If you’re reading this blog and you are a teacher you’ve undoubtedly heard the buzzwords or term “backwards design.” I have thoughts on buzzwords in education but I’ll save that for a later post. If you were trained in the Responsive Classroom teaching methods (which I happen to generally like), then you know about having students declare their hopes and dreams”. Essentially, they are writing their goals for a designated amount of time. That’s what I hope to accomplish with this post, and I think you’ll find it surprisingly simple.

By putting my goals out there, I hope it will help me hold myself accountable. It might also help you get to know me a little better. If you think I missed something, I’d love to hear about it. Similarly, if you have a goal of your own, put it in the comments. There’s something empowering about putting your goals in writing.

Blog Goals

I am brand-new to blogging. I’m in my early 40’s (no matter what your wife tells you, 42 is still considered “early 40’s”… Right?) and I’m starting a blog in 2022. If you think that I don’t ask myself “What the H are you doing with your life?” daily, then you are sorely mistaken!

But I’m going to trust the process, and just try to learn a little each day. By the end of it all, we’ll see what we’ve got. Without further ado, my blog goals.

Get Better Each Day

We’ve all heard it so much in our lives that we don’t even pay it any mind. “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. But at it’s core, just like so many other old adages, there is wisdom. It’s the same lesson we try to convey to our students as well. Building slowly and incrementally, day by day, can add up to big things. I plan to be patient and add to my skillset little by little.

Post At least 1 Time Per Week for a Year

If you haven’t read my introductory post, then you don’t know that I burnt out teaching and am on a leave of absence from my school. One post per week should be a fairly easy goal to meet until school starts up again. But once I get sucked back into the teacher vortex, a goal like 2 – 3 posts per week could be the straw that breaks my back. Really though, I hope to post at least twice per week until school starts up again for me, and then all bets are off!

Help Other Teachers

I’ve said it before but it bears repeating; I’m a big fan of teachers. I will definitely explore this topic more in future posts. For now, I’ll just say that I want to be a valuable resource for teachers and help them out in any way that I can. I believe I have valuable financial information that can help teachers that, like me, may be feeling stuck. I also want to explore some of the habits that lead to my own burnout. By sharing and dissecting, I hope you can find value in that and avoid it in your own careers.

Positively Interact with Others

At first, I was definitely on the fence about whether or not I should even start this thing. One of the main points I kept seeing in favor of starting is that you interact with so many fantastic people and it opens your eyes to new ways of thinking. To me, that sounds a lot like what I’ve always enjoyed about traveling. I very much look forward to seeing where this road takes me.

Long-Term Goals

Before this year, I had never really thought about long-term goals with any sense of clarity. When I was younger, my goals were constantly shifting, and I felt like the real adult stuff could wait. Until recently, I had always assumed I would just teach for 30 years and then collect the handsome pension that comes with it.

Then I burnt out. Suddenly, the thought of doing even one more year became daunting. The thought of 18 more years became a near impossibility.

Thankfully, I discovered an avenue to significantly reduce the amount of service time I would need before retiring. This has significantly changed my outlook on my career and brought me from hopeless to hopeful. I plan to share what I’ve discovered with anyone that is interested.

This brings me to my first long-term goal.

Retire From Teaching in 5 years

Really it’s 5-9 years. It’s not as definitive as the heading suggests either. I just want to have the option to retire in 5 – 9 years. Who knows, maybe I’ll want to continue? But just having the freedom to decide is empowering. Some factors, like savings rate, are in my control. Other factors, like the stock market, are very much out of my control. Nevertheless, I believe I have a very good chance to attain this goal. When I lay it out for you, I hope you’ll agree.

Try Out A New Branch of Teaching

In my first twelve years of teaching, I was a head classroom teacher. Sure, the grade would change (mostly 4th and 5th), but the job description was fairly constant. If this is where I burnt out then it’s reasonable to think it could happen again. So why not try a new branch of teaching?

Recently, I took a Massachusetts Teacher test (called the MTEL) to become a math specialist (I’ll let you know how I did when I get the results). Maybe the demands of this job are more suited to my skillset?

I’m also considering taking the MTEL to become a physical education teacher. My background is originally in physiology. Along the same lines, why not cast a wider net and see if something works better for me?

I know I’m good at teaching and I’m good with kids as well. Just like with this blog, I still want to make a positive impact on people’s lives. I just became unwilling to do so at the complete expense of my own well-being.

If any of you have any experience or thoughts on the matter, I’d love to hear about it.

Take a Pizza-Making Course in Italy

“Wow!” you must be thinking “That veered off the tracks rather quickly.” Fair enough, but I wanted to have at least one fun goal to aim for down the line.

In a previous life I lived in Italy for two years. It was my first teaching job at a bilingual elementary school, teaching English, Math and Science. Living there greatly deepened my passion for, among other things, pizza.

The style of pizza there is simple and pure. The creation, start to finish, has been perfected. The recipes are passed down from generation to generation and guarded with a ferocity unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

Simply put, I want in! And if I ever make it to the pizza holy land, you’ll be the first to know.

Other Goals

Finally, I have some personal goals that I want to briefly touch upon. Many are self-explanatory, but I think they interconnected to the previous ones as well. Ultimately, I want to be a well-balanced person. The following habits/goals will help me attain that balance.

Exercise More – I have too much evidence to ignore. My mood is connected to my fitness. The more I exercise the better I feel. We all know the myriad benefits of exercise, but that doesn’t mean we do it. I want to build a consistent habit of exercise in my life.

Eat Better – I’ll just say it. I developed some pretty awful habits during the pandemic. I can’t tell you how many times I find myself peering into the snack pantry without any recollection of any of the events that got me there. My meal selection has been subpar as well. Diet greatly ties into overall well-being so I view this as an area for major growth.

Slow Down – One of my major sources for burnout in teaching was the feeling that I was completely sped up. I had so many things to do that I was always rushing around everywhere. Whether it was eating my lunch at the copy machine, writing emails at 10 o’clock or the countless other examples (I will definitely dedicate a post or two to this), I always felt completely sped up and it was incredibly stressful. Add this to the list of goals. I want to continue to slow myself down and learn to take things in stride.

Try Meditation – Whenever I hear interviews of people I deem to be successful almost all of them extol the virtues of meditation. There are just too many echoes for me to ignore. It also seems like the benefits are exactly what I need. Put it on the list!

Keep Learning – I like the idea of being a life long learner until my dying day, but I don’t always practice it. Perhaps more importantly for me, is the attitude that comes with being a learner. There’s an enthusiasm that is infectious. As a teacher, that enthusiasm can quickly infect your students as well. Rather than beating myself up for not “learning a new thing daily” I want to continually be open to new opportunities to learn and grow.

So Many More – I’m a firm believer in taking things on in small, manageable chunks. If I get overwhelmed with too much to do, I can quickly slip into a rut and just do none of it. Do I have other goals? Of course. If I get a firm handle on some of the goals above, then I’ll have to incorporate new ones. For now, this is my list, and I’m happy with it.

So how did I do? Do any of these resonate with you? Any glaring omissions? I would love to hear your thoughts or any goals you have for yourself. Like I said before, sometimes just putting it in writing can be a powerful act in and of itself. Even if you just want to comment on whether you think 42 is early or mid-40’s, I’m open to it all!

Thanks for reading and be well!