
Fish's Reflection
Last November, Bill Ferriter and I had a discussion about teacher burnout and how those of us who consider ourselves at the forefront of teacher leadership in our respective situations. The conversations kept streaming my way, and while the vets handled this situation much better, the stakes for other teachers only heightened as the year passed by. Being the reflective person I am, I said, “Well, isn’t the solution right in these spaces?” After all, reflection tends to help sow the bits of practice together into one bundle we can better handle.
Then, I noticed the lack of actual writing going on.
Then, it became a lack of socializing as a whole.
Then, I sat there, still typing away, skipping days here and there, when I said: “Can this Christmas break come ANY SOONER?!”
It seems to me that, even those of us who use these spaces to reflect and push the agenda for the teacher / educator voice, we’re still primarily in the school building, in the classroom, in the hallways, in the gyms, and in front of 20-30 children’s faces at a time, draining ourselves of our life energies in the process. How do we get enough time to blog, which is a considerably laborious process for those of us who care about the difference between there and their.
Where do we make the time to formally reflect? I agree that reflection is good, but reflecting formally, whether on paper or on this venue, and documenting that process proves more useful than random musings. What’s your weapon of choice?
Mr. Vilson, who has 1 more day to go before the blue moon greets me in a cold embrace …
My name is Jose Luis Vilson, teacher, writer, public speaker, activist, Syracuse University and City College grad, poet, hip-hop enthusiast, and (certainly not least) father. I've been featured at CNN, Huffington Post, Education Week, Scholastic, TEDx, and GOOD Magazine. For more,
Some know me as Jose. Others as Mr. V. Educator, writer, activist, and father. Here I'll be posting thoughts in all those voices. 
Jose Vilson
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey, btw..what grade do you teach?
The more I do, the more I get asked to do, and the harder it is to keep up with all of it.
Is blogging the extra, the luxury, that we should ease off of first?
I teach 8th grade, Louis.
Jonathan, I think you’ve answered your own question. Oftentimes, as much as I believe blogging will become a critical part of pushing the professional agenda of teachers, I also think it’s a bit of a luxury in the grand scheme of things, especially as it concerns time distribution.
Maybe blogging goes first. But in your list of things, it’s not just blogging and everything else. Certainly my list has dozens of directions I get pulled in.
If I had to choose one… but I don’t. If I was forced to give up one or two… Maybe blogging… but I am not sure I have the answer yet. It’s too much like me to refuse to choose, keep working on all fronts, and realize everything’s become less effective.
Maybe blogging. But I am not sure.
Is blogging what gives you hope? Why would you give that up first?
We (teachers in particular) tend to ‘give up’ the activities that feed us when we are overwhelmed, when it is those very activities that give us the strength to keep going, that help us to keep the passion kindled.
I do the same. My blog is very indicative of my energy levels. Lately, very low. When I have ‘free’ time, I tend to opt for nesting with a book or a movie. Freeing my mind from thought, entertaining it.
When was this written? A few months ago…but always relevant.
I wrote this back in December, when a few of us in my twitstream were discussing the eventual burnout and how it was affecting our writing in our blogs. Certainly, this is relevant til now, when we’re about to hit the “second wave” if you ask me.