Wished, but I cannot

These past days have been somewhat hectic at school for me.  I have started to engage me and my students into a broader scope of international interaction and collaboration.  Suddenly, my Skype list is full with educators from the world willing to interact with my students.  It is just a bit strange for me to realize that members on my PLN, Skype, blog suscribers, etc., are devoted and amazing people that I will probably never meet in person.



Now, the main reason this week has been a tiring one is because I have devoted much of my time into looking this international connections through Skype.  I have found that job deeply tiring, and given that organizations is not what I am famous for, it has been a lot of work. So, one thing leads to the other, and I also found myself looking up for projects I could engage my students into.  I did find plenty of resources.  If you are an innovative educator, then you know that feeling you get when you see this great international project and first thing that comes to mind is: "Cool, I could get my students into that!".   Well, that is basically how I feel most of the time.


If to that you add all the awesome tools I have been introducing into my classroom and the ones I want to introduce, plus still keeping up with taking care of one student at a time, I think I might definitively find myself in the verge of this pit of overwork that will eventually lead me into not being too good at anything.  Oh, and what about family.  That one requires of our time, primarily, above everything else.  


I know you all know about that feeling of wanting to do everything.  There are so many innovative tools out there and we wished we could try them all on our kids!  We wished, but we can´t.  Our job, I believe, is already exhausting in so many ways.  Rewarding, yes, but exhausting too. 


I am a Christian educator.  I believe God has brought me into His purpose, not only personally but professionally as well.  I have come to believe that it is so easy for an innovative educator to become so excited about innovation that we might be in peril of yielding from real purpose.  So, what is my advice to you?:  

1. Well, in the first place realize that you will probably not be able to do everything you´d like to, and it´s ok.  You are forgiven!  You are human, and therefore, limited.  
2. Remind yourself how lucky your students are to have you as their teacher.  What?  Being a little proud of oneself is not altogether bad if you do it with measure.
3. Keep in mind that trying to do too many things might actually affect the positive and valuable outcome for each one of them.
4. Nobody expects you to be a super-teacher; in fact you are expected to be a real person, one your students can connect and identify with.
5. One very important one, which I would like to share with you throught this guest blog post I wrote recently:  http://xploremyfaith.com/?p=1335

May you continue rocking your classroom and being awesome today!

photo credit: windsordi via photopin cc