Hi Vanessa, 

Happy Halloween! 

You know what? After watching the PetSmart Halloween chaos unfold online last weekend, I’ve decided to keep a stash of dog treats handy just in case any costumed (or un-costumed) pups show up in my neighborhood. 😉 My favorite part has always been passing out the candy, and my neighborhood doesn't get a lot of kids anymore, but I never pass up a chance to pet a dog.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          The Guilt Economy and Vacation Packets

Let’s talk about something teachers experience all the time: being asked to prepare packets for students who are going on vacation. You spend hours aligning lessons, organizing materials, and simplifying content, only to find the work never comes back. Or worse—the student returns and says they “didn’t have time” to do any of it.

What starts as a seemingly simple request quickly becomes another unpaid, unacknowledged task on a growing to-do list. This isn’t just an issue of planning; it’s a symptom of something deeper.

This is what I call the Guilt Economy.

The Guilt Economy is the unspoken system in education where teachers are expected to fill every systemic gap—not with resources, but with their time, money, and emotional energy. When there’s no budget for supplies, teachers are expected to pay out of pocket. When a colleague is out, we’re asked to give up our prep. When a family takes a child out of school for two weeks, we’re told to “just send something home.”

These expectations aren’t framed as demands. They’re framed as moral obligations: If you care, you’ll do it. If you don’t, you must not care enough, and the result is that teachers stretch themselves beyond reason.  Then those same teachers question their own commitment when they feel overwhelmed.

A love for your students should never require the loss of your own boundaries, time, or peace of mind. If you’ve found yourself feeling resentful, frustrated, or just plain depleted by the endless list of “extras,” know this: it’s not you. You are being overextended by a system that quietly benefits from your exhaustion. I think we can argue that it depends on it.

You don’t owe the profession your emotional reserves. It is okay to say no. It is okay to protect your energy. It is okay to stop normalizing expectations that require self-sacrifice as the price of being “good.”

The guilt economy works because it stays invisible. So let’s name it, claim our worth, and start setting boundaries that allow us to keep teaching without being consumed by it. It’s OK to cancel your subscription to the Guilt Economy.

Finding Clarity After Burnout

When teachers start thinking about leaving the classroom, they often say the same thing: “I don’t even know what I want anymore.” That isn’t a sign of indecision—it’s a symptom of burnout.

After years of making decisions for everyone else—students, admin, parents—it’s no wonder you feel disconnected from your own desires. You’ve likely been surviving, not dreaming. Operating on autopilot, not alignment. That’s why your next step shouldn’t be polishing your resume. It should be getting clear on you.

Clarity is the foundation of any meaningful career change. Without it, you’ll end up chasing job titles that sound secure but don’t satisfy. Or worse—you’ll freeze up entirely, unsure of what direction even makes sense.

That’s why the Clarify Phase inside the Teachers in Transition process exists. It’s a space to slow down, grieve what teaching used to mean to you, and reconnect with what you actually want from your work and life.

We begin by asking better questions—ones the system never gave you time or space to consider:

• What do I value in a work environment?
• What makes me feel competent, confident, and seen?
• What does “enough” look like for me?
• Who am I outside of being a teacher?

Once you have your initial answers to questions like “What do I want from my work?” or “What makes me feel fulfilled?”, it helps to go deeper. That’s where a tool called The 5 Whys comes in.

It’s simple on the surface, but powerful in practice. Here’s how it works:

1. Start with a clear statement. For example:
   “I want a job where I’m respected.”
2. Ask yourself ‘Why?’ five times—each time digging a little deeper.

Here’s what it might look like:

• I want a job where I’m respected.
  ➝ Why? Because I’m tired of being treated like I’m replaceable.
• Why does that matter?
  ➝ Because I put my heart into my work, and it deserves to be acknowledged.
• Why is acknowledgment important to me?
  ➝ Because I’ve gone years without it and it’s made me question my worth.
• Why does questioning your worth matter?
  ➝ Because I’m starting to forget who I am outside of this role.
• Why does that feel urgent now?
  ➝ Because I want to rebuild a life where I feel valued and whole.

