← The CEO Teacher Podcast
The CEO Teacher Podcast
The Not-So-Fabulous Life of a Teacher
00:11:30
The Hard Parts of Teaching Are What Make You a Thought Leader — Not What Hold You Back If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing all the things as a teacher and still not seeing growth in your online business… this episode is for you. In today’s...
Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
Casey Morris
Hey friend. Welcome back to the CEO Teacher Podcast. Today's episode, it's a little bit different than what we usually do. It's not about strategy. I'm not going to teach you about the best social media plan, or how to batch content, or a new marketing launch approach. This is not a step by step or a tips list. This episode is a story. It's actually my story. A piece of my story that I've never fully shared before. And if you're listening while cleaning up your classroom, or rocking a baby to sleep or grading papers late at night, then I just know that this episode is for you. Have you ever sat in your car after school, keys in the ignition, engine running, just sitting there, too tired to move? Yeah, me too. Back then it was back roads, Diet Coke, and embarrassingly enough, a cigarette in hand. I was trying to hold it all together, wondering why I felt like falling apart. They don't tell you that teaching can feel like that, that you can love your students and still feel completely lost in the process. Well, I decided to write about it. This is the version of teaching that we just don't talk about. It's called the not so Fabulous Life of a Teacher. And if you've ever felt like you're barely making it to 3pm, if you've ever questioned whether this is the life you were actually meant to to live, then this story is for you. It's free, it's honest, and it just might be the reminder that you didn't know you needed. You can go to Casey morris.com book or click the link in the show notes to download it. Now it's K-A-Y-S E M-O-R-R-I S.com book and let this be your permission slip to want more. So let's take it back. Back to when I was a student teacher. I was 23 years old and back then I had two babies at home, barely toddlers. My boys were 12 months and 11 days apart. I had a 3 month old and a 1 year and 3 month old. I'd wake up before the sun was even up. I'd slip out of the door of an old country home and my kids were still sleeping. And then I'd have to drive 30 minutes down some old winding back roads in South Georgia. I had a Diet Coke in one hand, a Slim Fast as well and a cigarette in the other. The windows were cracked because it was cold. It was January and the heat was blasting on my feet. And none of this was because I was glamorous Actually, all of it was because I was barely holding it together. I'd walk into that school back before I was ever getting paid, and I try to act like I actually belonged there, like life wasn't already drowning me more than I could even say. I was actually already drowning in teaching before I even started. They say that student teaching is the beginning of something beautiful, but for me, it was the beginning of a silent burnout that I just didn't have a name to yet. This is the part that nobody talks about. The exhaustion that creeps in before you ever get paid. The shame of wondering if maybe you're just not cut out for teaching. The way that you can love kids with your whole heart and still hate how little of yourself is left at the end of the day. I remember grading papers at night while holding one baby and warming up a bottle for the other that was crying in his bouncer. I remember trying to smile through observation days when I was just trying not to cry in the teacher's bathroom. And I remember sitting in my Toyota Avalon in the back of that student teacher parking lot with my head up against the steering wheel, thinking, is this really what I had worked so hard for? Now, if you've been in our world for a while, you may know a little bit of my story. You also know that this is not where my story ends. This is just where my story begins. But I want to be honest, of course it didn't change overnight. I mean, hell, I was 23 years old. This wasn't some magical day where burnout disappeared. And then the perfect admin walked in, handed me a better schedule, and I started to love teaching again. Everything started really slow. It was quiet, like a whisper. There was this one moment, one moment that I'll never forget. I was not at school that day, and I was walking my dogs. And it was a beautiful blue sky kind of day. You know, the kind that almost feels like a reset. And out of nowhere, I just started crying. I mean, it sounds like I'm always emotional, but this time they just weren't the same tears. I was no longer exhausted. I was absolutely not broken. And they weren't the parking lot kind of tears. Instead, they were tears of gratitude. I found myself saying out loud, God, how did I get so lucky? And what's wild is that it didn't come from working harder. It didn't come from making more money. It came from finally asking myself a different question. What if there's another way to do this? A way that still uses my love for teaching? But it lets me show up for my own kids. What if there's a way that gives me time to breathe, to think, to be more than just a walking lesson plan? That moment, it was the beginning of everything. Of everything. Beginning to shift. When I started following that whisper instead of the pressure, when I started listening to the still