Teachers in Transition - Episode197: The GPS Shortcut to Your New Career

In this episode, Vanessa talks about things you can do for your body to physically recover form the mentally draining state testing days, a hack to save your money and grief, and describes exactly how to get from teaching to the job of your dreams.  

A link to a short 5 minute video demonstrating shaking to release stress – it’s not the Hokey Pokey, it’s better

Happier in Hollywood podcast episode 80: Get to Steppin.’ The pertinent part starts at 3:25.  

A link to our Facebook Page! Join us!

And remember to send your comments, stories, and random thoughts to me at TeachersinTransitionCoaching@gmail.com!  I look forward to reading them.  Would you like to hear a specific topic on the pod?  Send those questions to me and I’ll answer them. Feel free to connect with Vanessa on LinkedIn!

The transcript of this podcast can be found on the podcasts’ homepage at Buzzsprout. 

Transcript

Are you a teacher who is feeling stressed out and overwhelmed? do you worry that you're feeling symptoms of burnout - or are you sure you've already gotten there? Have you started to dream of doing something different or a new job or perhaps pursuing an entirely different career - but you don't know what else you're qualified to do? You don't know how to start a job search and you just feel stuck. If that sounds like you, I promise you are not alone. my name is Vanessa Jackson; and I am a career transition and job search coach and I specialize in helping burnt out teachers just like you deal with the overwhelmingly stressful nature of your day-to-day job and to consider what other careers might be out there waiting for you. You might ask yourself, What tools do I need to find a new career?  Are my skills valuable outside the classroom?  How and where do I even get started?  These are all questions you deserve answers to, and I can help you find them.  I’m Vanessa Jackson. Come and join me for Teachers in Transition.  

***Hi!  And Welcome back to another episode of Teachers in Transition. I am your host, Vanessa Jackson – I’m a compassionate career transition and job search coach. I am here to help you reach your goals and figure out how to navigate the journey from teacher to the career of your dreams. I provide tips and suggestions to help with stress and mental health, hacks to help your day, and job-hunting tips.  If you are frustrated with your current teaching position, if you are stressed, overwhelmed, and burned out you are in the right place - I am here for you. Today on the pod we are going to talk about physically recovering from mental drain that is state testing days, a quick and inexpensive hack to improve air quality and potentially save thousands, and I’ll share with you exactly what you need to do to execute a job hunt.  I am going to give you  GPS shortcut. 

First, I am going to take a moment and apologize for my voice.  The oak trees are pollenating and it’s really hard on my voice, so if I sound scratchy, that’s why. 

We’re going start with our segment on stress and mental health by addressing some physical health issues.  Many states are coming up on state testing in the next few weeks.  In fact, as I drove by one campus, they had their holidays listed and the fact that campus was closed during the state testing days.  State testing is its own separate topic – I am not a fan of what it has become. I detest how it is used as a club to beat schools and their educators, into a submissive state and squelch real learning and the love of learning or teaching.  So with that out of the way, I am worried and concerned for YOU. Testing is hard on our bodies.  We are discouraged (or forbidden) from sitting during the testing so that we can be actively monitoring the room. We spend a lot of time doing that “shopping walk” where we meander about the room. We electively deprive ourselves of coffee and water so that we don’t have to ask for bathroom breaks.  And that results in dehydration and a feeling of being less alert.  Our lunch is often delayed, so we often become hangry.  And we stress about any “discrepancies” that might pop up because in many states teachers are threatened with losing their certificate (AKA their ability to keep a roof over their head, feed their families, and fund their lives) if something is off. 
 
 I am not going to attempt to give medical advice – always check with your doctor.  I am not one.  I don’t’ even play one on TV. I will share some tips on recovery to minimize its effect on your body. This is especially important in multi-day testing situations when these effects stack up.
 
 Do these as appropriate for your body – whether at school, or at home.  The rule of thumb here is – if it hurts, then don’t do that.  

1.    Get movement into your body and release the stress of the day.  You’re literally going to shake it off – think Hokey Pokey with enthusiasm.  It’s called somatic shaking and it is a legitimate therapeutic practice. I am linking a video in the show notes that has a little 5 and a half minute guided practice video.  You can also start by shaking your right hand vigorously, then your left.  Shake your right leg, then your left.  Shake the shoulders up and down.  Roll the neck left, down, right, and back down. This gets the blood flowing everywhere again.  

2.    Begin to hydrate again as soon as testing is over. Water is best because your body doesn’t have to filter anything to get the benefits to the body.  Avoid caffeine because then it’s hard to go to sleep at night.  You desperately need that sleep. The shaking does a better job of waking you up than caffeine does anyway.  I wish I had known about this when I was still teaching! 

3.    In the car on the way home, do something completely non-school related – sing songs, listen to a book, enjoy a podcast!

