Resilience in teaching is about persistence—continuing to show up for, engage with, and support the students, even in the face of personal challenges and setbacks. Throughout this quarter, I have faced a range of difficulties, from unexpected health and family issues, to professional disappointments, including learning mid-school day that I didn’t get a job I was a finalist for. But, in that moment, I didn’t let my own disappointment shift my role in the classroom. I maintained the same energy and presence for the students after lunch that I brought to the students before my break. From mental health training, I’ve learned to “put feelings on the shelf”, as a way to save the processing for later, without “bottling up” or “sweeping things under the rug”. I have used this strategy multiple times in order to create a consistent instructional personality the students can rely on.
Another way I have boosted my resilience this term, is by keeping and displaying a collection of tokens I’ve received from students, cohort-mates, and family. These are small, meaningful things like notes, gifts, postcards, and little drawings. I keep them by my workspace at home, and just looking at them on some really personally difficult days reminds me that I have support in multiple directions. Sometimes resilience isn’t about grand gestures but is simply about staying, continuing, and showing up when you want to shout or cry about very real things going on in life. Moving forward to the next quarter, I’m going to be more aware of my supports and how to utilize them.
Below is a picture of the tokens I referenced.
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