Rest Is Not a Reward: A Teacher’s Journey From Exhaustion to Helping Build Classroom Studio

I still remember the first time I realized I was burning out.

It was a Tuesday evening. I had stayed up late to finalize my lesson plans for the week, adjust a few student requests, and respond to a growing pile of parent emails. I hadn’t eaten dinner yet. I told myself, “If I can just finish this unit plan tonight, I’ll reward myself with a quiet weekend.”

But that quiet weekend never came. Something always interrupted the rest I promised myself. A missing assignment to be given to students, a new initiative, or just the invisible weight of being everything to everyone—planner, counselor, content expert, sport coach, mentor.

It took me years to learn this truth: rest is not a reward. Rest is part of the process.

Why We Wait to Rest

Teachers are hardwired to serve. We carry a deeply-rooted belief that our work only matters if we’re constantly giving out time, energy, and emotional labor. And somehow, we’ve learned to believe that rest is a treat we must earn, not a necessity we are entitled to. I would always tell myself: “I just have to make it through and then I’ll get to the Holiday Winter Break.”

That belief nearly broke me. And I know I’m not alone.

It’s not laziness to want to breathe. It’s not selfish to want to protect your mind and spirit from becoming threadbare, just like the wheels on my all-season tires that I had not changed for four years. And it's not a weakness to need systems that support, rather than drain, your planning and creativity.

That’s why I joined a team and, together, we developed Classroom Studio.

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Building a Platform That Honors Teachers

After stepping away from the classroom, I didn’t want to walk away from education. I wanted to build something for educators—something that would restore what burnout and bureaucracy had taken away from me: time, clarity, and space to breathe and just be myself.

Classroom Studio is a digital platform that helps teachers manage their time more intentionally through streamlined, electronic lesson planning. But it’s more than just a lesson planner.

Here’s how it works:

• It gives a teacher Customizable Templates tailored to your subject, grade, and curriculum goals.

• Classroom Studio has a feature called Smart Scheduling that maps your pacing guide and automatically builds in reflection or revision days.

• The platform features Drag-and-Drop Resources for efficient planning that doesn’t start from scratch every time. This was one of the biggest time wasters for me and I do not want other teachers to ever experience this.

• Classroom Studio also has Collaboration Tools so teams can plan together and share what works.

By taking the chaos out of planning, we free up something every teacher deserves: restorative time.

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Serving Students by Serving Ourselves

There’s a deep irony in education: the more exhausted we are, the less effective we become. And yet, so many systems are built around maximum output and minimum replenishment. I remember what it felt like to give more and more of myself, without requesting a break because this is what I wrongly believed the teacher's life should be like. 

We don’t serve students best by sacrificing ourselves at the altar of overwork. We serve them best when we’re rested, creative, present, and human.

Classroom Studio isn’t just a tool for planning—it’s a mindset shift. It's a declaration that teacher wellness is foundational, not optional.

Rest as Resistance, and as Practice

Rest is a radical act in a culture that glorifies exhaustion. And for teachers, it’s not just self-care—it’s pedagogy. When we model balanced living, we teach our students that mental health and meaningful work are not opposites. We teach them that by taking care of themselves first, they are able to serve others better. 

So the next time you feel guilty for taking a break as a teacher, remember: rest is not a prize at the end of your to-do list. It is part of the process. Rest is the fuel we need to function, not the finish we are hoping for once the term is done.

Let’s build classrooms—and platforms—that reflect the application of this valuable lesson I sadly had to learn the hard way. 

With heart,

Mark Chan

a Former Teacher, Product Development Lead of the Classroom Studio Team