4.    At home, decompress your spine.  This is best done in a couple of ways. 

a.    First lie flat but with your feet propped up.  I prefer the floor with my lower legs and feet on the couch or a chair to support my lower back and knees. If youAnother waya to do this is on a couch or a bed, use lots of pillows to get those feet up.  And then just rest for 5 minutes or more. If you are lucky enough to have access to an inversion table, where you hang upside down, use that for up to five minutes at a time (you have to work up to it.  Start with a minute if you’ve never done it before)

b.    Another thing that helps backs after a long day of testing is spinal twists.  You have two options here.  

                                       i.    In option 1, you are standing with feet a little wider than shoulder width apart and your hands are right by our shoulders  -left hand to left shoulders, etc.  Pretend that you are in the center of a square.  Know where the corners of that square are. Without lifting your feet (although they back foot comes up on the ball of the foot to pivot a bit). Extend your right arm and use that hand or fist to push to the back left corner.  Then swing around and extend the left arm and use THAT hand or fist to push against the imaginary right back corner.  Move gently. This isn’t about power or speed – it’s about moving. Simply keep pushing those back corners from left to right to left to right for about 30 to 60 seconds. Also don’t stress if you get exactly to the imaginary back corners.  Chances are that you’re a bit tight and stiff. It will loosen up as you go along. At the end you’ll find that you are moving further around than when you started. 

                                      ii.    Another way to introduce this movement, lie flat, and pull your feet towards your hips so your knees are up and use them like windshield wipers back and forth gently as your body will tolerate. 

                                     iii.    The first way focuses on upper spine twist and the second one is more of a lower spine twist.           

c.     The next thing to do is STRETCH.  

                                       i.    Stretch the calves.  If you have stairs at your house, stand on one with the front half of your feet (use a wall or something for support!) and let the heels drop down a little to stretch the calf.  Hold for 60 seconds.  If you want the bonus on that stretch and if your body can do this without pain, bend the knees a little and stick out your rear end and hold for about another 60 seconds. 

                                      ii.    Stretch legs and arms and shoulders. There are SO many excellent stretching videos all over YouTube.  I actually go to a place called the Stretch Lab where I participate in assisted stretching once a week.  It has been so beneficial for me that it’s been lifechanging. Tell them I sent you!

5.    That evening, make sure to Eat a good dinner – make sure you have a good source of protein and fiber. If you cave and buy fast food on the way home, you’ll feel worse tomorrow. Incidentally, make sure your breakfast prior to a testing day has a good chunk of protein.  Protein will keep you fuller longer and helps fight the hangry beast in the afternoon. 

6.    And the final piece is SLEEP.  Give yourself the goal and gift of going to sleep a half hour early.  Aim for an hour if you are looking for bonus points.  It is hard to handle the craziness of testing or the rebound behaviors from the kids in the afternoon when you are short on your sleep. You deserve good sleep.

Now it’s time for our teacher hack. – our hacks are designed to help you make your life a little easier in some way to create mental, and/or emotional space for you to spend time on YOU as you work on YOU.  This week’s money saving hack is to go put new air filters on your shopping list so you can CHANGE YOUR AIR FILTER.   When you install it, put the date on it so when you peek through the slats, you can see a date.  These are supposed to be change monthly, but it’s amazing how little tasks like this slip up on us.  No judgement from me.  Guess what I’m doing after I finish recording this podcast.  
 
 In the south, it’s pollen season.  If you are already running your air conditioner, it is working its hardest to filter that out.  But an a/c unit will not work as efficiently if the filter is clogged with dust and pollen.  And if it’s not working efficiently, it’s running more expensively.  And eventually, it will break.  Way back a million years ago when I was growing up, my church sold their building but rented it back for a year on Sundays only while they were building the new place. The new owners wanted to save money, so they put in a programmable thermostat and put a locking cover over it.  They didn’t want us running unnecessary air, or turning it on and leaving it on.  It was an old building and not a particularly energy efficient if you catch my drift.   Fast forward to our last service in the building.  It attracted a lot more people than normal to that last Sunday – it had been in that spot almost 60 years. This was June.  In some places June is gorgeous.  But this was on the Texas gulf coast, so heat and humidity make a building fairly miserable when there is no air conditioning and no way to open a window. 
 
 The air wasn’t working.  The system just wouldn’t kick on. So, some guys who knew about such things went to go check the unit. Turns out that the new owners were so interested in saving money that they had never once changed the air filter for the system.  In over a year.  The unit was blown.  Our service was a bit hot and uncomfortable, but as one parishioner put it “Eh, we didn’t have air conditioning at the first service in this building either!”  Perspective, y’all 

In our segment on jobhunting, I am going to start by reminding you about an old elephant joke. How do you eat an elephant?  The answer is ‘one bite at a time.’  It’s code for don’t try and do too much at one time.  When I was younger – my 20s and 30s  - I would sometimes get very overwhelmed with life and stuff.  There is no work/life balance when one is a teacher and that is worse when one has small kids. There are no boundaries. All the boundaries rather overlap each other like a watercolor painting left out in the rain. When I was at my wits’ end, I would call my dad. My dad had a saying that he would use as he talked me down. “When you take life by the yard, it’s hard.  When you take it by the inch, it’s a cinch.” Come to think of it – Dad was my first life coach. I share this wisdom with you because you are going to use it in your job hunt.  There are just so many things to do. It is very easy to get overwhelmed.  You’ll Look at the metaphorical forest and each tree represents something that you need to do and you need to clear that forest. And often you get so overwhelmed when looking at the forest that you forget to consider that you can only clear one tree at a time. 

