Still Figuring It Out – The Work No One Sees

A few days ago, I shared a simple question in a reel:

“What’s the first thing educators lose?”

More than 1,700 people stopped scrolling long enough to listen.

I don’t think they stopped because the hook was catchy.

I think they stopped because they recognized themselves.

Because if you’ve spent any time in education, you know this truth:

The first thing we lose isn’t summer.

It’s ourselves.

Not all at once.

Little by little.

We lose ourselves in the extra hour that turns into three.

The lunch we skip because a student needs us.

The papers we bring home “just this once.”

The habit of saying yes before we stop to ask what it will cost.

The belief that being a great educator means always putting ourselves last.

None of it happens overnight.

It happens one small choice at a time.

I know because I’ve lived it.

For 17 years as a math teacher, I was trained to write lesson plans, analyze data, manage a classroom, and improve instruction.

No one ever sat me down and said:

“Janice, you are the most important variable in that classroom. How are you showing up?”

No one taught me how to protect my energy.

How to recover before I was exhausted.

How to lead myself so I could continue leading others.

So I did what so many educators do.

I poured.

And poured.

And poured.

Until one day I realized I wasn’t just tired.

I was losing pieces of myself.

The irony is that we don’t lose ourselves because we stop caring.

We lose ourselves because we care so deeply that we forget to care for ourselves.

That’s why the work I do today matters so much to me.

Not because educators need another strategy.

Not because they need another initiative.

But because they deserve someone to remind them that they matter too.

As a new school year begins, we’ll spend hours preparing our classrooms.

We’ll organize supplies.

Build lesson plans.

Arrange desks.

Create welcoming spaces for students.

But before we ask how we’re preparing our classrooms…

What if we asked:

How are we preparing ourselves?

Because the educator standing at the front of the room is still the most important variable.

Not because you’re perfect.

But because your presence, your energy, your joy, and your well-being shape every interaction that follows.

This year, don’t just prepare your classroom.

Prepare your heart.

Protect your light.

The people you serve deserve the best of you.

And so do you.

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✨ Sending Light

If you’ve been feeling like you’ve lost a little of yourself along the way, let this be your reminder:

You are still in there.

Maybe this is the year you stop trying to find yourself in the work…

…and start bringing your whole self back to it.

Until next time, keep awakening, keep rising, and keep shining.

— Janice