Latest / ✨️Aligned and Thriving: For Teachers🌿 / 💆🏼‍♀️Self-Care Series: You are more than your job title 👩🏼‍🏫

Transcript

💆🏼‍♀️Self-Care Series: You are more than your job title 👩🏼‍🏫 · ✨️Aligned and Thriving: For Teachers🌿

• 0:05
  Hi Legends, welcome back to another episode aligned and
• 0:09
  thriving for teachers. Now this episode, it's the one
• 0:13
  you've probably been nodding to again, and you will be the
• 0:16
  entire time because I'm about to say things that you already know
• 0:21
  deep down, but you maybe haven't fully let yourself feel them.
• 0:26
  So it might be just enough for you to start really living this
• 0:31
  truth. Or someone out there, maybe
• 0:33
  someone who really needs to hear this, will feel seen too.
• 0:37
  So let's get on with it. The truth we avoid our job isn't
• 0:43
  our identity. We wear so many hats.
• 0:49
  Teacher, support officer, aid educator, team leader.
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  But before all that, do you know what you are?
• 0:55
  You're a human. Congratulations.
• 0:59
  You might be a mum, a dad, a nan, a partner, a pet parent, a
• 1:02
  friend, a sister, a sibling, someone's ride or die, someone's
• 1:06
  safe space, someone's reason to smile.
• 1:10
  You're someone's reason to smile.
• 1:13
  Today you think back to those kids in your classroom.
• 1:17
  You'll remember. I want you to remember that too.
• 1:20
  People rely on you, and not just because of your job title.
• 1:24
  It's because of who you are and that deserves recognition.
• 1:30
  We've been taught, especially in education, that our worth is
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  tied to performance. That if your data is strong,
• 1:37
  your behaviour management is smooth, your planning is
• 1:40
  flawless, then you are doing well.
• 1:44
  But what if none of that defines you?
• 1:47
  Now, as I said, I'm an avid reader and one of the other
• 1:51
  books I've been reading is called Make You Happen.
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  It's by Jordana Levine or Levin. I never get her last name right,
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  so I'm sorry to her and I can't stop thinking about this one
• 2:02
  line that comes from her book says you are not your job, your
• 2:06
  relationship, your achievements or failures.
• 2:10
  You are not your bank balance, your inbox, your To Do List.
• 2:14
  You are who you choose to be. Did you get that message?
• 2:19
  I'm just going to read it to you one more time.
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  You are not your job, your relationship, your achievements
• 2:25
  or failures. You are not your bank balance,
• 2:28
  your inbox, your To Do List. You are who you choose to be.
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  You are who you choose to be. So who are you outside of
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  teaching? Because I promise you, you are
• 2:41
  so much more than those jolly NAPLAN scores, the newsletter
• 2:46
  deadlines and staff meeting reflections.
• 2:50
  Think back. I just want you to pause for a
• 2:52
  moment and really feel into this.
• 2:55
  You have permission to be more than your job.
• 3:00
  You are allowed to exist outside of bells, behaviour charts and
• 3:06
  break duties. You are allowed to say I love
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  being a teacher but that's not all I am.
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  I mean look at me. Hi guys, Who are you really?
• 3:18
  If we stripped back the job title, what would you be left
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  with? Now I want you to think about
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  these things. What qualities do you bring into
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  every room no matter what you're doing?
• 3:31
  What makes you laugh? What lights you up?
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  How do you treat the people you love?
• 3:37
  How do you move through hard moments?
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  Because that's you. You are the compassion.
• 3:45
  You are the empathy, you are the quiet strength when a student is
• 3:51
  melting down. You are the joy at home when you
• 3:54
  dance in the kitchen with kids or with whoever.
• 4:00
  None of that's put on your CV is it.
• 4:03
  But that's the stuff that truly matters now.
• 4:07
  This is your time to actually reflect.
• 4:10
  You've got a job to do. I'm sorry I am giving you a bit
• 4:12
  of homework. I really want you to grab a
• 4:15
  journal or open up your notes app on your phone.
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  And I want you to take 10 to 15 minutes with these questions
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  that I'm going to say to you or revisit.
• 4:24
  Revisit them whenever you need. I'll post them in the show notes
• 4:26
  so you can refer back to them too.
• 4:28
  But I really want you to reflect on these because it will help
• 4:32
  shape your image of who you are outside of your job.
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  So the first one, describe yourself without using your job.
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  So if you couldn't say teacher or educator, what words would
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  you use #2 what are 5 personal qualities you're proud of?
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  Not skills, but the things that actually make up your essence.
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  When you're thinking about how your best friend would describe
• 5:01
  you #3 what lights you up outside of work?
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  Think about those moments that make you feel alive and the most
• 5:11
  you. What actually lights you up #4
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  who are you to the people who love you?
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  Write that well. Write down what you think your
• 5:22
  best friend would say, or a partner, a parent or something.
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  That has nothing to do with your job though, OK?
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  What is it that the people love about you?
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  OK #5 How would your life feel if your job wasn't the centre of
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  your identity? Do you think it would feel more
• 5:44
  spacious, more balanced, more fulfilled?
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  Have a think about those questions.
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  I want you to really sit and reflect because all of those
