Less is the New More

My yoga teacher said "Less is the new More" to us once, quite some time ago, and it has stuck with me ever since:  More is not necessarily better.

I've known for quite a while that for me, more is not always better.  

• It's why I decided to stay home full time when our children were born.
• It's why I eventually returned to work in a half time aide position.
• And it's why I returned to certified teaching in a part time position when a full time German position was also available.

Since I started teaching two classes of German at Bloomington High School North in 2013, my school's German program has grown, and with it, so has my teaching load.  From 1/3 time to 2/3 time to 5/6 time, and finally, the past two years, to full time.  

I'm proud and pleased that our German program has grown, but the increase in my teaching load has been faster than I had expected, planned, or wanted.  From the outside, it probably looks like a perfect progression, but from the inside, it's been too much.

During the six years that I've been there, my school has had four different prinicpals, and one position in my department has been held by six different people.  There's a lot of tension and turnover in public schools currently, and my school is not immune.

For the past three years, I've requested to return to half time teaching.  Last year I tried to move to a middle school math position which was half time.  Nothing worked out, so I tried to keep going.

I blogged very little this spring because I just didn't have energy or words anymore. 

I thought about taking a year off, returning to an aide position, or leaving the profession entirely.

Finally though, this year, things have worked out so that I can continue teaching German at my current school but half time.

I am so, so thankful.  

I can feel my energy, joy, and love of teaching begin to return.  

I spent a week in Germany with my closest friend and got to attend the Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag in Dortmund with her.  It was the best professional development I could have imagined.    

Yesterday I saw the people at Target setting out the school supplies, and I felt quiet excitement, rather than dread, at the thought of the new school year.  

I'm currently scheduled to teach two sections of German 2 and one section of German 1, and I couldn't be happier.  I know that this slower, less is more pace is right for me.