Maybe it’s just me.

Right now, as an educator, I don’t need motivation.

Right now, as an educator, I don’t need inspiration.

Right now, as an educator, I just need honesty.

Maybe it’s just me.

As an educator, there are highs and lows each day. Hopefully many many more highs than lows.

Yes, we probably dwell on the few lows more than we celebrate the many highs. I think that’s human nature.

But ignoring or trying to suppress the lows isn’t healthy either.

In fact, I would go so far as to say we are alienating educators in the process of only being “positive” and term those who vent frustrations or bring up issues as “haters.” When I scroll through my Twitter feed, I often get depressed. I feel like something is wrong with me. That I am not as good of an educator as others out there. Every tweet seems to be inspirational quotes and motivating messages. Or how we can be even better for our kids if we simply give more time, energy, and love to our students.

Maybe it’s just me.

I get it. Failures and struggles aren’t glamorous. They aren’t easy to hide behind like an overtly positive message. They don’t sell books. They don’t get you consulting gigs or speaking engagements. They don’t get you, followers. They are personal and open you up to being vulnerable.

But, what sharing failures and struggles do are make you human and relatable. We grow more from sharing failures than we do from sharing successes. We become better teachers because of the growth of our mistakes.

We can advance education and improve it greatly if we focus on what is truly behind the frustrations, mistakes, and failures that we have. That I can get behind. That is what I need.

But maybe it’s just me.