Get ConnectED catherine williams

Welcome to the Get Connected podcast.

I’m Catherine a retired teacher, with over 30 years devoted to the well-being & education of children.

One of the biggest challenges to teaching is having a supportive connected community. I began this podcast to help build a supportive community through mentoring, sharing experiences, taking care of your well-being & being connect-ED.

My goal now is to extend that support and connection further into the community & not just with educators as the need for connection or reconnection is at its highest.

Do you struggle with completing challenging tasks?

Are you a procrastinator or do you have strict self-discipline?

Maybe a bit of both?

In today’s episode, I’d like to discuss struggles with procrastination & making excuses for avoiding this one task I have been trying to accomplish for months.

Why do we procrastinate?

How do you pull yourself out of a procrastination funk?

So are you making an excuse or is it a legitimate reason?

The hardest part right now is to show up. Above all else, keep showing up for yourself. I know how much you love your students and you don’t want to let anyone down, but you are human first. When you are ready, after you have met your needs then you will have more strength for others. You will be able to show up for your teaching role & for your school community.

Today’s guest is Beck from @continuousclassroom on Instagram. She is a teacher, relieving assistant principal and a mum. Beck is a strong advocate for justice and equity for all, environmental sustainability, being authentic & taking care of your wellbeing.

Beck was one of the first connections I made on social media to become friends in real life hence her call to be my first guest. We talk about making connections with students, family, friends and yourself. I hope you value what Beck has to share just as much as I do.

Up to this point, we have endured a global pandemic for about 16 months so far, making this season extremely challenging.

Throughout this year, everyone has experienced restrictions & lockdowns & it’s far from over.

Here’s my little piece of wisdom: Let yourself feel. It’s natural to feel angry, frustrated, isolated & sad.

It’s alright to grieve the loss of freedom, contact with other people, especially family, the lost opportunities, the cancellations, no travelling & the missed gatherings with others.

Be compassionate with yourself.

Allow yourself time.

Acknowledge your feelings.

Create ways to relax and to get rest.

Be patient.

Hold onto hope.

Reach out.

Stay connectED

I had forgotten my purpose. I had forgotten to show up as myself. I retreated from showing the courage to be vulnerable.

I retreated from connecting with others.

Have you recently hit a wall, a self-imposed barrier?

Sometimes walls are there so we can lean on them & rest.

When you are ready, you’ll find the strength & courage to dismantle that wall. ‘How’ you might ask? One brick at a time.

We connect through our stories, through our vulnerability.

We are not alone.

At the start of this school year, I spoke on a Beginning teachers Webinar hosted by the wonderful Australian Educational website Teachstarter and I would like to check back in with our beginning, new and graduate teachers.