This month I’ve been sharing the following with my clients: October is usually when things start to feel different. Change is happening. Leaves are changing, temperatures are dropping, food cravings are shifting. What a nice invitation to look at the change in you and around you, and see the beauty in change. It can be scary, maybe a little spooky, but how lovely to be able to in fact … change, evolve, become. Again.

How true. Change can be really difficult for some, but with a gentle shift in perspective change can represent a new start, new life, new lessons, new learnings, evolution - it’s an actual representation of time moving - How COOL. I invite you to look at how things have changed this month - both in you and around you. For many in education, October is twofold: It’s a time when routines start settle and become norm, while simultaneously being a time when burnout begins. That feeling of finally being done with the BIG beginning of the year push, to still have another month before a much deserved break, all the while enetering the holiday season. It really is a wild month!

So it’s important to take a little time amongst the PSL’s, the Halloween costume brainstorming, the yard work, the Fall bucket list events, to take a pause. Notice how much has changed in you and your classroom so far. Take a little time with the reflections below to discover and possibly admire the changes October has given you - whether it’s the leaves on the trees and abundance of layers or it’s the routines taking effect in your classroom, pause, notice, and reflect.

Happy October! And speaking of change … don’t forget about the time change on Sunday, November, 2nd! :)

To Write About:

• Does change scare you or excite you?

• What changes are you noticing in yourself this month?

• As daylight fades, and we shift in early Winter, where do you find your light or twinkle lights?

• What changes are you noticing in your classroom, school, or work place? How are these changes impacting you?

• Do you find either of these things true: 1.) My routines fall deeper into place in October. 2.) In October the feelings of burn-out start.

• If you find that burn-out is beginning in October, try to do some or one of the following:

  • Take something off your plate between now and the Thanksgiving Holiday.

  • Limit your work hours on weekends.

  • Set an end time for your work hours during the week. MWF you end at 3:30, T/TH you give yourself until 4:00 or 4:30 to complete work at school.

  • For the next 4 weeks, try to write down thoughts of gratitude or joyful moments at the end of each work day. Keep these in a journal, or to keep you accountable, create a bulletin board or space on your white board, and share this activity with your students.

• What is something you’d like to plant right now to see it grow in December?

To Have Fun With:

• Add some Halloween activities to your calendar before the this short season is over!

• Make or bake a Fall comfort food.

• Create a playlist that calms your nervous system. Maybe it invites you to sit or take deeper breaths, maybe it just makes you feel good.

• When the weather gets colder and the daylight becomes shorter, I crave nostalgia. Yes, I am one of those women who rewatches Gilmore Girls once October hits. What is something nostalgic you can do or bring into your life during these '‘ber” months?

• Clean out your closet! Before the holidays hit and “things” start to pile up, tackle that pile of sweaters. Try on those items in the way back of your closet, and donate what you no longer need, use, or wear. Open up your space.