The Power of Showing Up

I'm Brian Martin, a second grade teacher who find so much joy and fulfillment in what I do. Being in the classroom for almost 20 years, I know all about the time, effort and energy that you are continuously pouring into those you serve. That's why each week, I'm going to bring you an inspiring message to give you a little joy, and help fill your cup back up. Thank you for being here. And welcome to the teaching champions podcast. What's going on everybody? This is episode number two, the power of showing up. Now before I get started, I just want to say thank you so much for everything that you're doing right now. Listen, there's so much instability. There's so much uncertainty right now. Not just within our own homes, our own classrooms, but within our community as a whole. And what a school does, it provides stability, and provides comfort provides something that the community can rally around that they can bond together over. And it can really pull a community through a hard time. And everything that you're doing right now, all the love all that hard work, everything that you're doing is playing such a pivotal role. And it's making a huge difference. So keep doing amazing things. Keep being there for each other, and make sure you're keeping an eye on yourself. And we got to take care of ourselves during this time. Now, I've been teaching for 17 years, and I teach second grade currently 100% remote. And it's a lot of work. How many of you can agree that this year right now we are work, putting in some massive amount of hours. It's like that first year all over again. And not only are we putting in those hours, but those feelings that you get from that first year where you're constantly feeling rundown, you're constantly feeling as if you're trying to catch up, if you're overwhelmed. And I was having a conversation with a colleague, that she's absolutely amazing. I have so much respect for her and she is so good. And she cares so much. And she was telling me that there's been moments this school year, where she is felt as if that she has failed her students. She has failed her students. Now this is someone that puts in massive amounts of hours is unbelievable what she does. So hard work and pour so much love into her lessons. And she's been left with feeling as if she's been failing or students. And she's not alone. How many of you out there have had those feelings where you felt like you're not making them pack. Like you're dropping the ball, we're not doing enough. But when those feelings happen, it is so important right now that we hit pause, that we take a step back that we breathe. And we remind ourselves of what we do do. Because there's certain things that we do on a daily basis that we don't realize has so much effect so much power. You see, just by showing up just by being present just by being there. You mean so much to those young champions that come see you every single day. There's champions that will go to bed tonight. And they can't wait to wake up in the morning. So they can be in your presence. Because what you do when you show up, what you do each and every single day is you provide a place for them that is filled with warmth and joy and love. You provide a place for them where they can feel safe and accepted. You fill them, you fill them with so much love and so much joy. You let them know about their strengths and what they can do and who they can become. And there's some students when they're home, when they're not in your presence. They're not told that in fact, for some of As the exact opposite. They're told everything that they can't be, or they're told how bad they are all those negative traits that someone views on this, but when they're with you, you fill them up. And there's power in that. And there's so much power when those scholars when those champions can show up in your classroom, and they know that they can show up that they can fail, that they can make mistakes, and they're still going to be loved. They can slip up, and you're still going to be there, that you're not going to give up on them, that you always have their back. There's so much power in that. And that's all happening, just because you show up just because you're there just because you're present. We put so much value and so much pressure on ourselves to meet the academic needs. Sometimes we undervalue what we do, when we show up when we're there. And we let those champions know that they're seen and heard and believed in so much power in that, my friends. So this school year, there's gonna be moments when we knock it out of a park with our lessons. But there's also going to be many moments when our lessons might fall short. They might not be what we're accustomed them to be in those feelings where we feel like we're letting students down, we're not doing enough that we're failing our students, they might creep in. And if they creep in, pause, step back. remind yourself of what you do. Remind yourself that you showed up today. remind yourself of how you spoke strength and greatness within one year champions, how you were there to listen to one of your champions, how you were there to hold a champion accountable. There's so much that you do when you show up. So keep being amazing. Keep doing great things. Keep making your impact. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being part of the teaching champion community. And always remember, we're better together and we're not just going to survive the school year. We're going to thrive this school year. So as we go out into this week, everybody that step into our strength, step into our shine, and let's build these champions up. Have a great week, everybody.