When you think about your school's PTO or PTA, what comes to mind? Fundraisers? Teacher appreciation lunches? The same handful of parents volunteering for everything?

What if we're overlooking one of the biggest opportunities to make teaching a little easier?

In this episode of The Resilient Teacher Podcast, I'm joined by Christina Hidek, founder of PTO Answers, to talk about how parent-teacher organizations can become so much more than fundraising committees.

Because here's the thing: teachers are already juggling enough. And while we talk a lot about getting parents more involved in their children's education, we don't always talk about what meaningful parent involvement could actually look like or how it could take some of the pressure off teachers.

Christina shares why so many schools struggle with parent engagement, how the pandemic changed the way families connect with schools, and what teachers can do to build stronger partnerships with parents (even when it feels like nobody wants to volunteer).

We also talk about something I think a lot of teachers need to hear: Just because a parent hasn't volunteered doesn't mean they don't want to help. Sometimes they just need to be invited in a different way.

CHECK OUT THE FULL SHOWNOTES: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/episode161

👉Join the FREE Resilient Teacher Community on Facebook: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/supportsquad

📝 Want a FREE personalized step-by-step guide to crushing teacher burnout? Take the Personalized Burnout Recovery Roadmap quiz here!

❓Get your Questions Answered on the Resilient Teacher Podcast: Ask anything about burnout, recovery, self-care, simplification, and get your questions answered on the show. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/ask

✨While this podcast is meant to be helpful for teachers and their mental health, it is not a replacement for therapy or medical care from a licensed professional. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/talkspace to save $100 on your first month of accessible therapy from a licensed professional by using the code: SPACE!

🚨Get on the Waitlist for the Automate Your Classroom course & be the first to know how to simplify teacher tasks and create automations so that you can reduce time wasting tasks, set it and forget it, and have the time to do the things you actually want to do in teaching here!

👩🏻‍💻Get on the Individualized EduCare Program Waitlist and be the first to know when the doors open & special promotions here!

💬PS: Has this podcast been helpful for you? Quick! Screenshot this episode, add it to IG, and tag me @itsbrittanyblackwell This helps spread the word of this podcast to other educators.

What if the reason your students shut down at "I can't" isn't a motivation problem — it's that nobody ever gave them a map?

Jewellyn Forrest, co-founder of AutonoMY Learning and instructor at the University of Texas at Austin, joins me with over 33 years in education to introduce a visual framework that's changing how teachers and students think about struggle, effort, and what learning actually looks like. We talk about why circles are the wrong shape for learning, what happens when kids finally have language for what they're feeling mid-struggle, and why performing well on a test doesn't mean the learning is actually theirs yet. Jewellyn also gets real about her own parenting, her own burnout, and why this framework ended up doing something she never expected for her as a teacher, not just her students.

If you've ever felt like you're the one holding all the weight of your classroom's learning, this conversation is going to shift something.

Check out the full show notes: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/episode160

👉Join the FREE Resilient Teacher Community on Facebook: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/supportsquad

📝 Want a FREE personalized step-by-step guide to crushing teacher burnout? Take the Personalized Burnout Recovery Roadmap quiz here!

❓Get your Questions Answered on the Resilient Teacher Podcast: Ask anything about burnout, recovery, self-care, simplification, and get your questions answered on the show. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/ask

✨While this podcast is meant to be helpful for teachers and their mental health, it is not a replacement for therapy or medical care from a licensed professional. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/talkspace to save $100 on your first month of accessible therapy from a licensed professional by using the code: SPACE!

🚨Get on the Waitlist for the Automate Your Classroom course & be the first to know how to simplify teacher tasks and create automations so that you can reduce time wasting tasks, set it and forget it, and have the time to do the things you actually want to do in teaching here!

👩🏻‍💻Get on the Individualized EduCare Program Waitlist and be the first to know when the doors open & special promotions here!

💬PS: Has this podcast been helpful for you? Quick! Screenshot this episode, add it to IG, and tag me @itsbrittanyblackwell This helps spread the word of this podcast to other educators.

Every August, teachers make the same promise to themselves: this year, I'm going to leave work on time. This year, I'm going to protect my time for myself and my family. And every year, that promise starts slipping the moment the calendar fills back up.

In this episode, I'm getting into why "just set better boundaries" isn't the full answer — and what it actually takes to build a life that doesn't disappear every fall and reappear every summer. We talk about the difference between static and dynamic systems, why the routine that worked two weeks ago might already be failing you, and how I'm learning to build systems around a life that includes cheer, soccer, work, school, and a family schedule that never looks the same two weeks in a row.

This is the first in a series on the systems that support your life outside the classroom — so if you've ever felt like your life gets put on pause from August to May, this one's for you.

CHECK OUT THE FULL SHOWNOTES: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/episode159

👉Join the FREE Resilient Teacher Community on Facebook: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/supportsquad

📝 Want a FREE personalized step-by-step guide to crushing teacher burnout? Take the Personalized Burnout Recovery Roadmap quiz here!

