Conserving energy, taking stock, and going into winter

The month of May has flown by, and we’re now approaching winter in Chile. I’ve found myself feeling particularly drained and overwhelmed these past few weeks. Like many people, I just want the pandemic to be over. It’s also challenging to see people in the Northern Hemisphere enjoying their summer with things reopening as we prepare to go into winter and a third wave here.

Despite that, I have a lot to be grateful for. I am healthy and vaccinated, and my income has been relatively steady. I can get my groceries and food delivered, and my steady internet connection has allowed me to continue working from home. I’ve also been able to socialize with friends and meet with colleagues online, which I’ve found to be paramount to my mental health during this time.

These past few weeks have given me a reminder that I need to keep in mind: I’m not Superman. I can’t be involved in every opportunity that comes my way, and as much as I’d like to it doesn’t help me to attend every webinar or event that I come across. In the same way, I can’t continue working without allowing for rest. In addition to my classes during the week, I’ve been teaching classes and running workshops on the weekend. While they are things that I enjoy, I find that they make it challenging to really enjoy my weekend.

When I find that inner voice that’s telling me that I’m not doing enough and that I need to work harder, I find that taking stock of what I’ve accomplished helps. So I decided to ask myself a question: What have I accomplished over the past few months?

• I spoke in one of Freeed’s Fireside Chats about lesson planning for one on one online classes. It was a great conversation, and I’m glad I’m part of the community. You can watch the video at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnQoEA7ckTM
• I attended a great webinar series about using video in online classes, and I’ve started incorporating the ideas into my teaching. If you’d like to watch it you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbI-JpcNtWkU48ZmfHDuzOwR52G20R4Im
• I spoke at a webinar offered by RELO Los Andes. It was a follow-up with some teachers six months after the Re Evolution Conference from back in October 2020, and we talked about how our teaching has changed since then in relation to our presentations. Here’s a link to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5wGct4S37U
• I attended an Online Teacher Summit offered by Elena Mutonono. She actually spoke at a Freeed Fireside Chat earlier this year, and her personality and presence really resonated with me. At the event I got to connect with other teachers and learn from teachers that have made done an amazing job building a business for themselves by teaching online.
• I’ve attended ELT lesson jams to share my lesson plans with other teachers, get feedback on how to make them better, and also help other teachers improve their lesson plans.
• I’ve run two workshops about self care for educators as a way of giving back to the teaching community during the pandemic.
• I’ve continued working on the podcast with José Luis, creating a combination of audio and video episodes and inviting guests to share their expertise.
• One of my students got the IELTS score that he needed to immigrate to Canada, and he has started the immigration process.

Looking back at that list makes me realize that I’ve actually done quite a lot. I feel like I’ve been doing this without taking much of a break, and so I’ve decided to take this Thursday and Friday off. One of the perks of working for myself is being in control of my schedule and taking time off when I want to, but I haven’t really been doing that. I’m looking forward to doing some cooking, catching up on reading, getting a haircut, and just doing what I feel like for those two days.

As they say in Game of Thrones, winter is coming. I want to be sure I’m prepared and taking care of myself so I can be the best version of myself for my students and colleagues.

If you’ve been feeling the same way or this has resonated with you feel free to leave a comment below. Thanks for reading!