Join thousands of educators right in our mobile app at Educate & Rejuvenate Summer 2025 on July 15-16, 2025 for expert-led PD, life-changing coaching, and engaging classroom resources.
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Join thousands of educators right in our mobile app at Educate & Rejuvenate Summer 2025 on July 15-16, 2025 for expert-led PD, life-changing coaching, and engaging classroom resources.
Key themes from 5 Steps to Set Yourself Up for Success This School Year:
Setting goals: Define what you want.
Managing time: Make the most of your time.
Embracing emotions: Reflect on your feelings.
Owning accomplishments: Celebrate your wins.
Building connections: Connect with others.
It is back-to-school season! And Kelsey is ready to get you all pumped up and inspired for the school year ahead! Whether you’re an educator or a homeschooling parent, it’s time to rejuvenate your spirit and set yourself up for success. Let’s dive into these amazing insights from one of Kelsey’s sessions at our virtual Educate & Rejuvenate Summer Conference 2024. These tips are going to help you rock the upcoming school year like a superstar!
Decide What You Want
Alright, first things first, you have to decide what you want from this school year. Think about the goals you want to achieve, not just for your students, but for yourself too! Kelsey reminds us that our accomplishments are often tied to how we think they’ll make us feel. So, dig deep and figure out the emotions you’re chasing. Set those clear intentions and get ready to slay the school year with a positive mindset!
Own Your Wins
Celebrate your victories, no matter how small they seem! Every step forward, every challenge overcome, is a win. Kelsey encourages us to recognize our progress and give ourselves a pat on the back. These wins boost your confidence and keep you motivated to tackle whatever comes your way. So, go ahead and own those wins like the superstar you are!
Connect with your Community
Last but definitely not least, connect with your community. Networking and exchanging ideas can lead to incredible support systems that extend beyond the event. So, put yourself out there and make those connections!
The Educate and Rejuvenate event is the perfect place to meet like-minded folks, share experiences, and build lasting friendships.
All About Educate & Rejuvenate Summer Conference 2024
First, get yourself to those live sessions at Educate and Rejuvenate! These sessions are gold. You get to interact with amazing speakers, join coaching sessions, and even win some awesome giveaways. Plus, it’s a fantastic way to build a supportive network with other educators and parents. So, don’t miss out – be there, be present, and soak up all that wisdom!
Now, we all know life can get busy, but don’t forget about those prerecorded sessions. They’re packed with valuable insights and knowledge that you can digest at your own pace. Take the time to watch the ones that resonate with you the most. Remember, it’s not about watching them all, but about finding what truly speaks to you and your goals.
The Educate and Rejuvenate event is all about growth, learning, and rejuvenation. By following these 5 steps from Kelsey in this episode, you’re setting yourself up for an amazing school year filled with purpose and inspiration. Start now, embrace these steps, and let’s make this school year the best one yet. You got this!
Read the transcript for 5 Steps to Set Yourself Up for Success This School Year (at Educate & Rejuvenate 2024) [#140]:
If you want to start your back to full season, we success. Then that energy begins right now, right here during the second half of the summer. In today’s episode, I have some real coaching that you get to hear from somebody who’d worried about why they didn’t get all the things done this summer. I want you to hear and really get inside their head and see what’s going on. Plus, I’m going to share my 5 tips for you to have your best summer yet here on episode 140 of educate and rejuvenate the podcast.
Welcome to educate and rejuvenate the podcast to help you revitalize your teaching, renew your spirit, and reignite your passion for life. I’m your host, Kelsey Sorensen, a former teacher, current homeschool mom, published author, and certified life coach. Whether you are a teacher in a traditional classroom, homeschool from your kitchen table, or anywhere in between, I am on a mission to help you not only survive as an educator, but thrive. Get ready to up level your skills with incredible insights from guest experts and discover the missing piece, rejuvenating yourself. Are you ready to both educate and rejuvenate? Let’s go.
Hello, everybody. I’m so excited as you’re listening today because today is day 1 of educate and rejuvenate our virtual conference, our 3rd year. I’m so excited. And to celebrate that today’s podcast episode is actually my first session that I recorded for the event, but it has so much valuable content for you here on the podcast because you’re going to get to hear some real coaching, which you don’t get to hear on the podcast too often. So I’m really excited for today’s episode. So when you’re hearing this, you’re going to hear me talk to you is if you’re already signed up for the educate and rejuvenate event because it’s actually the full recording from that session where I’m letting everybody know, like, content that itself so you can have the best experience at the event too. So if you are a part of the event, then definitely you can check it out there too and do all the things I mentioned to you here. If you’re not, if you’re like, oh, wait, I want to be able to do that too.
It not too late to snag your ticket to update and we’re doing it 2024 if you’re listening to this before July 31st, 2024. But you can go through the link in the show note or just go to escatemreducinate.com. There’ll be the big banner on the top where you can still join the event. We would love to see you there. But either way, I have my session for you. My first one is a gift to you today. So let’s dive
in. Welcome to the educate and rejuvenate virtual conference summer 2024. I am so excited that you’re here, that you’re joining us for our 3rd year of this event. My name is Kelsey Sorensen, and I am the owner here at Educate and Rejuvenate. I’m the author of the upcoming book, Educate and Rejuvenate, the podcaster, Educate and Rejuvenate the podcast, TPT store owner, all the things. And I am just so glad you’re here. I’m excited to have this event where we come together as thousands of educators and speakers, and all come together and share our ideas. We have the prerecorded sessions on the teacher track and the parent track.
We have the live sessions. We have keynotes. We have coaching. I’m just so excited for all the things. And I’m going to get into that and how I recommend that you set yourself up for the best experience possible here at Educate and Rejuvenate 2024. Now if you need to know, like, the logistics of, like, how do I get into this event? How do I watch it? How do I get on the lives? I’m not covering that in this video. That you’ll find on the very first video under about educate and rejuvenate. We also will email out a Loom video.
It’s a video where I go through and show where you get to each thing. We’ll email that out and we’ll put it in the Facebook group. And if you have any questions, just email us at hello at educate and rejuvenate.com. But what I’m going over in this start here video, this 5 steps to get yourself set up for success in 2024 here at educate and rejuvenate is how to get the most out of being here at this event. You’ve invested your time into you’ve invested your money into attending this event And also your time is very valuable. I would say that’s even more so than the money you put in to be here. So I wanna make sure that you get the experience that you need, because everyone’s experience here is going to be unique. Right? We all have access to the same videos, we have access to the same lives, but we’re coming in with different context.
We teach in different places, in different ways. We have different background knowledge. We might have been doing it for different lengths amount of time. We might be coming in feeling different emotions, or having different thoughts, feelings, beliefs about ourselves, or about our ability as teachers. And so with all that, I want to make sure that you are able to get exactly what you need from this event. And why I think it’s so great that you are here at this event is because to set yourself up for success this back to school season, it starts right now this summer because the energy that you have right now is what you’re going to bring with you into the coming school year. It doesn’t begin when you step into your classroom or when you open up your homeschool curriculum. It begins right now during the rest of the summer.
And a lot of people might be like, oh, like I’m not yet I haven’t gotten enough done yet this summer. There’s only half left, but we can also be so like there’s still time, right, to get in that energy, to get inspiration and new ideas here at the event, to revitalize your teaching, and be like, oh, I can’t wait to implement that. That makes me excited to go back. And also, rejuvenate yourself, and get your mindset in the and get into the mindset where you’re going to feel a lot more excited to go back and start teaching again in the fall. And that’s what this event is for. Again, I mean, even the subtitle of my book and really it kind of talks about this event too. We’re gonna help you revitalize your teaching. We’re We’re gonna help you renew your spirit and your passion for life inside and outside of teaching here at this event to help you get excited.
And we brought so many educators to help you with the educate part, who are going to help you to learn all the different tips and tricks. And so what I’m here to do a lot of here at this event is to help you with the rejuvenate part. As your life coach, I’m certified as a life coach. I have developed a 3 step coaching framework that I’m going to teach you in-depth during my live sessions on Tuesday Wednesday. And knowing this framework is going to help you to be able to go into the school year and kind of even become your own life coach. You can take these tools and you can utilize them in the coming school year just from attending these sessions. Now the 3 step framework is 1st to observe yourself, your thoughts, your feelings, your nervous system. 2nd to choose your direction kind of understand what it is you actually want and need so you can know where is you’re headed, and then align yourself.
It’s kind of like a compass. Like, the map is choosing your direction and aligning yourself is checking in. Am I headed the direction I want? Is this the direction I wanna go? And again, continuing to do all three of those things. And I’m not talking about that in-depth right now. We’re going to talk about that during my 2 live sessions. What I’m going to do today is I’m going to show you. So I got permission to share a coaching clip that happened about a year ago. And in this clip, you will see Tori, who’s actually one of our speakers here at educate and rejuvenate too, and she’s my sister.
So she gave me permission. I didn’t wanna pressure any of our members or anything. So we’ve got this clip here for you to watch, and the thing is, it’s perfect because the thing is it’s perfect because it is going to help you, and that, but the great thing was, it was the perfect coaching that absolutely everyone needed to hear. Like you should have seen the comments of everybody when she was being coached. Like, oh my gosh. This is how I feel right now. I feel like I haven’t gotten enough done this summer and all of that. So I want you to see this and kind of see how we’re observing what’s going on so that she can choose her direction and align herself to what she wants for the rest of the summer.
So I want you to watch kind of for the light bulb moments and see kind of like, oh, yeah. What is it I want? And kind of use what you see in this coaching to help you see what you want from this event. So before I even dive into those 5 steps to get yourself set up for success, I want you to see this coaching.
Okay. Well, this is silly. Maybe people can or can’t relate. I don’t even know. It’s just I wanna be able to enjoy the rest of the summer, and I think I’m having a hard time doing that. There’s about for me, two and a
And there’s I put, like, a lot of pressure on what I wanna get done in the summer. And now all of a sudden, you know, school’s starting, and I think I’m also struggling just because I I wanted to have fun in this summer, but I do struggle when there’s not that structure of, like, here’s the routine and here’s how it goes. Yeah. I was not comfortable because I know so many people, like, they just live for the summers, but yeah.
We’ve got some different thoughts and different directions we could go here. So our circumstance we can tell is summer. There are 2 weeks of summer left.
We can all agree everybody here, can we all agree on this? That we have 2 weeks of summer left for Tory here. Might be different for everyone else. For her, that is when school starts again. Okay. And then we have thoughts about the summer. So what is the bigger problem for you? Is it that you want because you mentioned a few things, like, wanting to enjoy this summer, but also struggling with the lack of structure. Like, what is, like, the biggest problem with there being 2 weeks left?
I think it’s just on my expectations because at the beginning of summer, it’s like, yes. I’m gonna get all this done, and then it’s gone almost. And how do I process that?
Yeah. So I didn’t get all the things done I wanted to or the summer’s gone. I think the bigger thing is the problem that the summer’s gone or that you didn’t get the things done.
Okay. So you have 2 weeks left this summer. I didn’t get what I wanted to done. And and you’re thinking you don’t have time in that 2 weeks. But, like like right? It’s alright.
Okay. And when you’re feeling that way, what are you doing when you are feeling anxious with this little twinge of disappointment in there about not getting those things?
It’s hilarious. I’m laughing now because they think it’s preventing me from actually enjoying the last few weeks. Is because I’m being disappointed about what I didn’t do in the past couple months. So I’m not taking advantage of the time right
now. So you were like already jumping ahead a little bit. You’re not enjoying the last 2 weeks. That’s one thing you said. You’re so we’re you’re not enjoying it, but also you said it’s preventing you from getting those things done in these last 2 weeks? Or
Yeah. It’s like preventing stuff because instead of, I don’t know, just focusing on what I want to do, or doing the things that I want to enjoy, giving myself some leisure instead of doing that, I’m getting anxious and disappointed which
And what do you do when you’re anxious and disappointed? Let’s look at, like, if I were an outside observer, and I’m just, like, watching for her while she’s feeling anxious.
It’s just different things. I’m a like, when I say I’m a ruminator, just meaning that there’s a lot of, it’s kind of like a thought cascade. They’re just all the thought coming, you know, and they just circle. And so it kinda leads to inaction maybe because I just think I’m a thinker. So just
So everything that’s going on is in your head. So if our watky is an outside observer, I wouldn’t actually see you taking action. I wouldn’t see what’s going on in your head.
Yeah. You might just see me, like, doing the dishes or walking around or disappointment and the anxiety. Yeah. And this is disappointment and the anxiety.
And just, Tori, as you’re doing and because you have such an amazing curve right here in Kelsey, isn’t it so cool? I’m just watching you and your awareness story, like your face just, like, opened up and you’re like, realize because I’m ruminating. I realized because I’m not taking advantage of leisure. I’m I’m sure.
Like, you came up, like, usually as a coach, I’ll offer you a result line, and you just kinda had that moment yourself, which was so powerful that you were kind of like, oh, wait. This is what is happening. I see it now as we started working through this model, which it
other thing you mentioned too, so you are in your head. And then if you’re in your head, I want to ask you, are you processing that emotion, that anxiety with that twinge of disappointment? Are you just in your head about it? I’m
I would say I’m not processing it because even if you think of processing, processing means it’s leading somewhere. Like, if you think about your computer processing, like, it’s moving toward the result, any kind of process. And I would say that it’s not processing because it’s literally just stuck in a loop. Right? Yeah. So I would yeah. It’s not productive processing, even if it’s trying to process.
Yeah. Because one thing I wanna point out when we’re in our heads, it prevents us from getting into our body and processing strong emotions like anxiety or, disappointment. And that is when we are resisting the emotions, we’re pushing them away, which actually then makes us continue in those thought loops instead of just like, oh, okay, I’m feeling this. It’s okay to feel this emotion. Let it pass through. Acknowledge, like, where it is in your body. Like, okay, Anxious. What does that feel like? I’m feeling tight in my chest.
I actually kinda feel it in the in the back of my shoulders and my neck a little bit, I think. But this is the first time I’ve actually stopped to consider that, because before, I guess, I wasn’t even noticing the anxiety. I was only noticing that I was feeling some kind of stress. Like there was something off. Like I was feeling in a funk. I didn’t even really know what that was.
Yes. And you can see in the chat, like, so many like, this is so relatable. Like, this happens to, like, so many teachers who were talking about the same thing in the comments. But feeling in that funk when you’re in your head, you’re not getting in your body or processing it, that could help you to, like you said, process. I loved your analogy the computer. I’m like, Dory, you get up here. We’re touch record. But, when we’re processing, we are kinda moving through it.
And so this is just kind of noticing where you might be stuck if you’re not again, there’s nothing has even gone wrong here. Because you could sit here in anxiety and frustration. You can resist it. You can, you know, not get the thing done you want. And there’s not, like, a problem with that per se at all. But it’s just what do you want in your life? Is that what you want right now? And if it’s not, then this is where we can kind of start to look.
Yeah. And I think I wanna change. I think I I mean, I don’t know exactly all about the model, but I think maybe there is some stuff in there that I could change because I don’t think it’s productive or helpful to fit in anxiety for, the rest of the 2 weeks. Like, I’d rather I’d rather just enjoy it, I guess. So what where where would you go from there?
Yeah. So I guess my thing for you would be, like, if you’re want to enjoy your summer more, those are the words you said. I would ask, like, what does it mean to enjoy your summer more?
Yeah. I think it mean not doing the things that I wanna do. And also I think not being in I don’t wanna say impatient, but not focusing on the impending deadline. I think just kind of letting it what it is.
Okay. So you’ve got some clarity on that. Like, okay, I don’t want to have this impending deadline be like prevent me from enjoying my summer or whatever, then you need to kinda think about, okay, how do I want to think about this so I can maybe not put all that pressure. You mentioned all this pressure you’re putting on yourself. What is it you’re doing to put on that pressure, and what can you let go of so you’re not feeling that pressure? And what just pained to me too is that pressure could possibly be coming from not sitting in those feelings because resisting, that is pressure. Maybe it’s even just taking some time to, like, acknowledge those feelings, notice they’re there, and then that might leave you some more space to think on what you just said, what it is you really do want. And when you process that and when you think on that, that will give you the space to be able to try on a new thought that’ll work for you about this deadline, about your summer.
I just I really actually, that’s perfect because, I think even if I just sit here and think about it, what if I wouldn’t have come on this call and then I just wasted 2 weeks being in that space? But I think even just acknowledging, hey, I’m in this space right now. Maybe, like, I noticed some people in the comments saying things about, like, thought dumps or downloads and stuff, and maybe just doing doing that so I can, process it instead of staying in a loop. And once I process it, being able to do some of those things that
Yes. I love that, Tori. That sounds like you have some great clarity, and you are well on your way to figuring out what it is that you want for your summer and processing these emotions that are not a problem. They’re your normal human emotions that are coming up.
Hey. Have any of you seen yourself in that clip? Have you been, like, oh, my gosh. I’m thinking this. I’m doing that. Or is it even just giving you some realization of some different thoughts and feelings you might be having, and how you can kind of observe yourself and do all of that. And that’s what I want you to do. I want you to do exactly kind of what I was telling Tory to do, and I want you to visualize what is it you want for the rest of your summer and going into this school year. What is it you truly want to get out of this event? So that is really what is gonna help set you up for success.
So there are 5 things that I recommend for you to do to get the most out of this event. So first is really what I was just talking about. Decide what it is you want to get out of the event. Decide what it is you want for the rest of your summer and into the school year. And now what I thought was interesting in Tori’s coaching, for example, is a lot of times we think what we want is we wanna get all the things done. But really, it’s because how we think getting those things done is going to make us feel. How we’re going to feel about ourselves when we do it. So just remember, what is it you truly want? How you wanna feel? And how can you bring that energy with you now and into the coming school year.
So keep that in mind as you participate in the sessions here at Educate and Rejuvenate. Thing number 2 I recommend is to attend the live sessions. At all possible, if you’re watching this before July 16 17th or during it, attend as many lives as you can. For 1, we’ve got lots of great giveaways going on during those lives, but really, the lives are where the community really shines. It’s where people are in the chat, like, having conversations with each other. It is where you get to interact with me and the speakers and each other. And during the live coaching, it’s where you can, even if you want, raise your hand and come on and get coached and witness others get coached. It’s such an incredible experience.
So again, please come to the lives if you can. They are so invigorating. Like as soon as you get online, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. I mean, the lives are really why we have people coming for their 3rd year. This is our 3rd year, and why people are coming back again and again because of the community that happens during the live sessions. The number 3 is, of course, to set aside time for the incredible prerecorded sessions. So you
And what you can do is you can pick, like, which lives you want to attend. Honestly, I would recommend attending definitely the coaching, definitely the keynotes in my sessions, and then pick the round tables that apply to you. If there’s one that doesn’t apply to you, then use that time to watch a prerecorded session. And then remember, depending on when you purchased your ticket, we’ll unlock access here really soon so you can watch sessions leading up to the pre record you can watch the prerecorded sessions leading up to the lives, and then you’ll have all the way until July 31st to continue watching the incredible prerecorded sessions. So set aside some time to do that. If you have a general mission ticket, access does go away on the 31st. So you have from now until then to watch. If you have platinum pass, you have until the 31st.
And then our club members have until next summer’s event as long as their membership subscription is active. The cool thing is our Platinum Pass and Educate and Rejuvenate members, we are going to give access for you to continue watching sessions on our mobile app, which we were hoping was going to be ready by now. It is, like, really close, but we just had too much to get ready for this event. So we’re hoping that in August, once general admission closes, you’ll continue to have access on the website. But as soon after that, we will email app access to all of those who have continued access to these sessions to make it easier to consume those prerecorded sessions on the go. Now the one thing I do want you to keep in mind as you watch the prerecorded sessions is that there are a ton of sessions. We have like 72 speakers this year, I think it was, when we did our live recently. And so don’t feel like you have to watch every single session, but pick and choose what is applicable to you and what your needs and goals are.
That’s why the part where I talk about at the beginning of what is it that you want is going to help you clarify where to focus your attention. And then if you want to binge them all, that’s totally an option for you as well. This is your educate and rejuvenate experience. There’s no one right way to do it. So you get to make it happen. Number 4 is to own your wins. I feel like so often when we’re watching all these sessions, you might be like, oh, I haven’t done that. Oh, I haven’t done that.
And you might make it like, oh, all the things you’re doing wrong. And I wanna make sure that that’s not what you’re doing as you’re watching these sessions. I wanna make sure that along the way, you’re like, oh, I’m doing these amazing things. And guess what? These are all additional amazing things I can try. But remember that you have already come so far. At one point, you either wanted you decided you wanted to homeschool your kids, or you decided that you wanted to become a teacher. And now you’re there. And at one point, you bought a ticket to this event and you’ve logged in and you’re watching this video now, and there’s probably somebody who bought a ticket and never logged in.
So own that win. You are here. You are at educate and rejuvenate. And you are going to learn and apply so much, but you are already awesome just the way you are. So continue to own those wins each and every day. And number 5, I highly recommend connecting with someone new here, and that’s why I really recommend attending the lives. Last year, we had some people who connected with each other and they’ve stayed in touch and I even had one person email me a picture of a friend that she met through educate and rejuvenate, and they even drove an hour to meet each other and meet in person. And I’m not saying you have to do that, but I’m saying that this is an opportunity to find connections because we’ve got thousands of lighthearted teachers who have access to join us at these events.
And so there’s a great opportunity to find some community here. Like, maybe you have it at your school, maybe you don’t, but you can also find people outside of your school, or outside of your community, and connect online with other educators or homeschool parents from all around the world. So I highly recommend utilizing the opportunity that you have while the event is live to do just that. Those are my 5 tips for success here at Educate and Rejuvenate 2024. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out anytime at hello at educate and rejuvenate.com. You can also post in the Facebook group, but honestly, I really recommend emailing because we see that a lot quicker, and we’re able to sometimes, we might need to look at your account, and if you email us, we’re able to just skip that step of, oh well, I need your information or whatever on Facebook. So if you need customer support, I highly recommend emailing first to hello at educate and rejuvenate.com. And then if you but then also make sure you’re in the Facebook group if you’re not already because we have tons of giveaways going on in there.
now, but there’s so much more to come. Cannot wait. Let’s party here at educate and rejuvenate 2024. If you enjoyed this episode, please hit subscribe so you don’t miss the next one. And if you’re hungry for more, be sure to check out the book that I wrote. It’s called Educate and Rejuvenate, a 3 step guide to revitalize your teaching, renew your spirit, and reignite your passion for life. It is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2024. This book takes all the life coaching skills we talk about here on the podcast and puts them together in one easy to understand guide.
Being an educator is beyond a full-time job. Whether you’re a teacher or a homeschool parent, the everyday to-do list is endless. Between lesson planning, grading, meetings, and actually teaching, it probably feels impossible to show up for your students without dropping the ball in other areas of your life.
Educate & Rejuvenate: The Podcast is the show that will bring you the teacher tips, practical strategies, and inspiration that you need to relieve the stress and overwhelm of your day-to-day. Your host, Kelsey Sorenson, is a former teacher and substitute turned homeschool mom. Tune in weekly to hear Kelsey and her guests cheer you on and help you thrive as a wife, teacher, and mommy. Because with a little support and community, you can do it all. For access to every single Wife Teacher Mommy resource, join the club at educateandrejuvenate.com/club.
Educate & Rejuvenate is the virtual teacher conference that you can not miss! Find out more about our summer and winter events.
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