First-year teacher induction training almost always includes Harry Wong’s seminal book, The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher. It’s packed with top-notch advice and systems designed to give new teachers the best chance of success, despite the challenges of the first year.
However, Wong’s best advice in his book is the permission “to just survive.”
During my early years in the classroom, I didn’t understand it. I overworked myself trying to ensure “no child got left behind,” meet every IEP requirement, volunteer for committees, and find my place among the faculty.
In my naive mind, “just surviving” wasn’t an option. My whole life, I’d been taught that hard work leads to thriving and rewards.
𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀, “𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴” 𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲s—whether it’s teaching, writing, or any demanding profession. It gives permission to focus on the essentials and find balance without the overwhelming expectation of immediate perfection.
Surviving allows for growth, resilience, and learning from experience.
𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. The journey to becoming an accomplished writer is fraught with rejection, self-doubt, and intense scrutiny. It’s easy to get discouraged when your work isn’t immediately recognized or published. But “just surviving” in the writing world means giving yourself the grace to learn, grow, and improve without the pressure of instant success.
When you focus on survival, you can:
👉🏼 𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒.
👉🏼 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.
👉🏼 𝐵𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑎 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒.
👉🏼 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑗𝑜𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑖𝑥𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒.
“Just surviving” is not about lowering your standards; 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆’𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄.
It’s about understanding that survival is the foundation upon which you can build resilience, skill, and, eventually, excellence.