CONFESSION: This past school year in November, I was burned out. I felt desperate, overwhelmed, ineffective, and ill-equipped to be an administrator. I still came to school, put on my game face, and did all I could to pour positivity in the lives of my teachers and students, but more and more, the thought of giving up was crossing my mind, and I started planning an exit strategy.
Then I received a flier in the mail about a one-day conference for administrators that was coming to Nashville ---"What Great Principals Do Differently" with Todd Whitaker. It was a lifeline, and I grabbed it. I had been a principal for three years, but this was the first conference I had attended specifically for principals. Going to that conference was my first step back from burnout because:
- It provided validation. I learned that while I had made many mistakes in my first three years, my overall instincts and core values were sound. I just needed to work on execution.
- It provided connection. I sat in a room full of principals and learned that I was part of a network. I was introduced to Twitter and the PLN that was waiting for me there. I realized that being an administrator is, at times, a lonely profession, but in reality I am never alone. There are others traveling before, beside, and behind me if I will reach out to them.
- It provided solutions. I learned not only about problems, but concrete ways to confront them. I purchased Shifting the Monkey and read it immediately. A few weeks later, I set up my Twitter account and became acquainted with innovative, positive educators from around the world.
By the end of February, I had gone from asking "How can I leave" to "What do I need to do to stay?". Now in July, as I am attending the NAESP conference, I am asking "How can I ever give this up?". I don't think I would have made it without embracing a lifestyle of professional development and vulnerable, authentic connection with other educators. It's so easy to occupy ourselves with the busyness of the job---that day to day firefighting. It's convenient to live in the bubble of our own situations, but I encourage you to make the extra effort to stretch out ---whether it's attending a conference (or unconference), reflecting and sharing through a blog, lurking or conversing in a Twitter chat, you (and I) need one another to kindle the fire within. Make time for your own professional growth and grow in connection with others. Don't let yourself burn out when all you need for fuel is within your reach.