By the time you reach that fifth “why,” you’re often staring at the heart of what you really need—not just in your next job, but in your next chapter of life.

You can use this technique with any of your clarity questions. It’s especially helpful when your first answer feels vague or automatic. The goal isn’t to interrogate yourself—it’s to reconnect with your voice, your values, and the version of yourself that’s been drowned out by burnout.  The process helps you drill past surface-level thinking and uncover what you actually need to thrive.

This isn’t about overhauling your identity overnight. It’s about reconnecting with parts of yourself that have gone quiet under the weight of stress, obligation, and survival mode.

And clarity isn’t just comforting.  It’s strategic. It helps you stop wasting energy on roles and directions that don’t fit. It helps you speak more confidently in interviews. It helps you build a future that feels like you.

If you’ve been feeling lost, stuck, or numb, please hear this: you don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to be willing to ask new questions—and give yourself the space to answer honestly.

Clarity is where the real shift begins.

Ready to move from confusion to clarity? The CLARIFY Course was made for this exact moment—the one where you're not sure what's next, but you know it can't be more of the same.

Or go deeper with the Teacher Transition Toolkit.  This is a complete roadmap for building your next chapter with purpose and direction.

🎯 Explore your next step here.

THE LATEST PODCAST EPISODE

Want to learn more? Check out the entire podcast episode. 

Episode 275: The Guilt Economy of Teaching: From Vacation Packets to PetSmart and Beyond

COOL RESOURCE

🧠 How to Use AI to Create a Vacation Packet (Without Losing Your Mind)

1. Gather Your Standards or Objectives
   Identify the specific learning goals you’ll be covering while the student is out. This could be district-provided standards, curriculum objectives, or your own scope and sequence.  Ideally, these are already uploaded en masse to the custom GPT you built.
2. Identify the Destination
   Ask the parent where the student will be going. The more specific, the better—city, region, type of trip (beach, museum-heavy, hiking, etc.).
3. Input a Prompt Like This:
   “Create a short project or packet aligned to [insert subject + grade level] standards on [insert topic or unit] that connects to a student traveling to [insert destination]. Keep it simple and suitable for independent work.”  You can add qualifiers like – student will/will not have access to wi-fi.
4. Review & Edit
   Skim the AI’s output. Adjust any language or formatting, and make sure it aligns with your expectations.
5. Attach a Clear Cover Sheet
   Include due dates, a parent signature line, and this key line:
   “This packet is not a substitute for in-person instruction.”
   You can create this once and upload it to the custom GPT files so that it references and incorporates. 
6. Print the Packet
   You can have the AI spit it out as a .docx or PDF file.   Then you can print it out to give to the child or send as a PDF directly to the parent. (If you send directly to the parent, make sure to ask them to verify receipt)
7. Save a Copy to Reuse Later
   If it works well, save it as a template for similar future requests. You can tweak the destination and reuse the format, saving tons of time down the line.

🧠 Grab instructions on making a custom GPT at TeachersinTransition.com

I'D LOVE TO CONNECT! 

 📧 Email: Vanessa@teachersintransition.com
📞 Text or Voicemail: 512-640-9099
📅 Discovery Session: Book here
📱 Instagram, Threads, TikTok: @teachers.in.transition
📘 Facebook: Teachers in Transition
🐦 X (Twitter): @EduExitStrategy
🌤️ Bluesky: @beyondteaching.bsky.social

 
Vanessa 

P.S.

I’m thinking about hosting another free workshop in November. Would you be more excited about one on:
➡️ Writing or updating your resume?
➡️ Optimizing your LinkedIn profile?

Reply to this email and let me know! I want to make sure it’s what you need most right now.