I am a Teacher, a lifelong Educator. I have filled many roles within the public school system, from Teacher to Administrator, to School Board member, and full circle back to Teacher.

This quote from Rita Pierson is one of my favorites, and I wholeheartedly believe it. Rita’s TedX talk is one worth watching if you have never seen it.

However, it took me a long, long time to come to the understanding that, even though every child deserves a champion, that champion did not always have to be me. 

Yes…I will say that again. 

Every child deserves a champion, but that champion does not have to be me.

You see, I fell into the classic pitfall that many educators fall into. We get into this profession hoping to change the world, one student at a time. That tendency leads us to want to fix all the “unfixable things,” and when I say that, I don’t mean the kids. We want to fix the system, we want to fix the social dynamics. We want to end social injustice, and fix the economical disparities that our students experience. We run as fast as we can to put out fires and to lift people up…to give them a hand that will hopefully lead them to a better life. We sacrifice time with our own children in order to be there for others’ children. And we think we have to be every kid’s champion. We run ourselves down, burn ourselves out, by trying to “save” them all. 

The burnout rate of teachers and administrators right now in the United States is unprecedented. People are not going into the profession, and people are jumping out of it at an alarming rate. I believe the pressure coming from many well-meaning pundits has set us up for failure. So many sound bites, all of them with the undertone that if we don’t sacrifice our lives and well-being for our students and our schools, we aren’t worthy of the name “Teacher.” To be a Teacher means self-sacrifice for the betterment of society. 

Just a few examples:

I do believe there is some truth in these well-meaning quotes.

However, I believe the message that we are humans doing the best we can also needs to be in the mix. That sometimes, we get tired and have to tag out. That, yes, every students deserves a champion, and sometimes I am too spent for that champion to be me. 

I am not a failure as an educator if I am tapped out and need to call in back up. 

I am not a failure as an educator if I need to take a day off to regroup. 

I am not a failure as an educator if there is a student I don’t particularly like, or enjoy having in my class. 

I am not a failure as an educator if today, I can only give it 90% (or 70, or 60, etc.) and not 100. 

I am not a failure as an educator if I miss a deadline. 

I am not a failure as an educator if a student doesn’t like me.

I am not a failure as an educator if my student fails my class because they have refused to do any assignments in spite of my efforts on their behalf.

I am not a failure as an educator if I don’t absolutely love my job every minute of every day. 

Teaching is HARD WORK. Maintaining our own mental, emotional, and physical health is of the utmost importance if we are to remain effective in our profession. 

And if that means that sometimes, you have to allow someone else to swoop in and be a child’s champion because it is beyond your strength to do so at that moment in time, so be it. 

That is not a Failure. 

It is doing what’s best for your student, as well as for yourself, and we need to recognize that stepping back might be the best way to be that child’s champion in that moment.

Educators: Give yourselves Grace. You deserve a Champion too.