Enjoy Teaching Again | Elementary, Teacher Burnout, Student Behavior, SEL, Classroom Management

Have you ever found yourself typing “I quit teaching” into Google late at night?

With the behavior challenges, burnout, increasing demands, and everything else teachers are carrying right now, it’s understandable to wonder: Is teaching still worth it?

In this episode, I’m taking a different look at that question. I’ll share a deeply personal story about my mom, a teacher who once tried to talk me out of becoming a teacher—and something I learned after she passed away that changed the way I think about the impact we have on our students.

I’ll also talk about why surviving the school day isn’t enough, how connection and creative learning can help us create something more meaningful in our classrooms, and why your impact may be much bigger than you can see right now.

If you’re exhausted, discouraged, or wondering whether all of this is still worth it, this episode is for you.

In this episode, I’ll help you:

Reframe the question of whether teaching is “worth it”

Recognize the impact you may be having even when you don’t see it

Think differently about connection, creativity, and student engagement

Start noticing the small moments that remind you why you became a teacher

 

~Elizabeth

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

 

Article about my mom and her impact: https://theinspiredclassroom.com/2019/07/starfish-in-the-hospital/

 

Join me at the Overnight Teacher Art Retreat! Learn more here: https://theinspiredclassroom.com/retreat

 

✨ The Classroom Reset – The online course that helps you improve student behaviors, increase engagement and support students' SEL, so that you can enjoy teaching again.

Learn more and enroll here: https://theinspiredclassroom.com/reset

 

Grab the RESET Roadmap that takes you through all 5 steps of the framework that leads to improved student behavior and more teacher joy!!

https://theinspiredclassroom.com/roadmap

 

Have a question you want me to answer on the podcast? Record it here: https://theinspiredclassroom.com/podcast

 

 

Become an Inspired Classroom Insider by joining our email list. You'll get real solutions to calm classroom behaviors delivered to your inbox each week! https://theinspiredclassroom.com/insider

 

💬 Let’s keep this conversation going! (There's so much to talk about!) Come join our free Inspired Classroom Community where creative, passionate teachers connect, share ideas, and cheer each other on.

It’s your safe space to be inspired, supported, and reminded you’re not in this alone.

👉 theinspiredclassroom.com/community

 

 

✨ Connect with me!

Find me on LinkedIn: elizapeterson

Follow & DM me on Facebook @theinspiredclassroom

Follow & DM me on Instagram @theinspiredclassroom

Watch & Subscribe on YouTube @theinspiredclassroom

What if your professional development actually left you feeling inspired, energized, and excited to get back to your classroom?

After years of teaching through screens, Zoom meetings, packed schedules, and increasing demands, I’m bringing my Teacher Art Retreats back—and I couldn’t be more excited.

In this episode, I’m sharing what the Overnight Teacher Art Retreat actually is, why I decided the time was right to bring it back, and what makes this kind of teacher-centered professional development so different.

I’ll take you behind the scenes of the retreat experience, share why teachers have returned to these retreats again and again, and help you decide whether this is the kind of experience you’ve been craving.

This isn’t just about learning another strategy for your students. It’s about making time for you to create, connect, recharge, and remember why you love being an educator.

The January 2027 Overnight Teacher Art Retreat
📅 January 22–23, 2027 (Friday evening through Saturday)

📍 Essex Woods, Essex, Massachusetts

🎨 Hands-on, arts-based professional development

🏡 Overnight retreat experience

🍽️ Meals and materials included

📚 12 hours of PD credit

🎓 Optional graduate credit available

There are only 25 spots, so if something in you just lit up hearing the words teacher retreat, go check it out.

Save your spot here:

theinspiredclassroom.com/retreat

I would absolutely love to see you there. ❤️

~Elizabeth

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

 

Join me at the Overnight Teacher Art Retreat! Learn more here: https://theinspiredclassroom.com/retreat

 

✨ The Classroom Reset – The online course that helps you improve student behaviors, increase engagement and support students' SEL, so that you can enjoy teaching again.

Learn more and enroll here: https://theinspiredclassroom.com/reset

 

Grab the RESET Roadmap that takes you through all 5 steps of the framework that leads to improved student behavior and more teacher joy!!

https://theinspiredclassroom.com/roadmap

 

Have a question you want me to answer on the podcast? Record it here: https://theinspiredclassroom.com/podcast

 

 

Become an Inspired Classroom Insider by joining our email list. You'll get real solutions to calm classroom behaviors delivered to your inbox each week! https://theinspiredclassroom.com/insider

 

💬 Let’s keep this conversation going! (There's so much to talk about!) Come join our free Inspired Classroom Community where creative, passionate teachers connect, share ideas, and cheer each other on.

It’s your safe space to be inspired, supported, and reminded you’re not in this alone.

👉 theinspiredclassroom.com/community

 

 

✨ Connect with me!

Find me on LinkedIn: elizapeterson

Follow & DM me on Facebook @theinspiredclassroom

Follow & DM me on Instagram @theinspiredclassroom

Watch & Subscribe on YouTube @theinspiredclassroom

We've all done it — scrolled through classroom set up pictures online and felt that mix of inspired and overwhelmed. Well, whether your classroom looks like it could be in a magazine or not, there are some things that can be added to make sure your environment fosters calm and belonging.

 

So, in this episode, I'm sharing a few specific things I actually put in my own room every year to do just that!

