“THERE WAS NOW THIS MUCH LARGER PART OF MY LIFE”
“I think that starting my family was part of what kept me in the profession. I think that when I went back to work after having my daughter, I was kind of miserable that year. But I think that I was able to disconnect my own emotions from what was happening in the classroom better than I could before that because there was now this much larger part of my life whereas my job had kind of been the bigger part of my life before that. At one point I realized that I was no longer talking to my husband about the kids or the specific things that happened that day, except for a few crazy examples. But I didn't even think about bringing it up because it wasn't still sitting in my brain, and I think that's just because I came home and had a two-year-old to handle.”
“And so I think that some of the more difficult things, I just handle them. They're difficult, but they're not breaking-me difficult.”
“I think that I had the most challenging class I've ever had last year and I definitely said a few times that I think if I were a younger teacher, I would have left—with that group of kids and the series of needs that they had. But I didn't. Days were hard, but then the days were done and we just start again the next day. And so I think just being able to add a new part to my identity helped me to separate being a good teacher from my sense of self-worth a little bit, which allowed me to keep doing it.”