Welcome to Solara Learning
Hi There,
Welcome to the Solara Learning blog. I’ve launched this space as a conversation among educators who are seeking something different.
1. Why this? Why now?
For as long as I’ve been in education, I’ve been researching ways to ease burnout and create sustainability in this career choice. As a once burnt out educator myself, I’m convinced it’s possible to cultivate sustainability, so I created this space to dialogue with other educators who are also curious.
It’s no mystery why the current state of teaching has teachers leaving in swarms. “We work in a broken system.” In 2022, the Charles Butt Foundation published a report that found, despite Texas teachers valuing the connections they make with students, 77% of teachers are considering leaving the profession. “Of the 77% considering leaving, 93% have taken concrete steps to do so.”*
Teachers in this country have gone with too little pay, support, and respect for decades. So why this? Why now?
The combination of pandemic teaching, heightened politicization in schools, racial inequities, book bannings, increased vacancies, increased workloads, and increased pressure around state test scores have illuminated our broken education system.
Solara Learning was created out of this illumination. The name Solara is a female name of Latin origin that means ‘Of The Sun’. Solara honors the inner knowing that each educator and student brings to the classroom. We are not merely small, or without a voice. Gifted with our own inner brilliance, we can each bring our unique ways of creating sustainability and flourishing in education.
2. Our community of readers are…
This blog, and the greater Solara community, is for educators who might be feeling overwhelmed and stressed, yet are curious about cultivating positive wellbeing in themselves, their students, and their wider school communities. This blog will aim to join the wider social and emotional learning and literacy conversations in creating and maintaining sustainable educators and promote student flourishing. I hope to create an inclusive dialogue that feels like a breath of fresh air amidst an impossible task: teaching in America today.
3. Here’s what to expect…
Expect to find variations of frequency and formats of this newsletter as I get started. I imagine it will take a moment to find my rhythm and want to co-create this space with you, readers. Your feedback is welcome and appreciated.
Take this 30 second survey to let me know what topics interest you most! That’s all for now.
Happy reading,
Noelle from Solara Learning
P.S. *Click here for the full report.
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