Hi, Vanessa

I hope August is treating you well. We are having the nicest August I can ever remember Texas having.  It's a little weird. Usually it's so hot you can bake cookies in your car, but it's almost pleasant outside.  It was nice enough that I sat outside to look for shooting stars in the meteor shower earlier this week.   

Every time I see a lot of stars, I think about the phrase from Peter Pan, "Second star on the right and straight on until morning!"  I always wondered how they knew where to start counting from.  I guess in London where the story was written, they don't have quite as many stars to see. 

The google form collecting data for the Teaching On Empty survey is still live and will be through August. You can click on this link to get there.  Please share with other teacher friends - we all know that the more data we collect, the better results we have. Some people have expressed an interest, so I'll definitely provide a link to the results once the paper is completed. 

Meanwhile, remember this week - you still know how to fly, 

Vanessa Jackson

What the Movie, "Hook" Can Teach Us About Burnout

When Wendy looks Peter in the eyes and says, “So Peter,… you’ve become a pirate,” every burned-out teacher feels that.

Because here’s the thing—no one chooses to become the enforcer of joyless mandates. It happens slowly. You start out full of glitter pens and bulletin board dreams, and then over time the scripted curriculum, the test prep, the 9pm emails, the behavior charts—they start to wear you down.

You don’t become a pirate overnight. But one day you wake up and realize you’re enforcing rules you don’t even believe in anymore. You're policing creativity. You're tracking data instead of connecting. You’re trying to stay afloat in a system that stopped sailing toward joy a long time ago.

This isn’t just about stress—it’s about identity erosion. Burnout doesn’t just make you tired. It makes you forget who you were before survival became the whole job. It convinces you that the version of you who was passionate and imaginative and deeply connected to your students was a luxury you can no longer afford.

But here’s the truth: If you’re still asking the question—if you’re still noticing that something feels wrong—then that old version of you isn’t gone. She’s just buried. And she still remembers how to fly.

 

 

Bangarang! A Framework for Career Clarity (Stolen from Peter)

What if you didn’t need a five-year plan? What if you just needed the next clue?

Using the CLARIFY framework, this episode walks through:

  • Connecting with your inner voice
  • Listing your true strengths
  • Auditing your energy
  • Reimagining what work could look like
  • Identify your core values
  • Find your battle buddy
  • Yes to the first step

...and yes, we even talk about blanket forts, haikus, and public speaking jobs at zoos. Because clarity doesn’t always look like a LinkedIn profile. Sometimes it looks like...you.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Registration is LIVE for the Decide workshops on September 1 and September 27.  If you know a teacher who is struggling with the classroom and trying to figure out what will be their best path forward, please share the newsletter. 

 

Connect with Me 

📧 Email: Vanessa@teachersintransition.com
📱 Call or Text: 512-640-9099
📅 Book a Discovery Session: Schedule here

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