You Are Enough: Surviving February Burnout and Evaluation Pressure

February burnout hits hard for teachers—testing pressure, evaluations, and the constant push to do more can make even experienced educators question their worth. In this episode, we talk honestly about staying grounded, protecting your values, and teaching authentically during the hardest stretch of the school year.

February can feel like a pressure cooker—testing talk, evaluation season, and the quiet drumbeat of “do more” echoing through the halls. We get real about that weight and share a grounded way to protect your energy, your values, and your classroom community without slipping into performative teaching.

We start by unpacking the scarcity mindset that tells some teachers they’re “second string,” then flip the script: your worth isn’t measured by a rubric or a test window. From there, we reframe observations with a simple shift—think hospitality, not performance. You still teach authentically, but you prepare for “company” so students and you feel ready. We walk through practical moves for pre‑ and post‑conferences, how to bring evidence that shows growth beyond a 45‑minute slice, and language that explains mid‑lesson pivots with confidence.

We also tackle the fidelity trap when big‑ticket programs underdeliver. Instead of grinding through one‑size‑fits‑all tasks, we advocate for principled alignment: meet the requirement briefly, then pivot to what actually serves kids. STEM becomes the spark—hands‑on, standards‑aligned, and community-building. Using a read‑aloud like After the Fall, we model how to turn resilience into an engineering challenge that builds grit, creativity, and collaboration. It’s not “more work”; it’s better work that lights up learners and maps to what evaluators hope to see.

If February feels heavy, let this be your reminder: you don’t have to do it all to matter. Protect what aligns with your heart, document the good, and let your authentic practice lead the way. If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a teacher who needs the boost, and leave a quick review—what aligned choice will you make this week?

Links Mentioned in the Show:

February Freebie- GRIT STEM Story Station

Transcript

Welcome And February’s Focus

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to One Tired Teacher, episode 280. Teachers, you are enough. Even in February. So welcome to February. We are going to do a little bit of a kind of a series this month with the focus really being more on reassurance and permission. You are already enough. You don't need to perform to matter. So we're going to be talking about that. We're going to be talking about STEM as a spark, and we're going to be having doing some real talk. So, with that, I hope you stick around.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Welcome to One Tired Teacher. And even though she may need a nap, this teacher is ready to wake up and speak her truth about the trials and treasures of teaching. Here she is, wide awake. Wait, she's not asleep right now, is she? She she is awake, right? Okay. From Trina Debori Teaching and Learning, your host, Trina Debori.

