Ep. 15 Turning to Teachers

This is Lacey Jones. And this is episode 15 Turning to Teachers. We're going to shake things up a bit this week, and this episode might be a little shorter than normal because I need your help, and I'm going to go into that at the end of this episode. But I'm going to need a little bit of your energy towards the end, so I'm going to take less time from you today. So over the past couple of months, I've had this kind of personal call to support our teachers. And one of the ways that I've answered that personal call was during back to school night by signing up to be an art docent at our elementary school.

And it's something that I have done in the past and I've loved. But as my schedule and career changed, there were kind of a couple of years there where I chose to sit out as that art docent and then we had the pandemic and as you know, that changed things a little bit. And then there were some restrictions on volunteers in the school and, well, to be honest, I just needed the time and distance to kind of regroup for myself. And as you know, my career and schedule have now changed again. And this past year, I decided that I needed to get back into the classroom with my kids to be that art docent because I really do love it.

I love art, I love teaching art, and my kids love when I come to their classrooms and meet their teacher, which I already know their teachers, but I get to meet their friends, too, and see everything that's going on within that little realm for them. And so I recently helped with an art lesson at the school and there happened to be a sub that day.

And I saw firsthand how desperately we need quality subs for our teachers and our kids. And I am not going to lie, I experienced a lot of frustration and judgment as I allowed myself to kind of indulge in certain thoughts about our current education system and the individuals stepping up to sub. And it wasn't pretty, but I allowed myself to be frustrated, right. I think that was important work for me personally because I didn't just want to run to the next pretty thought and say, no, it's okay, it's going to be okay, and all that jazz, right? No, I needed to sit in the frustration to kind of ponder on how I might offer a solution because that's really where I wanted to get myself.

So I challenged myself after my little tantrum there, to be part of the solution rather than adding to the negative narrative that already exists among so many about teaching and especially substitute teachers. So over the past month or so, I've been working with our district to become a sub, to do that paperwork, to do everything behind the scenes so that I can go into our schools a couple of days or a week and each month to step in and help be a substitute teacher that I wanted to see in our schools. Right. So if you had told me eight years ago or even two months ago that I would even consider subbing in our schools, I would have thought you were crazy and I would have told you so.

But life is about growth and change and pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones in order to live a more intentional and beautiful life. So here I am, getting ready to start my first days as a substitute or as our district says, a guest teacher. And I'm going to be intentionally scheduling my subbing days around my clinical coaching days while also continuing to build the systems and the process and the business aspects of that coaching practice.

So it's going to be a pretty fun and full ride and I'm really looking forward to it. But with all of this, my thoughts have turned how we as mothers and parents can better support our teachers and vice versa. So post pandemic, it's become abundantly clear that the education system is in dire need of attention and help. Teachers are experiencing higher rates of burnout and this silent quitting as they question this career that they once loved.

So we're seeing that higher rate of requested sick leave and a greater demand for mental and emotional support for our teachers. And rightfully so. When teachers are unavailable, we have to turn to substitutes and guess teachers for help. And the pool of individuals lining up to help in this form is shallow and oftentimes nonexistent or they're underqualified. So teachers are even being asked to cover for the lack of subs, which further strains their own mental and emotional resources.

And this leaves our children the future of our society, I might add, more vulnerable than they have ever been. So I fear that if we don't step up to help and support our teachers, we are going to continue to see a decline in the quality of life for our whole society, right? This isn't just a concern for our teachers. This is a concern for teachers and children and the future of our society. So we need to step up. And with all that being said, I do believe there is some good news, right? I no longer believe that we need to wait around for the higher ups or admin or even politicians and the powers that be to create the change that we so drastically need.

I believe that we can create this change from within. I believe that we as mothers and parents can seek to offer the relief, the support and the help that our teachers need. We each have individual strengths that, when shared, can elevate others. Now, I'm not asking that all mothers and parents sign up to become substitute teachers in their school districts.

That would not be wise. But I am asking mothers and parents to ask themselves, how can I help? So, dear listener of mine, how can you help your school district? Do you have time, energy, resources or talents to share? I would wager that you do. Can you offer to help grade papers for your child's teacher so that they can spend more time with their own children on the weekend? Can you send in fresh boxes of the good tissues so that that one expense doesn't come out of the teacher's personal budget? Can you send an uplifting email to your child's teacher thanking them for a seemingly small act that positively impacted your child? Can you show up for parent teacher conferences with a lens of curiosity and honest gratitude for the work the teacher is doing? And when you see a shortcoming or a concern, can you express your thoughts in a way that is respectful and helpful, rather than accusational, demeaning and blaming? When posting and commenting on social media, can you share facts, solutions and encouragement rather than hearsay generalizations and the negativity of mob mentality as you hide behind your screen? There are many ways that we can help to elevate individual teachers. An elevated and supported teacher will become a stronger and more confident advocate for change within the educational system.

When we seek to elevate the individual, we elevate society. It is for this reason that I have created a very quick questionnaire for mothers, parents and teachers asking for small ways in which we can help each other. Now, I popped that link to the questionnaire in the show notes, so if you scroll down on that, you should see it. And I've asked for specific ideas as well as provided a space for additional comments. And I want you to share your opinions, your perspectives, your ideas. Doesn't have to be all sunshine and rainbows, right? I want the real concerns, the real ideas, right? And if you know a teacher who has created change within the community, or a mother or a parent who's answered that call for help, please share this questionnaire with them. I want to hear how and why they stepped in to help. So with that feedback that I receive, I am going to be creating content for mothers and parents and teachers, sharing all these different ways that we can each step up to help. Because remember, we are in this together, and together we can create the change we need. Thanks, friends. I'll see you next week.