Big life update: I resigned! I’m no longer a high school teacher.

In 2018 I started working at Bellaire High School at the worst moment in my life. My dad died on the first day of school and I was grieving, depressed, and didn’t want to be there. But then something unexpected happened. My students started making Dubsmash and TikTok videos. They invited me to dance with them. And gradually over the school year, I began to heal from my father’s death. My students brought joy back into my life. They saved me. 

In February 2019 my students and I went viral. We were on the local news, Good Morning America, Inside Edition, Access Hollywood, Netflix Explained, you name it. It was truly a whirlwind and maybe the most exciting time in my life. I loved teaching high school and thought it was something I could do until I retired.

And then things got tough. In January 2020 a student was shot and killed on campus. My room became a safe space for students on campus and I took on an enormous emotional toll helping my community grieve and process. 

I’ve been burnt out to some degree since that moment. Since January 2020. The pandemic, virtual teaching, and the new challenges facing teachers since the return to face-to-face teaching have not made things better. I love so much about teaching but it has negatively affected my mental and physical health. 

I had been trying to go part-time at my school and just teach in the mornings. When my principal told me that wasn’t possible, I immediately resigned. I just can’t do it anymore. I didn’t want to quit but I had to.

I could sit here and tell you all the challenges, all the negative things, all the reasons I had to quit. But I’d rather focus on the positives. 

I won’t be teaching high school but I’ll still be in the classroom. I’ve taught in some capacity since 2008 and that’s not changing. I’ll be teaching part-time at Rice University and the University of Houston. And don’t worry I am planning on bringing the Dr. Boffone show to my college students. I will also be working for Fun Love Media as a social media manager so if you are in Houston and looking for help with social media, please let me know. But the thing I’m most excited about is having time and flexibility to work on me. I have stories to tell, books to write, videos to make, you name it. 

I’m so grateful to everyone who has been on this journey with me and supported my teaching. I thank the students who helped me through the hardest time of my life and I thank my newer students who helped me make it through each school day this past year. I am so lucky to have been their teacher. Thank you.