Evi Wusk

Friends! I have not written something for Gratitude Gal for awhile, so I’m glad we’re here, catching up!

I was talking with a friend who works with new teachers and she laughingly joked about not reminding them to have boundaries until November. “You have to go crazy for a bit as a new teacher,” she said.

I think this sentiment applies to me as I’ve been getting rolling here at my new gig! I’ve gone down a rabbit hole with new creative projects and getting courses rolling. Friends ask, “How’s the new job?” and my answer is always the same. “I LOVE IT… and I miss my former students and colleagues.” I’ve been busy, but I haven’t felt busy. Creative stuff is happening, and that’s why I’m writing today.

Gratitude Gal isn’t going away as a blog, but it’s now a tab on a larger refocus of what I’m doing. My website has a new title: The Teacher Joy Project! Teacher Joy Project will have a gift book for teachers, T-shirts, stickers, and already has a podcast, Tell Me a Teaching Story. The goal is to turn up the volume on the good stuff teachers are doing, and remind us all that teaching matters. If teachers are joyful, it spills out into all sorts of places–most importantly, onto students. So, Teacher Joy Project is all about encouraging teachers and recharging our batteries. Yes, teaching is hard, but it’s so worth it.

Here’s a short list of stuff that’s giving me gratitude today. EnJOY!

• Worth a Read: Demon Copperhead – This modern-day take on David Copperfield is the only book I’ve truly loved since Covid. When I closed the last page, I felt lonely for the characters, sad to see them go. It’s hard content, but a beautiful story.
• Worth a Listen: The Woman in Me by Brittany Spears, narrated by Michelle Williams. I’ve been listening to this on my commute, and–I know, I know–some of you will never be into this, but as someone who did her fair share of listening to Brittany when I was getting ready to go out in college, hearing her side of the story has been interesting and has me thinking about what it means to be a woman in 2023.
• Worth a Listen: (Shameless self promotion alert!) Tell Me a Teaching Story, a podcast by teachers for teachers. Check out the first two episodes. It’s streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and I Heart Radio.
• Cool Tool for Teachers: Revision History Chrome Extension: Allows teachers (or anyone) to see a video version of a document’s creation. A way to see if big chunks of text are copy/pasted in.

Happy Thanksgiving!

If you want some help getting in the Thanksgiving mood, check out this five minute Youtube video of Oprah interviewing Brene Brown. She, like me, draws the connection between Gratitude and Joy, and so many things she explores here had me sitting back and feeling thankful.