dorsum next week.

Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional person didactics contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education Academy (AOEU) or its bookish offerings. Contributors use terms in the style they are almost ofttimes talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.

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Source: https://theartofeducation.edu/podcasts/its-okay-if-youre-still-exhausted-ep-281/

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