Buenas a todos que siguen aqui! Hello to all who are still here! Happy June. On June 3rd, I woke up to what felt like my body wanting to SPRINT a marathon. I was itchy to get up, talk to people or run in circles. Let me explain.

Do you imagine a teacher on their first day off sleeping in until 12pm? Or maybe, slowly walking to their kitchen in their nice pajamas to make some delicious coffee and an avocado toast? Not me, not my body. This body has been running on a schedule for nearly 10 months! Every weekday morning, I wake up at 6:15am. My contract begins at 7:30am. The moment I get to my work building, I’m greeted by students and teachers, which I’m grateful to hear. But then, I open my classroom and in comes a student or two to chat about something random but very important to them. I also have students who prefer to eat breakfast in my room, and so I hear the munching as they scroll on their loud phone. You could say, my students truly trust me and my room, and for that, I’m grateful. But you see, the moment I’m up and getting ready for work, my brain begins to think of all the little small things I need to prepare for my students, my curriculum, my emails, etc. At some point in my day, I have to deal with behavior(s), a mental breakdown from someone, magnet students who want to plan an activity, and conversing with students who don’t want to do the work. In this short image, I hope you can see how much I pour out of my cup (this doesn’t even include my extracurriculars). Y’all, I love my job! It’s just exhausting AF. On that June 3rd, I woke up before the usual alarm. I stayed in bed just to witness my brain going in circles. I held my heart. I took a few deep breaths. I got up, and I didn’t know what to do with myself. So, I doom scrolled, and while I did that I found an instagram page called @resilient_educator. Lisa, the creator of the page, shares how to help teachers manage burnout (and yes, she was a long-time teacher who experienced an extreme level of burnout, so I trust her). As I scrolled on her content, I understood why I felt like running that morning. June is a tough month for many teachers, as our bodies are transitioning into recovery mode. Our bodies are processing. The nervous system is re-learning to slow down. My body is learning to rest.

We are weeks into June now. There are still moments when I feel like I need to be a fly, buzzing around from wall to wall. But I’m managing. I’m setting a schedule — yes, another one, but one that brings me what I need: rest, joy, comfort, movement, intention.

By the end of the summer, I’ll start to reflect on boundaries for the next school year. But for now, I’m going to play with my juicer, water the flowers, feed the hummingbird, juggle a soccer ball, and write.

What I’m listening

• Noah Kahan: The Great Divide album

What I’m reading

• Don’t believe everything you think by Joseph Nguyen

What I’m watching

• World Cup, not religiously but gotta support the mains

• All Toy Story movies (I’m preparing for the 5th one)