Feeling Overwhelmed as an Ag Teacher? A 4-Step Strategy for Asking for Help
Something has seriously changed in my teacher brain once passing the decade mark in the classroom.
My to-do List will never be done. And that’s ok!
To be honest, I am not one who needs to check boxes to feel accomplished. I would much rather vision cast and brainstorm new ideas, however I fully understandI that many of my teacher friends (and even my husband) need to get tasks done to finally relax.
Regardless if you are a Type A check box teacher or a Type B go-with-the-flow, you may have felt the pressure of those tasks needing to get done. And maybe you have even worked yourself to the bone trying to make all the things happen on your own. Why? Because you might think…
The only way to get it done is to do it myself
I am the only one who can do this right
I don’t have time to train someone, so I have to do it
I have BEEN THERE and I’ll be honest it took me a while to realize I didn’t have to feel this way. I didn’t have to feel alone in my classroom, as an advisor, and most specifically with all the tasks on my to-do list.
If you actually did all the work on an Ag Teacher’s plate by yourself I think it would be a 24 hour/7 days a week/365 days a year job with more work to do.
But it doesn’t have to be this way if you implement one thing into your career:
Asking for help.
But, you might be saying…
What do I even ask for?
What can I even ask for help?
What if people say no?
Those are very valid questions that we have crowdsourced the answers to. Because we get it, asking for help is an acquired taste that a lot of us overachievers hate more than the taste of Vegemite or Robitussin.
I have suffered alone many a times.
We all found ourselves at this place…we hit our breaking point of searching through Facebook Groups, TPT, Pinterest Boards and TikTok.
Our turning point was when we decided to SHOW UP. When we decide enough is enough and it’s time to show up for ourselves by seeking the help we need.
And showing up for yourself and asking for the help you need is vital because SUPPORT ISN’T SENT, IT IS SOUGHT.
Those good natured teachers, community members and admin who have said to you “I'm happy to help” “just shoot me a text if you need me.” or “I’m always here to help” don’t know you need help unless you tell them. It isn’t on them to check in on you constantly asking if you need support. It is YOUR job to stand up and say “it’s time, I need help.”
In this blog post, we’re sharing four steps that you can use as you start utilizing your community to get the help you need.
4 Steps to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed as an Ag Teacher
Step 1: What do you REALLY need help with?
First things first, what is the monkey on your back right now. What is that thing that you cannot stop thinking about even though you aren’t at school? What is that thing that no matter how much time and effort you put into problem solving you cannot find a solution? You need to name that exact thing before you can ask for help.
One of the biggest problems with asking for help is the CLARITY of your problem. When we are clear on what we need help with we can be strategic about who we are asking for help. Which leads us to step 2.
Step 2: WHO Can Help?
Now that you know your problem, start brainstorming who could help you with that problem. Who do you already know that could help you find a solution?
Here are some ideas to get you going, but remember that during this step you are starting with a name, not a solution.:
A teacher
A former mentor
An administrator
An ag teacher friend
An industry contact
“That person I always text”
Step 3: Can THEY help?
I can already tell that some of you might be stumped on step 2. You might be thinking “if I knew who to ask I would have already done it.” Maybe it is truly you don’t know who could help. Then we need to start thinking about GROUPS of people that might be able to get you connected with the right person.
Remember for this step you don’t need the exact person to help you solve, just a door to get you to that person. Here are some ideas that might help:
State Ag Teachers Association
FFA Staff
Extension
Direct support team in your school
The G&G Team/Community
Step 4: WHAT do I need to ask?
OK, hopefully you have a person or a group that you feel confident asking for help from. Now, we need to get to asking the question. We as ag teachers tend to have our own vocabulary and ways of saying things that might not make sense to others, so this step is imperative so we clearly share our problem. We know that vague problems get vague help BUT specific problems get solved.
Here are a few sentence frames that might help you get those specific details out to your identified solution person/group:
“What’s overwhelming me is ___________. I think this because_______________”
“I am finding______________ very difficult because______________”
“I am stuck on _________________ because____________________.”
Once you have completed Steps 1-4 you are READY to reach out to the person/people you want to get assistance from. We absolutely know as teachers ourselves that asking for help can seem daunting. But, what we also know is that you might not be alone in this. Someone out there knows the solution and just doesn’t know you need it.
Teachers don’t always lack support, they lack clarity about who to ask and what to ask for. This 4 step strategy is your ticket to getting closer to solving your complex problems. As you step into asking for help remember that asking for help isn’t about being less capable, it's about being more precise.
And if you are looking for specific help in the Agriculture Education space, your first stop to getting connected to experts in our very specialized area is the newly revamped and launched G&G Specialist Roster. You can even add your name to the roster in areas you are an expert to be a help when someone else is in need.