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  things, when you put them together, like you could even
• 6:02
  chat GTP it. Once you've answered those
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  questions, Chuck them into there and get it to write you a little
• 6:08
  bit of a summary of, oh, who am I?
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  Who am I? You can even take this to staff
• 6:13
  meeting, reflect on this, and then next week take it to staff
• 6:17
  meeting and see if you can figure out who those
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  descriptions actually belong to outside of your teaching bubble.
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  Who are you as a human being? You were always something else
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  before you were a teacher. And if you had other jobs before
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  teaching, I'm not saying Oh well, I was a butcher or a
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  beggar, no, you were something else humanly before you became
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  your job. So you're not your job.
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  I hope that made sense. So as you move through your
• 6:47
  week, I want you to think, especially if you're knee deep
• 6:51
  in report writing or exhausted from your behaviour challenges,
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  or just wondering if you're doing enough, I really want you
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  to come back to this. You are not your job title.
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  You are human first. You are a whole, layered,
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  vibrant human being worthy of joy and rest and an identity
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  that extends beyond your classroom door.
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  You are allowed to be you. And that, my friend, is way more
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  than enough. Does that make sense?
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  I just want to read you a little bit of an affirmation that says
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  something that I think relates to all of this.
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  But I release my need to be perfect and I centre into my
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  commitment to serve the world with more love.
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  OK. I just want that to resonate
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  with you because you don't need to be perfect and you do need to
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  be centred around love and serving the world with love.
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  But you can serve the world with love and not be a teacher.
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  You're serving the world with love because you're a human
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  being. And we're choosing to do that
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  job. It does not make us who we are.
• 8:12
  And maybe the next time someone asks, well, who are you, you
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  won't start with I'm a teacher. You might start with something
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  else 1st and then end with and I get the amazing opportunity to
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  work as a teacher or I have the privilege to work as a teacher,
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  but I am a loving and kind human being and I choose to work as a
• 8:36
  teacher. It's all of those things.
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  So I know this was only a short episode, but I really wanted it
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  to hit home and I want you to spend more time focusing on your
• 8:47
  journal prompts and your reflection.
• 8:49
  Please share with me. You can send me Adm on Instagram
• 8:53
  or on Facebook, whatever it might be.
• 8:55
  Connect with me and let me know how you've gone with those
• 8:59
  reflections. And if this episode has hit
• 9:01
  home, make sure you share it with someone you think needs it.
• 9:04
  Because I want to keep this message rippling through our
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  schools and our communities. Because we are more than just
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  our job and we need everyone outside of our little bubble to
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  know that as well. Because I am more than just a
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  teacher. I'm also a mum.
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  I'm a dog mum, I'm a mom to my beautiful children.
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  I'm a wife to my husband. I'm a daughter.
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  I'm a sister. Man, am I an annoying sister?
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  But I'm a sister. I'm a friend.
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  I may not be the best friend at times because I'm very
• 9:37
  forgetful, but then also very organised.
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  I could give you a list of descriptions about my qualities
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  as a human being. And one of my best qualities is
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  that I am a kind person. I try to be positive.
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  So I'm a positive human being and I'm organised.
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  It's just something that I do. But that also makes me a bit
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  forgetful because my to do lists get very long, but I don't open
• 10:03
  a conversation now with I'm a teacher.
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  I open with a lot of other things before I get to that
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  point because that is my job. I love my job, but that does not
• 10:14
  create my entire description. And I hope you've got that
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  message. So until next time, keep being
• 10:22
  aligned, keep thriving, and I'll chat to you soon.
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  Remember that you have got this. Now go and do your journal
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  prompts. Good job.