The Weight Of Testing And Evaluations

Scarcity Mindset And Teacher Worth

Rethinking Evaluations As Hosting Company

Beyond The Snapshot: Telling The Full Story

Programs, Fidelity, And Professional Judgment

Why STEM Aligns With Values

Close The Door And Do What’s Right

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Hey, so welcome. Welcome to welcome to February. Isn't it crazy? It's just uh, I don't know. It really comes with a lot of pressure, I feel like. We are fully into all of learning. We're a little bit out of the season. I mean, we might have a couple of things here, like the Super Bowl and the, you know, um, evaluation season. And we are starting to talk about testing, which can feel so heavy and so upsetting, whether we are an intermediate teacher who are in testing grades and we are we've got a lot of pressure, a lot of pressure for those folks, or if you're in the primary grades and all you hear about is the pressure that the intermediate intermediate teachers have. And you are kind of constantly reminded that you you kind of matter less. That's what it feels like. I feel like that's a message. I remember one year with my principal, he called um our intermediate teachers the money grade, and called us the second string players. And I was really hurt. I felt really hurt by that. I I felt, I understand that there was pressure, and I can't imagine what that pressure felt like because I didn't experience that. So I didn't have firsthand experience of of that kind of pressure. I did, however, understand what it felt like to be called a second string player, as if my job mattered less or what I was doing wasn't as important. And when you are building a foundation with children, that is very important. We all are important. The sad part is that the system feels like a scarcity system. There's not enough resources, there's not enough time in the day, there's not enough praise, there's not enough words of affirmation, there's not enough support, there's not enough kindness, there's not enough tools, there's not enough anything. And so when we say things like that to teachers, it makes them feel worse and it makes them not feel valued. And that is really hard. But you don't have to perform your way into being worthy. When you show up as your authentic self, you change lives. And that doesn't matter what grade you're in. That's important and necessary and relevant and true for all teachers and all grades and all subjects. Whether you are not even an elementary school teacher, if you're a middle or high school or you're a sociology teacher or an art teacher or whatever you're doing, when you show up as yourself, your true self, you matter. You matter. So let's talk about some of the things that make February a little bit more difficult. And that can be, you know, pressure. It can a big thing can be pressure. And when we have pressure on us, it doesn't, I mean, I know some people feel like that helps them like, you know, kick it in, kick it into gear and and like they thrive on pressure. And I I don't know a lot of teachers that are in that boat, though. I don't know if teachers, people who who dedicate their lives in kind of an altruistic profession because they want to make a difference for kids, for students. I don't know if pressure is the right tactic for teachers. And it can be, it can be a lot. It can feel like a lot, whether it's whether it is around testing or whether it's around evaluations. Evaluations feel like a lot. There's a pressure to perform in a level that is, you know, beyond everyday classroom. And that can be really stressful. And I think the evaluation system is tricky because it wasn't created. Most people are using the Danielson model, and it wasn't created to base your pay or even base your like status as a teacher. It was supposed to be a tool created by Charlotte Danielson. It was supposed to be a tool created to help teachers grow, but it doesn't feel like that, does it? It kind of feels like they come in and they look for what you're doing wrong. And instead of helping and supporting you, it's like a tool used to diminish you. And I think that can be really frustrating. And so I think we have to let go of that performative teaching because that feels inauthentic to most of us. But I do, I do, on the other hand, think I think of a way for me that helped me kind of look at it in a way that made sense. And it was what I normally do in the classroom, I think is is meaningful and important. And I think it matters. And I think that kids feel connected and they're learning and they are loving it. However, when somebody comes in and they're standing over me or they're watching and they're taking notes and they've got to check some kind of rubric, I get it's a nerve-wracking feeling. And and I started to think of it as, and then we would have these conversations where people are like, I'm not putting on a dog and pony show, and they would get all mad and upset. And I and I'm like, We're not, no, we're not performing for the principal. But what we are doing is having company over. You know, when you when you live in your house every single day, it's not necessarily the cleanest and the best every minute of the day. You might not even have your table set, you know, every single day. You might not have your beds made every day. But when you have company coming, you do those things. You make your bed, you clean up the clutter, you at least shove it under the couch. Like you're going to present, you're going to put your best foot forward. It doesn't mean that you live like that every single second of the day, but it is like, you know, it's because you want your company to be comfortable and you want to show them, you know, the best version of you. So that's kind of what it's like when you're inviting or not inviting, when you're allowing a principal to come into your classroom. You want to think of it as I'm preparing for company. I'm not going to give them my everyday. I've got laundry on the dining room table that needs to be folded, or I've got, you know, cabinets open because my son has ADHD and he forgets to close the cabinets. That drives me crazy. Um, I'm gonna, I'm gonna like close the cabinets, I'm gonna put the laundry away and I'm gonna clean up a little bit. So that's that's a different perspective that sometimes helps people think, okay, I can do that. I can be ready for company. And I can stop thinking of it as a performance and think of it more as I'm showing you my best version of myself, and so are my kids. And here we go. Like, welcome in, come on in. Another thing to think about is sometimes what happens in that 45-minute time period, which is such a long time to have someone watching you, is not everything that goes on in your classroom. Like they are only seeing a snippet of something. And they need, and that's why we have, you know, the post-observation or even the pre-observation. We we have an opportunity to explain and share and provide other types of evidence of the things that we're doing. And I think it's important that we do that so that they get a full picture. And if they have questions, we are ready to answer those questions. So that's just something to think about. Um, I know it's just an important time of the year to recenter on what you know is true in your heart. And that is what really matters. So sometimes we're asked to do things that we know don't feel right. They don't feel comfortable. I was recently reading some comments on my TikTok video about the We Do Not Care Club teacher chapter. And someone was saying that they hated all these programs and that they didn't work, and then we were spending all this money and it wasn't helping kids and it was hurting kids, which is exactly how I felt. That's one of the reasons I left the classroom was that specific reason. iReady. It was basically on about iReady. I didn't want to do that to my kids. And I totally get what this person was saying on my, you know, my TikTok video. And I was thinking, yes. And the problem is, is they do spend all this money. And then so then they want us to do it with fidelity. Oh, that word. And um, and and we know because we are experienced professionals, we know when something's working or not working. And we need the flexibility to be able to pivot. If it's not working, we're not going to keep doing it just because you spent a million dollars on it. That's not my fault, you spend a million dollars on something that doesn't work. So we can't allow our children to be used in this experiment and then to just fail, keep failing until they realize, oh, I guess we better stop using this. So that's the thing. Like we want to make sure that we're staying centered to what we know is true in our heart, which is one of the reasons why I feel things like STEM are so important because it feels like it aligns with my values. It allows kids to explore, to be creative, to work as a community, to think critically, which some of these programs don't do. And that's why I think it's so important to have some STEM elements in a classroom. And that feels more aligned to what I believe and what my heart says. Now I can still do all the things they've asked me to do, and it's not an added thing. It's kind of a, it's kind of a pivot. It's kind of a, okay, you want me to use this program. I'm gonna use it for like a few minutes, and then I'm gonna, I'm gonna jump into something that I know is more meaningful. And I think that can be really important. And I know some people are like, wait a minute, you're telling me not to listen to them. And maybe I am saying that because again, yes, they're doing evaluations, but they can't do evaluations in all of our classrooms at the same time. And so sometimes closing our door and doing what aligns to our heart and doing what's right for kids is the most important thing we can do. So, if nothing else, remember this you don't have to do it all to matter. I'm gonna say that again. You don't have to do it all to matter. So just keep that in mind. And as a little February freebie, I want to offer you a February freebie. If you're looking for a simple way to help kids experience like grit and perseverance instead of just hearing about it, I also have a furry grit STEM story station, which is a STEM story station goes with the read aloud. And in this case, the freebie can it goes with the book After the Fall, which is like a Humpty Dumpty, you know, after the fall book. It's such a good, cute book. There's so many things that you can do with it as far as ELA standards go. And then you take it a little step further by taking the problem and having kids create solutions around it. And you can use this if it fits, you can use this in your classroom to get kids thinking critically, creatively, collaboratively, and really building that community in your classroom, which can really make all the difference. And honestly, when they're looking at, you know, elements on that rubric, classroom community does play a factor. So that's something we can do that still feels aligned to our heart. I'm gonna drop it in the show notes, but you can grab it at Trina Deborah Teaching and Learning.com forward slash, I think it's just grit, but let me double check. Um, yes, so Trina Deborah Teachingand Learning.com forward slash grit, and I will drop it in the show notes. All right, my friend, but just remember that what you are doing is enough, and you are enough. Until next time, sweet dreams and sleep tight.