❓Get your Questions Answered on the Resilient Teacher Podcast: Ask anything about burnout, recovery, self-care, simplification, and get your questions answered on the show. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/ask

✨While this podcast is meant to be helpful for teachers and their mental health, it is not a replacement for therapy or medical care from a licensed professional. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/talkspace to save $100 on your first month of accessible therapy from a licensed professional by using the code: SPACE!

🚨Get on the Waitlist for the Automate Your Classroom course & be the first to know how to simplify teacher tasks and create automations so that you can reduce time wasting tasks, set it and forget it, and have the time to do the things you actually want to do in teaching here!

👩🏻‍💻Get on the Individualized EduCare Program Waitlist and be the first to know when the doors open & special promotions here!

💬PS: Has this podcast been helpful for you? Quick! Screenshot this episode, add it to IG, and tag me @itsbrittanyblackwell This helps spread the word of this podcast to other educators.

Have you ever had a student who suddenly seemed defiant, checked out, or unmotivated — and you couldn't quite figure out why? What if it wasn't a behavior problem at all?

Kera Sanchez, certified grief and resilience expert, founder of Get Griefy Magazine, and TalkDeath's 2025 Grief Educator of the Year, joins me to challenge everything most of us think grief actually looks like. We get into what's really going on behind some of the most misunderstood behaviors in the classroom, the phrase teachers should stop asking grieving students altogether, and a moment from Kera's own classroom she still thinks about today. We also talk about whether burnout itself might be a form of grief no one's ever named, and what that means for how you're showing up right now.

This one's going to change how you see at least one student in your classroom. Maybe more than one.

Check out the full shownotes: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/episode158

👉Join the FREE Resilient Teacher Community on Facebook: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/supportsquad

📝 Want a FREE personalized step-by-step guide to crushing teacher burnout? Take the Personalized Burnout Recovery Roadmap quiz here!

❓Get your Questions Answered on the Resilient Teacher Podcast: Ask anything about burnout, recovery, self-care, simplification, and get your questions answered on the show. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/ask

✨While this podcast is meant to be helpful for teachers and their mental health, it is not a replacement for therapy or medical care from a licensed professional. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/talkspace to save $100 on your first month of accessible therapy from a licensed professional by using the code: SPACE!

🚨Get on the Waitlist for the Automate Your Classroom course & be the first to know how to simplify teacher tasks and create automations so that you can reduce time wasting tasks, set it and forget it, and have the time to do the things you actually want to do in teaching here!

👩🏻‍💻Get on the Individualized EduCare Program Waitlist and be the first to know when the doors open & special promotions here!

💬PS: Has this podcast been helpful for you? Quick! Screenshot this episode, add it to IG, and tag me @itsbrittanyblackwell This helps spread the word of this podcast to other educators.

What happens when you finally reach the top... and you're still not satisfied? In this episode, I'm getting personal about the year I won Teacher of the Year and the surprising question that followed: okay, now what? If you're a high-achieving teacher who's always pushing for the next level, this episode is going to name something you've probably felt but never had the words for.

I'm breaking down why the career ladder in education is short by design, and why hitting that ceiling isn't a sign you haven't done enough — it's just proof the system wasn't built for people like us. I'm also getting honest about what happens when that drive has nowhere left to go: it doesn't disappear, it turns into more. More hours, more tasks, more silently proving you're still enough. And I'm sharing the reframe that's helped me most, both as a teacher and as a mom trying to model something healthier for my own kids.

Check out the full shownotes: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/episode157

👉Join the FREE Resilient Teacher Community on Facebook: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/supportsquad

📝 Want a FREE personalized step-by-step guide to crushing teacher burnout? Take the Personalized Burnout Recovery Roadmap quiz here!

❓Get your Questions Answered on the Resilient Teacher Podcast: Ask anything about burnout, recovery, self-care, simplification, and get your questions answered on the show. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/ask

✨While this podcast is meant to be helpful for teachers and their mental health, it is not a replacement for therapy or medical care from a licensed professional. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/talkspace to save $100 on your first month of accessible therapy from a licensed professional by using the code: SPACE!

🚨Get on the Waitlist for the Automate Your Classroom course & be the first to know how to simplify teacher tasks and create automations so that you can reduce time wasting tasks, set it and forget it, and have the time to do the things you actually want to do in teaching here!

👩🏻‍💻Get on the Individualized EduCare Program Waitlist and be the first to know when the doors open & special promotions here!

💬PS: Has this podcast been helpful for you? Quick! Screenshot this episode, add it to IG, and tag me @itsbrittanyblackwell This helps spread the word of this podcast to other educators.

Ever feel like you're doing the same thing, in the same building, with the same people — year after year — and you're starting to lose the spark? This episode might be the reset you didn't know you needed.

Recorded live at ISTE, this episode flips the mic: I'm joined by David Berner and Jeremy Mikla, hosts of the Integrate This podcast, for a conversation about what actually reignited their passion in this profession — and what quietly burned it out.

