Sometimes We Teeter on the Edge

What I Learned In School Today: Sometimes we teeter on the edge.

This morning we held a meeting to discuss a student who is having a difficult time at the start of the school year. This student is significantly behind academically, but behavioral concerns including defiance and physical aggression toward adults are even more urgent. Several professionals in the school and district are on the team working to determine what supports and services can be provided to this student to increase the likelihood of success.

Everyone in the meeting was working with the common goal of doing everything we can for the student. Despite a shared objective, the meeting was tense, not because of personal issues between the participants in the room, but because of the overall stress level. The pressure we put on ourselves is immense. We want our kids to succeed. We want to help them however we can. Often, we want to have superpowers so we can be in two places at once and make made situations go away.

We don’t have superpowers, just high expectations of ourselves. When those expectations aren’t met, the stress level rises. Now we have to work to lower the stress.