One Tired Teacher: Teaching Without Burnout
One Tired Teacher: Teaching Without Burnout is a podcast for tired teachers who want to keep teaching without burning out. If you’re exhausted by constant pressure, shifting expectations, and the feeling that you’re never doing enough, this show offers grounded support and a practical perspective to help you teach sustainably.
Each episode explores teaching without burnout—from navigating evaluations and testing season to simplifying instruction, setting boundaries, and choosing classroom practices that are calm, humane, and actually work. We talk honestly about what teaching feels like right now, and how to protect your energy, your values, and your students’ learning without performative extras.
This is real talk for educators who love kids but are done sacrificing themselves for the job. You’ll find encouragement, classroom-rooted insight, and permission to trust what you already know—because sustainable teaching isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing what matters.
If you’re a burned-out teacher looking for clarity, calm, and a way forward that doesn’t cost your well-being, you’re in the right place.
One Tired Teacher: Teaching Without Burnout
Give Yourself Grace: Simple Ways Teachers Reset And Return Renewed
The holidays are done, the calendar is rolling toward a new year, and your energy tank is somewhere between low and blinking. Let’s make winter break feel like it actually refills you. We pull back the curtain on what a real teacher reset looks like when you set aside perfect plans and choose small, human rituals that restore your mind, body, and heart.
We start with the quiet stuff that matters: not setting an alarm, finishing the book that’s been waiting on your nightstand, stepping outside for a slow walk without turning it into a task. From there, we offer five simple reflection prompts—what worked, what felt heavy, what made you smile, what you want more of, and what lights you up—plus an easy way to use voice memos if writing feels like one task too many. This is reflection for you, not your students, not your admin, and not social media.
Then we take the pressure off January. If prepping a welcome-back routine feels soothing, do it. If not, log off and rest. You’ll hear why presence beats perfection, how a light-touch back-from-break packet can ease re-entry without the Sunday Scaries, and why choosing grace over goals is the most strategic move you can make for your classroom and your own nervous system. Expect practical tips, warm encouragement, and permission to reset without guilt so you return with a clearer mind and a steadier heart.
If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a teacher who needs a gentle nudge, and leave a quick review. Your support helps more tired teachers find a softer, saner way back to school.
Links Mentioned in the Show:
Welcome Back From Winter Break Packet
🌿 You can’t pour from an empty cup — but with the Sub Survival System, you’ll never have to panic when you need a day.
Ready-to-go sub plans designed by a teacher who’s been there.
Because rest isn’t a luxury — it’s part of the job.
👉 [Explore the Sub Survival System on TpT]
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Welcome to One Tired Teacher episode 275, Winter Break Reset. How teachers actually refill their cup. So today it is the last Monday of 2025. So what what day are we? We've got December 29th. So you actually made it through the holidays. And maybe you are listening just for fun because you finally get a chance to listen, or maybe you're like, I can't believe she did an episode during the holiday. Well, I did. So it's gonna be a short and sweet one, but it's just for you. Hope you stick around.
SPEAKER_01: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 is awake, right? Okay. From Trina Deborah Teaching and Learning, your host, Trina Deborah.
SPEAKER_00:Hey, so welcome, welcome back to One Tired Teacher. Today's episode is, like I said, short and sweet and brewed just right, like your favorite cup of coffee or your favorite cup of hot chocolate. Let's talk about what it really means to reset over winter break. I'm not talking about spa days, unless that's your thing. Like that's always nice, but you know, we do have all the rest of our responsibilities of life that have kicked in while we are on a much needed break. I'm talking about the small real things that help you feel like you again. Not the teacher version of you, but the human version of you. Here's what I've learned over the years and what I hope you'll remember during this break. Mental reset doesn't require a Pinterest perfect plan. Sometimes it's just not setting an alarm or finally finishing a book you want to read or sleeping in an extra 30 minutes a day, or going for walks, or cuzzling up by a fireplace. Reflecting can be refueled. This is a great time to pull out a simple reading response or a writing prompt. I know what you're thinking. You're like, what? Wait a minute. But this is not for your students. This is for you. What has worked for you this fall? What felt heavy? What made you smile? What do you want to do more of? What lights you up? Those are the kind of things I want you to just do a little journal work on. This is not an assignment. You do it or you don't do it. Maybe you even open up your phone and get audio notes and just start talking. That's another way of journaling and that works as well. Just reflect on it. Putting in and writing really allows you to see it in a different way. And then let January, let the January you off the hook. If it feels good to prep something now, go ahead, do it. If it doesn't, don't worry about it. You don't have to. And all you gotta do is just take it easy. And if you want, like you want the back to school or back from break packet ready to go, it's like three bucks. Grab it. Then you're all set and you got some activities to do when you return. And if not, no worries, don't do anything, just log off, and that's okay too. This episode isn't about goals, it's about grace. You made it through another calendar year of teaching. You should up showed up in a way, in all the ways that matter. You deserve to reset without re without guilt and start fresh when you're ready. If you need something light to help you ease back in, I will link to that, you know, welcome back packet in the show notes, and that's a really great place to start. And if you don't need anything else, don't worry about that. And next week, I'll be back with a January jump start. No pressure, just a gentle way to get your teacher brain humming again. Until then, breathe deep, refill your cup. You're doing great. Till next time, until next year. Sweet dreams and sleep tight.