Reigniting Your Passion When Burnout Creeps In

Three weeks in and already feeling that bone-deep teacher fatigue? The kind where you love your kids but dread your inbox? You're not alone — and you're definitely not broken.

Conversation 2 in Beyond The Lesson is all about this: staying grounded when you feel like you've lost the spark.

Here's what I know after thirty years: Burnout isn't a sign you're weak — it's a sign you care. You care so deeply that the system's demands collide with your humanity. The danger isn't feeling burnout; it's pretending you're fine when you're not.

So here's your official permission slip for this year:

✅ Name the burnout out loud — with your team, your mentor, your people

✅ Stop carrying what isn't yours to hold (hello, district initiatives that change monthly)

✅ Celebrate evidence of life: the quiet kid who finally spoke up, the lesson that actually worked, the colleague who brought you coffee

When we remember that community isn't what we do — it's who we are, we remind each other that none of us have to carry this alone.

📌 Quick Win: Open your Study Guide to Conversation 2 this week. Bring one question to your next team meeting and ask: "Where do you feel most alive in this work — and how can we protect that for each other?"

👉 WeAreAcademicAllies.com

Next week, we'll wrap this series with the one thing I hope you hold onto all year long.