This profession is demanding. That’s just one of the reasons why it irritates when someone outside the profession tells me that teachers have it easy. Ha! We all know that 9 out of 10 people who say that wouldn’t last a week in our shoes. But I digress.

A major problem with the high demand in this profession is that it becomes to easy to lose sight of what matters most: our health. I’m not just talking physical health, I’m also talking mental health, emotional health, and spiritual health. We must find what we hear people so often talk about called work-life balance.

Work-life balance is hammered into new administrators, but I fell into a major imbalance when I taught first grade. I learned valuable lessons that I still carry with me today. I also make it a mission of mine to make sure other educators are taking care of themselves as well.

To help spread the message this week, I’ve invited Dr. Jon Bartelt onto Anchored in Education to talk more about educator self-care. Jon is an amazing example of someone who takes care of himself and makes sure that his work life and personal life remain in harmony. I do believe you will find a lot of insight and information by listening to what Jon has to say today.

About Jon

Dr. Jon Bartelt is the Superintendent of Schools in Bloomingdale School District 13, serving over 1,400 preK-8 students and their families in northeast DuPage County in Illinois.  Bloomingdale School District 13 has maintained focus on a set of core values that have resulted in success throughout the organization: ensuring that every student will learn, treating everyone with honor and respect, and working together to achieve. Dr. Bartelt has been an educator since chalkboards were in fashion (29 years) and has served as a superintendent for 18 of those years.  His learning journey has taken him from Valparaiso University to Harvard University and finishing (only formally) at Loyola University in Chicago.  Dr. Bartelt currently serves as the director of professional development for the DuPage Division of the Illinois Association of School Administrators, and most importantly, as husband to Julie, father of David, Carlye, Madelyn, Bridget, Maclaine, Harper, and grandfather to Daniel, Juliana, adn Jackson.   

Resources from this episode:

  •  Jon and I talked about the Calm app. We both have this app and recommend you try it out too. Find it at www.calm.com