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Is Teaching Still Worth It?🏫💔✨ · ✨️Aligned and Thriving: For Teachers🌿

• 0:05
  Hello friends and welcome back to another episode of Aligned
• 0:09
  and Thriving for Teachers. Now I'm so excited mainly
• 0:14
  because I'm actually home. It's calm, it's quiet, I have a
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  hot coffee. So like my self care cup right
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  now is very full. So this is awesome.
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  So the vibes are high and today's topic, look, it's been
• 0:31
  on my heart a while. And it is a really, I don't know
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  whether to say important or just a really obvious thing to talk
• 0:41
  about at the moment with what's going on or what has been going
• 0:44
  on across the nation and things like that.
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  So is teaching still actually worth it?
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  Now, I'll be honest, I do think about this a lot.
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  We hear all the stories about burnout, working long hours and
• 1:01
  the pay that doesn't always keep up with the cost of living.
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  But I also know that every fortnight my salary lands in my
• 1:09
  account. It's consistent and it is
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  something that I am truly grateful for.
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  In a world where so much feels uncertain, that stability really
• 1:19
  matters. And, and that's something to me
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  that counts. What we need to try and think
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  about is, is what the value is for us.
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  Because remember, we're not our job.
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  This is this is all a part of it though.
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  We need to find gratitude in the reality.
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  Do I work hard for that money? Absolutely.
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  Teaching is not just about being in front of a class.
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  It is the planning, the reporting, the meetings.
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  It's all the extras that spill out into our evenings and on our
• 1:50
  weekends and even in our holidays.
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  And yes, sometimes it really hits hard or it stings us when
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  we have to strike to have our voices heard.
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  Or when people outside of the profession say things like, oh,
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  I don't envy your job. I'd never want to do what you
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  do. I don't have as much patience
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  with you. How do you put up with those
• 2:11
  kids? All the time.
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  But I have learned over the years to just pause and ask
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  myself, what in my day can I be grateful for?
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  Who's that student that made me really smile today?
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  What moment made me remember why I chose this job, why I chose
• 2:30
  this path? And remembering my why?
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  Because even on the hardest days, there is always something.
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  There is that balance and we have to find it between
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  challenge and reward. And I'm not in this for the pay.
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  And if I were, I might have chosen my job differently and I
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  probably would have stuck to the human resource side of things
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  and and gone down that path. But I am in this for these
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  moments. It's the spark in a child's eye
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  when they actually get it, when they've grasped that concept
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  that you've literally been banging on about and they
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  finally got it and you're like, yes, I did my job.
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  You're so excited. Like that's a little happy
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  dance. It's everything.
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  It's it's those thank you notes that we find tucked in a drawer
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  that we may have had stowed away from years ago.
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  I have those. I have a handwritten thank you
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  note from a couple of students that I taught over the years.
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  It just brings that that little spark of joy back.
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  It's the laughter that you have in the staff room that you're
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  sharing after you've had the world's craziest day and you
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  just can't believe what happened and you just all laugh about it.
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  And tomorrow's a new day. I live for those moments.
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  And yet, I'll say it, I still love my holidays.
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  I love that they're a chance to breathe, reconnect and fill my
• 3:51
  own cup so that I can keep giving to my community, like my
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  school community, and to my own kids.
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  And I love that time with them and I love that I have the same
• 4:00
  time off as them so I don't have to be farming them off
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  everywhere. Although the flip side of that
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  is I do end up with a lot of kids, but that is OK because I
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  have that opportunity to do that.
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  So looking at the bigger picture, you've got to think
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  about that too. I think about that and teacher
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  salaries in Australia, they average around 74,000, like base
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  grade I'm talking. And while that's steady, our
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  wages, they really haven't kept up with the cost of living.
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  I know that, you know that. That's why these things are sort
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  of happening. Many of us are picking up side
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  hustles just to make life work, whether it's paying for kids
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  sports or contributing to the increasing grocery bill.
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  Like, I don't know about you, but I didn't realise how much
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  food kids actually eat. Like they're, I don't know, my
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  kids are growing and they just seem to eat more.
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  And I know that there's people on here that have teenagers and
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  I know it's going to get worse, but like really the, the cost of
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  groceries right now, like we shop once a fortnight and top up
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  weekly and all those things. But it's just ridiculous.
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  And trying to cut back when they still need the fruit, the veg,
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  all of the things. There's you've got to do other
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  stuff sometimes just to get by really.
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  And to pay for the endless amount of kids sport that we now
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  pay for. And the glorified Uber driver
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  that I have become of taking said children to said sport.
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  And I love them for it. And I love that they're doing
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  something that they're enjoying, but it doesn't get any cheaper.
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  The prices are not going down. Everything is just going up.
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  And we are expected to keep up with that.
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  But in order for that to happen, like the wage needs to come too.
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  And I know I'm I'm preaching to the already converted and I know
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  you know this, but it is the honest truth.
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  Like, I just don't understand why it can't happen.
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  Well, maybe I do. I do understand why it can't
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  happen instantly, but we really do need to be matching that.
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  Like I know that there are people that I watch on TV that
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  are doing maybe sport activities that are getting paid a lot
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  more. I know that there are people
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  working in other roles, other jobs and other positions that
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  are getting paid a lot more than what we are getting paid.
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  Like where is the value in that when we have a nation wide
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  teacher shortage, We are stretched thinner than ever and
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  yet we're still here. We are still showing up because
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  we care. And I know I said I don't do
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  this for the money. We don't.
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  But wouldn't it be nice if we were rewarded a little bit more
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  to keep showing up and teaching the next generation?
