August 2021 marked the beginning of my ninth school year as a high school teacher, but this August felt different than previous Augusts. Usually, by the time August rolls around, I start to feel ready for school to start. I have new ideas that I want to try out. I get excited to meet my students. I plan the first few weeks of class and include new lessons that I think will be relevant and engaging. But not this year. This year, August hit, but the inspiration did not. I looked forward to the first week of school like I look forward to getting a root canal. I stepped into my classroom a few days before the first day of school, and I still felt drained from the Zoom classes that defined the school year that ended a few short months earlier. I wasn't done recovering yet. There were some beautiful moments during the 2020-2021 school year, and I am very grateful for the way our district leadership navigated, but the exhaustion of teaching through 2020 and 2021 was unlike any other exhau...