This is Jennifer Gonzalez welcoming you to episode 119 of the Cult of Pedagogy Podcast.

In this episode, we're going to talk about how school norms like where a family can actually

lead to burnout and what we might do about that.

The first time my principal asked me to take on the role of yearbook sponsor, I said no.

I was looking ahead to the upcoming school year.

I would be teaching 137th graders and all five of my preps would be writing classes.

Back then, our state had formally assessed writing portfolios in 7th grade and I was going

to be responsible for getting all of them done.

It was a notoriously difficult teaching position and I was actually excited to take it on,

but I knew it would be even more time consuming than any other year had been.

And so adding yearbook responsibilities would put the workload way over the top.

So when he asked, I kind of grimaced and said, I'd rather not.

Then I asked if there wasn't someone else who could do it.

It turned out there wasn't.

Other sitting in his office, we mentally checked off the rest of the faculty.

If they weren't coaching a sport, they were sponsoring an extracurricular activity or

doing some other extra thing.

Or they were brand new.

Or a year away from retirement.

Or pregnant and heading toward maternity leave.

After a few silent moments, I finally said what we were both thinking.

So if I don't do it, then someone else has to take on a second extracurricular.

...