Every fall, teachers ride a wave of opening day energy into the new school year, and then that wave breaks. Educators have a name for the slump that follows: the October Blues. It can hit new teachers hard enough to make them question whether they belong in the profession at all. The harder question is whether anything can soften the landing, or whether every teacher simply has to wait it out.

A Rookie Who Never Saw It Coming

Mike Anderson is an educational consultant, a former classroom teacher and the author of Rekindle Your Professional Fire.” He knows the slump from the inside, because his own first year of teaching came with a schedule that would have flattened almost anyone. At 22, he taught fourth grade all day, then raced off to coach two swim teams, with weekend meets on top. He was working more than 100 hours a week, and he never put a name on why he felt so run down.

He later watched a group of struggling teachers in Fairfax County, Virginia, and returned the following fall to find the teachers looking like different people. Their explanation caught him off guard. Later, a year-long tally of lost minutes forced him to rethink what was really wearing him down.

Start Small, Then Ask for Help

Mike’s advice for anyone in the thick of it is to skip the big overhaul. Name the one thing dragging you down, then pick a single bite-sized step that fits. Low on energy? Drink a tall glass of water before the morning coffee. Feeling alone in a building full of people? Commit to a 10 minute walk and talk with a colleague a few afternoons a week.

A slump that lingers is a different story. If the low feeling lasts more than a couple of weeks, Mike says it's time to reach out to a mentor, an administrator, or a trusted colleague.

What School Leaders Can Do Beyond Snacks and Thank Yous

After a year of logging every drill, meeting and assembly that cut into his teaching time, Mike found he had lost more than 30 instructional days, about a sixth of the school year. He emailed the numbers to his superintendent and got a polite note of appreciation in return. Even so, the exercise showed him that his sense of falling behind was not a personal failing.

For school leaders, Mike points past one-time gestures like a staff appreciation breakfast. He encourages them to build autonomy, competence, purpose, belonging, curiosity, and fun into the daily and weekly rhythm of the school. Opening a staff meeting with a few minutes for teachers to share successes is one small place to start.

Listen to the episode.

Stories Mentioned in This Episode

The “October Blues” Are Coming. Here’s How Teachers Can Beat Them, by Ira Apfel

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