I am going to tell you exactly how to do it: 
 
 Step 1: Decide. You need to decide whether or not you want to continue doing what you are doing. There’s a little algorithm here:  Do you want to keep teaching?  Yes or no.  If yes, do you want to keep teaching at THIS place or do you need to find a different place.  If you DON’T want to continue teaching, then you need to accept that you’ll need to prepare to transition to something else. 

There is a powerful anecdote told by Nichelle Tramble on the podcast Happier in Hollywood. The advice comes from her mom and it’s advice that smacked me upside the head.  It’s in episode 80 at it starts around the 3 and a half minute mark.  Nichelle had just started work with a Hollywood agent known to be difficult.  Within 45 minutes, she had reached the limits of what she felt she could handle in terms of toxic treatment. And it was bad.  She describes it in better detail on their podcast – I’ve put a link in the show notes for you.  When she went out to lunch, she stopped at a phone booth (yes, that long ago) to call her mom.  Nichelle  poured out the problem to her mom and her mom asked her “Do you have your purse?  Get to steppin’!” And Nichelle walked out of the building and didn’t go back. 
 
 Her mom told her: “This is not a conversation.  This is nothing to think about. It’s not up to anybody else to tell you how much you’re worth. It is your decision. And if you stay, then you’ve said OK and signed on to all of this.  If you leave, you’ve decided that life is too short and this isn’t the situation for you and this is a bad idea.”

Let me repeat that last bit: if you stay, then you’ve said OK and signed on to all of this.  If you leave, you’ve decided that life is too short and this isn’t the situation for you and this is a bad idea.”

Your choice.

Step 2: Contemplate. You’ll embark on a self-examination and do a deep dive on all things you-related.  Figure out who you are when you aren’t a teacher. This self-inventory is possibly the most important part.  It’s best to have a trusted friend or coach to help you through this part.  Not just any friend – one who calls you out and doesn’t let you lie to yourself.  And your friend will need to have the time to be that resource for you. You need to find out what your element is, what your strengths are, and what it is important for you to have in your next job beyond the ability to pay your bills.  Often a coach is better at prodding you along than a family member or friend.  

Step 3: Build – you’ll need to build your network, your resume, your LinkedIn Profile, and your tracking systems for applying to jobs. You’ll need to know how to translate all that wonderful experience you have in education and those amazing skills you’ve acquired into lingo that a corporate recruiter understands. You’ll need bullet points that tell the story of your value!  You’ll learn corporate jargon instead of educational jargon.
 
 

Step 4: Refine – This is where you get very targeted in your job hunting approach –  you start to connect with people at the companies you are interested in, you tailor that resume to job descriptions. You research what sorts of companies where you’d like to work – or what exactly which companies you’d like to work for.  You learn about AI as a tool.  

And Step 5:  Attract – in this step, You create job description grids and you use AI to make your search efficient, and you prepare for potential interviews. you work with someone to practice your interview skills because If you got to the interview stage – you are a skill fit. Now it is more about looking for a culture fit and standing out. (pink socks, anyone?) You grow your network so that your connections can help you connect to others. You create so that you can showcase your skills to get noticed by recruiters on LinkedIn.  

And that, dear listeners, is the map. The GPS shortcut to transition away from teaching. In this instance – GPS now stands for Goals, Position, and Strategy!  That’s how you do it. 
 I will guide you and be your cheerleader through every twist and turn on the journey.  Listen to the end to get my contact information and schedule your complimentary discovery call today.

I’m excited to announce that I am going to do another resume workshop.  This time it will be through the Facebook group, so head over to become a part of the Teachers in Transition Podcast Club and we will go live on Sunday, April 21st at 2:00 PM Central time. No spots to reserve and nothing to do in advance – just join the group and come to the live. We’ll talk about the components your resume needs to have, how to write your bullet points, what not to do in your resume, and how the ATS and your resume may or may not get along out there on the web.

If you know other teachers who are burned out and overwhelmed, share this podcast with them. So many people feel alone and despondent about their situation, my goal is to help as many teachers as possible to find jobs they love where they feel not just appreciated, but also valued.

That’s the podcast for today! If you liked this podcast, tell a friend, and don’t forget to rate and review wherever you listen to your podcasts. Tune in weekly to Teachers in Transition where we discuss Job Search strategies as well as stress management techniques.  And I want to hear from you!  Please reach out and leave me a message at Teacher in transition coaching at gmail dot com.  You can also leave a voicemail or text at 512-640-9099. 

I’ll see you here again next week and remember – YOU are amazing!