Check out the full shownotes: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/episode156

👉Join the FREE Resilient Teacher Community on Facebook: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/supportsquad

📝 Want a FREE personalized step-by-step guide to crushing teacher burnout? Take the Personalized Burnout Recovery Roadmap quiz here!

❓Get your Questions Answered on the Resilient Teacher Podcast: Ask anything about burnout, recovery, self-care, simplification, and get your questions answered on the show. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/ask

✨While this podcast is meant to be helpful for teachers and their mental health, it is not a replacement for therapy or medical care from a licensed professional. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/talkspace to save $100 on your first month of accessible therapy from a licensed professional by using the code: SPACE!

🚨Get on the Waitlist for the Automate Your Classroom course & be the first to know how to simplify teacher tasks and create automations so that you can reduce time wasting tasks, set it and forget it, and have the time to do the things you actually want to do in teaching here!

👩🏻‍💻Get on the Individualized EduCare Program Waitlist and be the first to know when the doors open & special promotions here!

💬PS: Has this podcast been helpful for you? Quick! Screenshot this episode, add it to IG, and tag me @itsbrittanyblackwell This helps spread the word of this podcast to other educators.

Have you ever caught yourself saying, "I'll do it after this school year" or "We'll take that trip next summer"?

Teacher burnout doesn't just leave us exhausted. It quietly convinces us that our lives can wait. We postpone the vacations, the hobbies, the dinners with friends, and the moments with the people we love because we're waiting for the perfect time. But what if that time never comes?

In this episode, I'm sharing the unexpected lesson I learned from a family trip to Yellowstone that I almost didn't take. It wasn't the breathtaking views that changed me. It was realizing how easily burnout had convinced me to postpone living. If you've been waiting for permission to prioritize yourself, your family, or the life you're working so hard to build, this conversation is your reminder that later isn't guaranteed.

Check out the full episode shownotes: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/episode155

👉Join the FREE Resilient Teacher Community on Facebook: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/supportsquad

📝 Want a FREE personalized step-by-step guide to crushing teacher burnout? Take the Personalized Burnout Recovery Roadmap quiz here!

❓Get your Questions Answered on the Resilient Teacher Podcast: Ask anything about burnout, recovery, self-care, simplification, and get your questions answered on the show. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/ask

✨While this podcast is meant to be helpful for teachers and their mental health, it is not a replacement for therapy or medical care from a licensed professional. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/talkspace to save $100 on your first month of accessible therapy from a licensed professional by using the code: SPACE!

🚨Get on the Waitlist for the Automate Your Classroom course & be the first to know how to simplify teacher tasks and create automations so that you can reduce time wasting tasks, set it and forget it, and have the time to do the things you actually want to do in teaching here!

👩🏻‍💻Get on the Individualized EduCare Program Waitlist and be the first to know when the doors open & special promotions here!

💬PS: Has this podcast been helpful for you? Quick! Screenshot this episode, add it to IG, and tag me @itsbrittanyblackwell This helps spread the word of this podcast to other educators.

We talk a lot about surviving the school year on this podcast but today we're talking about something that impacts every single one of your students: reading. And I brought in someone who's been fighting this fight for two decades.

Dr. Gene Kerns is a third-generation educator and a 20-year veteran of Renaissance, the company behind Accelerated Reader. We got into why kids are reading less than ever, what the latest NAEP data is really telling us, and the simple, research-backed habits that can turn even your most reluctant reader around.

If you've ever felt like you're losing the battle to get your kids (students or your own) to actually want to pick up a book, this episode is your permission slip to stop overcomplicating it.

Check out the full shownotes: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/episode154

👉Join the FREE Resilient Teacher Community on Facebook: http://www.teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/supportsquad

📝 Want a FREE personalized step-by-step guide to crushing teacher burnout? Take the Personalized Burnout Recovery Roadmap quiz here!

❓Get your Questions Answered on the Resilient Teacher Podcast: Ask anything about burnout, recovery, self-care, simplification, and get your questions answered on the show. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/ask

✨While this podcast is meant to be helpful for teachers and their mental health, it is not a replacement for therapy or medical care from a licensed professional. Head over to teachingmindbodyandsoul.com/talkspace to save $100 on your first month of accessible therapy from a licensed professional by using the code: SPACE!

🚨Get on the Waitlist for the Automate Your Classroom course & be the first to know how to simplify teacher tasks and create automations so that you can reduce time wasting tasks, set it and forget it, and have the time to do the things you actually want to do in teaching here!

👩🏻‍💻Get on the Individualized EduCare Program Waitlist and be the first to know when the doors open & special promotions here!

💬PS: Has this podcast been helpful for you? Quick! Screenshot this episode, add it to IG, and tag me @itsbrittanyblackwell This helps spread the word of this podcast to other educators.

This episode is sponsored by Renaissance, which offers Accelerated Reader and myON, along with the new Renaissance Literacy solution — bringing together reading assessment, instructional resources, skills practice, and authentic reading experiences to support literacy in every classroom, every day. Learn more at renaissance.com/literacy.