🌿 Your Tuesday Email: Return Ready, Not Rushed

Hello Reader!

The urgency you feel right now is not the same as what the start of your year actually needs.

August arrives and the calendar suddenly fills up.

Back-to-school emails. Supply lists. Professional development days. New initiatives from the district. Hallway conversations about what's changing. The long to-do list that somehow waited until now to feel urgent.

And underneath all of it, a familiar pressure: I need to be ready. I need to be ready. I need to be ready.

But ready for what, exactly?

The Problem With August Urgency

August urgency is real, and - it's often misdirected! The nervous energy of a new school year tends to express itself as activity. Buying things, reorganizing things, planning things. Much of which doesn't actually affect whether the start of your new year goes well.

What does affect the start of year is far simpler and far less dramatic:

Knowing your one or two most important priorities for the first weeks
Having relationships in place with the colleagues you'll need most
Starting the year with enough clarity to make decisions from intention rather than reaction

None of that requires a perfectly organized classroom. None of it requires completing a 40-item checklist before the first day. It requires presence, direction, and enough energy in reserve to stay flexible when, not if, the unexpected happens.

Returning Rested Is a Professional Decision

If you used your summer to genuinely rest, you may notice that you're coming into August with more capacity than you expected. That capacity is precious! Don't spend it all before school starts!

The educators who struggle by October are often the ones who gave everything too early! Pace yourself!

You are allowed to prepare adequately. You are not required to prepare heroically.

A Return That Serves You

This week, before the noise fully sets in, take ten minutes to name:

Your one clear intention for this school year: the direction you found in July
Your most important relationship to invest in before students arrive: a colleague, a mentor, a team
One boundary you're starting the year with: something you're protecting before you're asked to negotiate it

That's your foundation. Everything else is built on top of it.

Podcast:

This week: Summer Series Ep 4 - Sarah asks another question - Do you have advice for supporting teachers who are struggling with planning?
Next week: Summer Series Ep 5 - MTSS
Last week: Summer Series Ep 3 - Sarah, a literacy coach asked: How can teachers be more efficient?

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

Resources: