Addressing Overwhelm and the Need to be Perfect in Your Intervention
Hey there.
Let’s pause for a moment and check in.
If you’re teaching literacy right now and feeling overwhelmed, stretched thin, or constantly questioning whether you’re doing enough, you’re not alone.
We hear this from educators every single day.
There are so many expectations placed on literacy instruction. So many “must-dos.” So many competing priorities. And so much information about what effective instruction should look like. Even when you’re doing your very best, it can feel like the bar keeps moving.
And over time, that pressure takes a toll.
The Overlooked Piece: Emotional Regulation for Educators
When we talk about executive functioning, we often focus on students. Planning, attention, flexibility, regulation.
But there’s an important piece that doesn’t get talked about enough:
Our executive functioning as educators matters too.
When we’re overwhelmed, our emotional regulation is often the first thing to go. Instruction can start to feel rushed and decision-making also feels harder. And even when we’re doing solid, intentional work, it doesn’t feel solid.
Our students can feel that energy as well.
That doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. It means you’re human, working inside a complex system that asks a lot of you.
Perfection Isn’t the Goal (and Never Was)
It’s easy to feel pressure to deliver perfect instruction.
But let’s be honest for a moment. Perfect instruction doesn’t exist.
Some lessons land beautifully. Others don’t. Some days feel aligned and grounded. Other days feel messy. That doesn’t mean learning isn’t happening.
Every time you sit down with a student to provide instruction or intervention, you are doing meaningful work. And when that instruction is grounded in a systematic and explicit approach, it counts, even on the days it doesn’t feel polished.
Instead of striving for perfection, what if we focused on something far more sustainable?
Progress Over Perfection
Progress might look like:
Finding materials or routines that feel more helpful and manageable
Gaining clarity around what truly matters in your instructional time
Noticing small but meaningful shifts in student confidence or skill
Feeling calmer and more grounded during instruction, even when things aren’t flawless
Progress is cumulative. Perfection is exhausting.
One of our favorite reminders comes from the idea that you can be a masterpiece and a work in progress at the same time. Both can be true.
In Case You Need This Important Reminder:
What you are doing for your students matters.
Your presence matters. Your consistency matters. Your willingness to keep showing up, even when things feel hard or messy, matters.
And just as you work to support your students’ learning and regulation, it’s important to make space to support your own.
You deserve instruction that feels calm, clear, and sustainable, not just effective on paper.
If this resonates, we’re continuing this conversation where we’ll talk openly about overwhelm in literacy instruction and walk through an executive functioning process designed to help you regain a sense of calm and clarity.
Most of all, we hope this serves as a reminder:
Progress, not perfection. You’ve got this.
