🌿 Your Tuesday Email: Renew Your Rest

Hello Reader!

You don't need to finish big. You need to finish whole.

As April closes, we want to offer you something that isn't a checklist.

It's a permission slip.

You don't have to finish this school year with a breakthrough. You don't need a highlight reel moment. You don't need to tie everything up neatly.

You need to finish whole: present, connected, and still grounded in your values.

That is enough. That is, in fact, extraordinary.

What "Finishing Whole" Looks Like

Finishing whole doesn't mean finishing perfect. It means:

• Your students and teachers know you saw them this year, not just their performance
• Your colleagues know they could count on you, without you destroying yourself to prove it
• You know what you'd do differently, but and you're not punishing yourself for it

That kind of finish doesn't come from a final sprint. It comes from the quiet, consistent work you've done all year; including the messy, imperfect, uncertain parts.

What Renewal Made Possible

If you've been reading along this month, you've been asked to:

• Reconnect with your purpose
• Return to your most important relationships
• Reconsider the environment you're leading in

None of that was about adding more work. All of it was about ensuring the work you're already doing has meaning behind it, and that you are present enough to feel it.

That's renewal, it's not a bonus. It's what makes the difference between an educator who finishes May depleted, and one who finishes with enough left to begin again.

Podcast:

• This week: Episode 105 - Grammar That Sticks with author, Patty McGee. Grammar doesn’t fail because kids “just don’t get it.” It fails when we teach it like a scavenger hunt of labels and then hope it magically shows up in student writing the next day. We sit down with national literacy consultant and author Patty McGee (Not Your Granny’s Grammar) to make grammar simple, usable, and surprisingly engaging by putting the sentence back at the center of instruction. Watch the video here.
• Next week: The TPO Meeting Fix with returning guest, Chris Fenning
• Last week: Clarity-Driven School Leadership with Casey Watts

Listen to the pod on all the platforms like Apple, Spotify, iHeart Radio and YouTube. Now you can follow us on Instagram.

Resources:

• 📘 Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less — Amazon​
• 📝 Greater Good Science Center: "Four Ways to Rest Better During Stressful Periods"​
• 📘 Saundra Yancy McGuire, Teach Yourself How to Learn — Amazon (on cognitive restoration and sustainable performance)

Looking Toward May and June

As you move into the final weeks of the school year, ask:

• What do I want my students to remember about this year?
• What do I want to remember?
• What would I carry forward and what am I finally ready to put down?

Those questions matter more than any benchmark.

Yours,

​​​​​

P.S. Forward this email to colleagues who you think would enjoy the connection and resources.