Shutter

Be still.
Look around you.
Expand your gaze.
Extend your panorama.
Embrace the image.
Freeze the frame, lock in this moment, memorize these faces, feel these hearts and minds radiate beneath your skin.
This moment
fleeting
ephemeral
elusive.
A brief catch in your breath
this time of your life.
Savor the feeling and hold this instant in your palm
gently
while it flutters
beating back against your tightening grip
threatening to escape.
Hold onto it while it tugs at you to release it into the breeze
soon a swirling wind
kicking up behind you
as you turn to take flight.

For Fisher Fellows closing dinner: Dallas, 2/15/2010
Linda Belans

Some Common Causes of Burnout
· The need for better organizational skills
· The need to learn how to delegate
· Communication issues and breakdowns
· The absence of the joy factor (performance management issues)
· Too much on the plate
· The lack of clear role definition
· The absence of supervision
· The absence of enjoying the company of your peers
· Lack of positive feedback (too much corrective feedback)
· Unclear or overly ambitious expectations (ie never feeling like you are meeting the goals)
· Lack of recognition for accomplishments
· No down time to recharge
· Overly harsh punishment for failure
· Supervising teachers whom you discover don’t really believe that all our kids can really learn: as Dr. Haberman calls it – the Pedagogy of Poverty. Then finding yourself in the position of having to fire the teacher and worry about finding a replacement.
· Not having performance management training/skills
· Being afraid to speak your truth.