I’ve been teaching 7th grade English & History for over twenty years, which means I’ve lived through:

• The Great Fidget Spinner Era

• 47,000 versions of “Is this for a grade?”

• Zoom school + “Turn on your camera” season (we all have scars)

• The Axe body spray cloud of doom

• Smiling while quietly burning out

• Crosswalk duty and “quick” meetings, and

• Dabbing, flossing, slime, 6-7 — just… all of it

And like so many teachers, I spent a big chunk of those years in survival mode — showing up, caring deeply, liking my job, but also quietly running myself into the ground.

On the outside, I was a positive teacher.

In real life? I was exhausted, anxious, overstimulated, and counting down to breaks while pretending everything was fine.

Spoiler: there were times where everything was not fine.

The moment things had to change

Eventually, it all caught up with me. My body started waving red flags — stress, heart palpitations, overstimulation, after-school collapse-on-the-couch level fatigue.

I remember thinking,

“I love teaching, so why does it feel like it’s costing me my health and my life outside school?”

I knew I couldn’t keep pushing through. And no, a weekend nap wasn’t going to fix it (I tried).

I thought self-care meant working out and eating well.

Turns out… that was only part of it. And honestly, I was overdoing even that — pushing myself to “be healthy” in ways that were just another form of pressure.

What I finally learned?

Self-care isn’t just movement + cutting carbs.
It's also:

• resting without guilt
  

• five quiet minutes alone (yes, in your car counts)
  

• speaking up instead of staying silent
  

• boundaries at work and at home
  

• routines you actually look forward to
  

• small habits instead of life overhauls
  

I don’t have this all figured out (not even close), but I’ve lived enough of it — and learned enough the hard way — to know that teaching can be sustainable (I think), but not by grinding ourselves down.

Burnout shows up differently for everyone, but there are proven practices that help. And I want to share them.

Why I created Revive Teachers

Revive Teachers wasn’t born from perfection — it came from necessity, a little stubbornness, and the desire to make teaching a sustainable profession.

This space is for teachers who:

• Care deeply about kids and their own sanity

• Want to reconnect with who they are outside of school (not just “the teacher”)

• Could use their spark — and their energy — back

• Have retired from the “just push through and smile” culture

• Want small, gentle habits that make life easier today, not “eventually”

• Prefer peace, boundaries, and tiny wins over burnout and martyrdom

Here we focus on three rhythms (a fancy way of saying "what keeps me going"):

☀️ Glow — self-care that fits real teacher life

🌊 Flow — systems to make teaching and life feel lighter

🌱 Grow — personal + professional growth without overwhelm

No toxic positivity.
No guilt trips.
No “fix yourself” vibes.

Just honest tools, simple routines, and the reminder that you deserve to feel like a whole human — at school and at home.

We don’t do perfect here.

We do human. We do doable. We do “better, not busier.”

If you’re tired but still care, if you want peace and purpose, if you’re trying to build a teaching life that doesn’t drain you dry — welcome.

You’re in the right place.
Let’s figure this out together. 💛