 

~Elizabeth

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

63 | Is Your Calm-Down Corner Even Working? The Mistakes Teachers Make—and How to Fix Them
The Break Box — Calm Down Strategies for Classroom Management: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Calm-Down-Strategies-for-Classroom-Management-The-Break-Box-10348201

 

Grab the RESET Roadmap that takes you through all 5 steps of the framework that leads to improved student behavior and more teacher joy!!

https://theinspiredclassroom.com/roadmap

 

Have a question you want me to answer on the podcast? Record it here: https://theinspiredclassroom.com/podcast

 

✨ https://theinspiredclassroom.com/the-classroom-reset-sp1 – The online course that helps you improve student behaviors, increase engagement and support students' SEL, so that you can enjoy teaching again.

Learn more and enroll here: https://theinspiredclassroom.com/reset

 

Become an Inspired Classroom Insider by joining our email list. You'll get real solutions to calm classroom behaviors delivered to your inbox each week! https://theinspiredclassroom.com/insider

 

💬 Let’s keep this conversation going! (There's so much to talk about!) Come join our free Inspired Classroom Community where creative, passionate teachers connect, share ideas, and cheer each other on.

It’s your safe space to be inspired, supported, and reminded you’re not in this alone.

👉 https://theinspiredclassroom.com/community

 

 

✨ Connect with me!

Find me on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizapeterson/

Follow & DM me onhttps://www.facebook.com/theinspiredclassroom

Follow & DM me on https://www.instagram.com/theinspiredclassroom/https://www.facebook.com/theinspiredclassroom

Watch & Subscribe onhttps://www.youtube.com/theinspiredclassroomhttps://www.facebook.com/theinspiredclassroom

It's the first week of school, and if you're like most teachers, your rules are already created, even if it's just in your mind. You're ready to establish clear expectations, get your students on board and be ready to implement consequences when needed.

 

But before you do that, listen in. Today, I'm sharing why rules alone might not be enough to get you through the year — and what actually needs to happen underneath it.

 

I'll share the exact process I use to build a classroom contract with my students and a bonus question I love asking students that can make this even more effective.

 

This is the type of work that shifts behavior from "don't do this" to "I am a learner."

 

Plus I'll leave you with a simple action plan — RULE — to help you carry this into your own classroom this week. Let's build something that lasts past October!

 

~Elizabeth

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Article: How to Create a Classroom Contract With Your Students (and not for them)

 

Grab the RESET Roadmap that takes you through all 5 steps of the framework that leads to improved student behavior and more teacher joy!!

https://theinspiredclassroom.com/roadmap

 

Have a question you want me to answer on the podcast? Record it here: https://theinspiredclassroom.com/podcast

 

✨ The Classroom Reset – The online course that helps you improve student behaviors, increase engagement and support students' SEL, so that you can enjoy teaching again.

Learn more and enroll here: https://theinspiredclassroom.com/reset

 

Become an Inspired Classroom Insider by joining our email list. You'll get real solutions to calm classroom behaviors delivered to your inbox each week! https://theinspiredclassroom.com/insider

 

💬 Let’s keep this conversation going! (There's so much to talk about!) Come join our free Inspired Classroom Community where creative, passionate teachers connect, share ideas, and cheer each other on.

It’s your safe space to be inspired, supported, and reminded you’re not in this alone.

👉 theinspiredclassroom.com/community

 

 

✨ Connect with me!

Find me on LinkedIn: elizapeterson

Follow & DM me on Facebook @theinspiredclassroom

Follow & DM me on Instagram @theinspiredclassroom

Watch & Subscribe on YouTube @theinspiredclassroom

Many teachers have gotten stuck thinking creativity is something you add when there’s time. Let's flip that — because creativity can actually reduce behavioral escalation, increase student engagement, and help YOU reconnect with your joy. It's not a bonus... it's a foundation.

 

I’ll walk you through what happens in a student’s nervous system when you bring movement, storytelling, or visual response into your classroom — and why it addresses all three legs of Your Classroom’s Tripod at once. I’ll also talk about what creativity does for teachers, not just students — because reconnecting with the joy of creative teaching is one of the most underrated antidotes to the Daily Teacher Drain.

 

And by the end, you’ll have the END Framework — a simple three-step structure that takes 60 seconds and can go at the close of any lesson, any day, any subject.

 

~Elizabeth

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Grab the RESET Roadmap that takes you through all 5 steps of the framework that leads to improved student behavior and more teacher joy!!

https://theinspiredclassroom.com/roadmap

 

 

Have a question you want me to answer on the podcast? Record it here: https://theinspiredclassroom.com/podcast

 

✨ The Classroom Reset – The online course that helps you improve student behaviors, increase engagement and support students' SEL, so that you can enjoy teaching again.

Learn more and enroll here: https://theinspiredclassroom.com/reset

 

Become an Inspired Classroom Insider by joining our email list. You'll get real solutions to calm classroom behaviors delivered to your inbox each week! https://theinspiredclassroom.com/insider

 

💬 Let’s keep this conversation going! (There's so much to talk about!) Come join our free Inspired Classroom Community where creative, passionate teachers connect, share ideas, and cheer each other on.

It’s your safe space to be inspired, supported, and reminded you’re not in this alone.

👉 theinspiredclassroom.com/community

 

 

✨ Connect with me!

Find me on LinkedIn: elizapeterson

Follow & DM me on Facebook @theinspiredclassroom

Follow & DM me on Instagram @theinspiredclassroom

Watch & Subscribe on YouTube @theinspiredclassroom