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  Because honestly, that's what we are doing.
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  We are shaping the next leaders of our nation.
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  We are shaping the next lot of people that are going out into
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  society. We are part of that.
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  And I know how much I love AI and all the wonderful things
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  that it can do, but it is not a human being.
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  It cannot think and feel like a human being can.
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  It can mimic that, but it cannot actually feel.
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  And it will just tell you what you need to know.
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  If you are guiding it in the right way, like say you're
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  Googling something like what's the benefit of reciprocal
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  reading or just what came out? It will give you the benefits of
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  that. If you turn around and say what
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  are the negatives? It will give you the negatives
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  because that's what you're telling it to do.
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  Whereas if you talk to me about that, I'd probably give you both
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  and give you a well rounded up. It's only gonna give you what
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  you're actually asking it or telling it to do.
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  Whereas we as human beings have those thoughts, those feelings,
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  those emotions, and we are physically there to console and
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  do those things. But Can you imagine AI coming
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  into a classroom and that's how the kids are getting taught?
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  What happens to the kid that actually hurts themselves?
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  How do they comfort that child? They are not going to be there
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  to do that. And look, we've lived through
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  COVID. We educated children through
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  use, the use of technology. And I'm sorry, but if you were
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  in one of those classrooms, it did not work.
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  The explicit teaching side of things did not work.
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  They still needed pure human support.
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  The work didn't get done or it did get done, didn't get done
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  properly. There's all these things that
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  happened. So we are not replaceable.
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  So we need to be basically compensated for the fact that we
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  are still required. We are still part of that
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  frontline resource, and I know that everyone has different
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  opinions about that, and I know that they like to say things and
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  comment on Facebook posts and whatever about our jobs and what
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  we do. But those are people who do not
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  work in our occupation or in our field or don't have anything to
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  do with it. They're not married to a
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  teacher, they're not friends with a teacher.
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  They just don't understand what actually goes on.
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  We are getting threatened physically, mentally, we get
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  abused. We cop it from every angle.
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  We just don't tell the whole world about it because we care
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  about the children and we want what's best for them.
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  So we put up with some of that stuff because we are there for
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  the children and that's all we want.
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  We want them to succeed. So we deal with those things so
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  that your child can succeed. That's what we want.
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  That's what we're here for. So I don't know, maybe that's
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  the key. Maybe we need to start
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  acknowledging that there are cracks in the system, but start
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  finding the good and advocating for the good and how important
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  we actually are. I tend to ask myself sometimes
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  when it's hard, like how can I stay grounded in gratitude even
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  when those numbers don't seem to add up?
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  Well, that's because I turn up every day and I find the good in
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  every day. I'm, I'm doing what I can do to
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  support what needs to be done and the conversations that need
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  to happen. But I am still turning up every
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  day and I'm finding those little moments to be grateful for every
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  single day. Because when you're in doubt,
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  you need to choose to see peace. You need to make a choice when
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  things aren't going your way or when things are getting hard.
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  We, we choose to see peace. We make our own choices and we
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  think about our own thoughts and we control them because that's
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  within our sphere of control, really.
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  So we're looking to still find the good we need to celebrate
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  the wins we do have. I don't want this to be all
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  negative and all horrid. I want us to celebrate the fact
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  that we still get to stand in front of a classroom and that we
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  are important to every kid in that room and we are there to
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  support them. So celebrate the wins we do
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  have. What if we let the joy of a
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  student's success outweigh the frustration of the endless
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  paperwork we have to do? That's what we have to think
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  about. We have to outweigh the
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  negatives with so many positives.
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  And that's why we turn up every day.
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  And what if we remembered, and this is important, what if we
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  remembered that the holidays are not just time off.
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  They are a built in reminder for us to pause, rest and reflect.
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  And that's making sure that when someone comes to you with a
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  comment of you get so many holidays.
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  Well, yeah, we do because we have earned them.
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  It is our chance to pause, rest and reflect and prepare
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  ourselves or another term, or for another year.
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  They are there for a reason, that's what we do.
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  So for me, is teaching still worth it?
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  Heck yes it is, but not because it's easy or perfect.
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  It is worth it because even on our hardest days and in the
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  times that are hard and rough like they are at the moment, we
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  can still find something to be grateful for.
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  I still find something to be grateful for in every single day
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  because that keeps my mindset in the positive.
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  I know I mentioned lots of things that are negative because
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  I wanted to name them up with you all so that you are aware
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  that yeah, I know what's going on, but I'm choosing to be
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  grateful for what we do have. And I want to leave you with
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  this. What were three things that you
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  were grateful for today? And if you are getting to a
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  point where you're going to have a term break or you're looking
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  forward to one, what are you excited about?
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  What is something you are going to do to rest, pause and reset?
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  Ready. Because no matter what is
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  happening in our system, gratitude is going to keep us
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  going. So until next time, I hope that
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  you are doing the best that you can to find a little bit of joy
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  in every single day and look for those moments that literally
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  make it all worthwhile. Because again, going back to
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  your why, that's what you're there for.
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  That's what I'm there for. It is my why.
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  So yes, we acknowledge all the stuff that's going on in our
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  nation and things that are happening and yeah, it is
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  probably called for, but we are going to keep looking for the
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  joy and those special little moments to keep us thriving and
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  doing our absolute best. SO until next time, keep being
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  aligned, keep thriving, and keep finding those moments to be
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  absolutely over the moon thankful for in your each and
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  every day. I'll talk to you next time.
• 14:04
  Bye, guys.