small voice that said, it just doesn't have to be like this. And it's hard to explain how I got from there to here. Which is exactly why I wrote it all down. Because I needed to go back. I needed to go back in my brain, sit in the quiet of our local state park and find my creativeness again. And find the words for that version of me that I had forgotten about. Because that version of me might look similar to the version of you right now. And what I know now, on the other side of the struggle, is that life could be so much more beautiful than the not so fabulous life of a teacher. If you've ever felt like you were the only one questioning everything, I want you to know you're not. If you've ever pulled into the school parking lot and just sat there, I'm not saying you had to be drinking a Diet Coke and smoking a cigarette. Those were definitely not the days that I was the most proud of. But I was stressed and I felt like a cigarette or two would actually fix my problems. If you've ever felt like your heart was racing, your hands were on the wheel when you were driving to school, wondering just how you were going to make it through the day, I've been there too. And I don't know why we're just so embarrassed to talk about it. If you've ever cried in the bathroom between classes or avoided hanging out with the other teachers because you just couldn't fake another smile, well, I've been there too. If you've ever felt guilty for missing your own kids milestones while giving everything to someone else's. I remember teaching one day and I got a picture from the lady that cut my kids hair and her daughter was in my son's kindergarten class. That son is now 15 years old, but I was teaching and I had asked off work to go eat lunch with him for Thanksgiving. And I was denied my request because I didn't ask quick enough and too many teachers were already going to be gone. That lady sent me a photograph of my son and said, can you send this picture to my mom and tell her that I love her? And he was sitting there with his little pilgrim outfit on and his little macaroni and cheese necklace. And I remember I was teaching and I put my phone down and I walked to the bathroom and I cried. And I was like, I will never, ever miss another day like this. I will walk out of this job before I do that. That one, it still gets me all choked up and makes my throat tight. But maybe you've been in some similar situation before. And if you ever looked around your classroom and thought, I'm not sure how much longer I can do this. You're not alone. I know you went to school and got this degree. So you're just wondering, is this all there is to life? And that's exactly why I wrote this book. It's called the not so Fabulous Life of a Teacher. It isn't just my story. I think it's our story. And maybe for the first time, you'll read something that sounds like your own inner monologue. That's my goal. That's my. That's my wish for you. The part of you that's been too scared or too exhausted to just say it out loud. You can download it right now by going to Casey morris.combook or click on the link in the show notes. But just to warn you, this isn't a fix. It's not a plan. It's a mirror. It's a moment. And maybe it's a door to something different. You don't need to be brave to open it. You just have to be honest. I want to say thanks for being here. Thanks for letting me be real. And I see you. I get it. I'm so glad you found your way here. Maybe this book will be the thing that changes everything for you. In the coming weeks, we're going to go into more detail about what the not so fabulous life of a teacher looks like and how you can turn that into something radically different this year. Thanks so much for listening. As always, remember, your best is yet to come. And I'll see you next week. Do you ever feel like you're just trying to stay afloat with everything you have to do as a teacher? Making copies, trying to get bathroom breaks, even when it's on your lunch break, probably not even taking time off because. Because the thought of writing lesson plans is just too daunting to leave for the sub. Look, I've been there. I felt that. And I believe every teacher listening right now is nodding along and says, you know what? I totally am in that season of life. But I want to help you out. So we have a goldmine of an uplifting and supporting community and I want you to know you belong here where you can come and it's a safe place to talk about all the things you're stressed out about or just to get some advice on how to get through each and every day in a better, more positive way. I want to officially invite you into the room where it all happens. Introducing the CEO Teachers Lounge It's a community for educators building their online businesses with their limited free time. Even if you haven't got started yet or if you're doing this for a while and we don't want you to do it alone. It's led by myself and our integrator, Ally Elliott, where we're going to explore how to live a purposeful, balanced life and also attain our wildest dreams without burning out. The online teacher business world is so much bigger than we could have ever imagined and it's time that you tapped in to the best community around. You can gain valuable insights and actionable strategies to elevate your teacher career and build a thriving business. Come join us. Go to Casey morris.com Patreon to sign up right now. That's K A Y S E M O R R P a T R E o N and we'll see you inside of our community.