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Meet Trailblazer Tina H. Boogren

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Tina H. Boogren.

So, before we jump into specific questions about what you do, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’ve been an educator my entire life, starting with reading to my stuffed animals and assigning homework to my imaginary students in the basement of my family’s home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Later, I taught tennis lessons, became a summer day camp counselor, and mentored students during my undergraduate years at the University of Iowa until I finally got my own classroom teaching middle school students outside of Denver. Since 1998, my career has shifted from classroom teacher to new teacher mentor to instructional coach to administrator and now, I work as an educational consultant and author. My expertise is in instruction, supporting beginning educators, instructional coaching, and most importantly, educator wellness and self-care–particularly for women.

Has it been a smooth road?
Let me start by painting a picture for you. It’s 2015 and my life is pretty amazing. I live in the heart of Denver where we have over 300 days of sunshine and over 80 miles of bike trails within the city limits. I have a husband who supports me and loves me relentlessly; I have a puppy who’s astonishingly cute and I enjoy leisurely brunches with my girlfriends on a regular basis. I also have my dream career. I’m working for Dr. Robert J. Marzano, an educational hero of mine for years and I’m conducting workshops in cities I’ve never visited before for educators who inspire me. I’m earning airline miles and status and hotel points and it’s all so incredible.

Or to be more honest, that’s the life I’m posting on my social media accounts and none of that is a lie really but there’s also this hidden truth: I’m actually struggling—right below that shiny surface.

Because the side that wasn’t shared on social media or during brunch or even in private conversations with my husband, was that I was actually sick and unhealthy in ways I’d never been before because, during that time, I was also twenty pounds overweight, fighting adult acne that was worse than my middle school years, I wasn’t able to sleep in those hotel rooms in those strange cities, and some of the educators that I worked with weren’t, in fact, inspiring—a few were mean and a couple were mad. At me. For trying to engage them in professional development when they are completely uninterested in improving their practices in any way, shape, or form. (All of which absolutely crushed the Midwest people-pleasing me, by the way.)

During this time, I had the incredible opportunity to co-author the book Motivating and Inspiring Students (Marzano, Scott, Boogren, & Newcomb, 2017) where we explored Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and attached strategies to each level of the hierarchy that could be used in schools and classrooms in order to take care of the hearts of all students and it hit me: How can we ask our teachers to do all of this for our students when we’re not doing this for ourselves? Or rather, how can I ask teachers to do this for their students when I’m not doing this for myself? As I researched the importance of sleep, nutrition, exercise, safety, self-esteem, and creating a sense of belonging for the book, I found myself shrinking as I realized that all of these basic human needs were being ignored—by me. And by so many of the educators that I had the opportunity to work with.

And thus, I decided to change my life. Or at least take my life back and move it closer to the images I was portraying on my social media accounts. It was my singular focus. I started with the basics—level one of Maslow’s (1943) hierarchy. I implemented the research on sleep and purchased an old-school alarm clock, a sleep mask, and set the thermostat to 68 degrees. I pushed out my Diet Dr. Pepper addiction by increasing my water intake to 64oz each day. I met with a nutritionist, got tested for food allergies, kept a food journal, and completely overhauled my food life in ways that would make my 2015 self cringe. When I was on the road, I opted for the grocery store over the McDonald’s. I carried apples and protein powder in my bag and politely refused the food pushing that comes with travel status.

I had a long and honest talk with my husband. I detailed what a trip on the road actually looked like (let’s just say, there’s nothing glamorous about 99% of my trips), and I asked for help. I needed to come home to a clean house and groceries and I needed to be left alone for a while because my introverted self couldn’t stand the thought of going out to eat in a crowded restaurant for at least 24-hours upon arriving home. And I promised that if he could help me with these requests, I would be an extraordinary wife in return. He got it. And he stepped up and took over the cleaning and made sure that I had healthy food in the fridge upon returning home from a trip.

And you guys? It worked.

My skin cleared up, I was sleeping for the recommended 7-8 hours a night (most nights), my weight dropped, and I was a kinder, gentler, more patient presenter, passenger, friend, and wife. I felt so good.
And because it worked, I was inspired to write my book, Take Time for You: Self-Care Plans for Educators (Boogren, 2018). The results were astounding. My Facebook group (www.facebook.com/selfcareforeducators) went from 100 followers to well over 5,000. I traveled all across the country, delivering keynotes and conducting workshops that were centered on creating happy and healthy educators in order to positively impact student achievement. Suddenly grassroots self-care clubs were popping up in schools and my message was resonating with educators outside of the United States. It was incredible.

Because I believe in leading by example, I know I have to continue to walk my talk every single day and so I continue to research the latest findings on happiness and health, implementing tweaks and habits into my already established self-care routine in order to fulfill my mission of creating a life that I love living and thus, my follow-up book, ‘180 Days of Self-Care for Busy Educators’ will be released on September 13 with even more strategies, hacks, and tools.

I so want to tell female educators–particularly beginning educators that they do NOT need to set themselves on fire in order to keep others warm. I want them to know that burning the candle at both ends (and all the way down the middle) isn’t good for anyone–including the students that they’re working so hard to support.

We’d love to hear more about Self-Care for Educators.
My formal bio reads as follows:

Tina H. Boogren, Ph.D., is a former classroom teacher, English department chair, teacher mentor, instructional coach, professional developer, athletic coach, and building-level leader. She has presented at the school, district, state, and national levels and has been a featured speaker at the International Literacy Association Annual Conference and Barnes and Nobel Educators’ Nights.

Dr. Boogren was a 2007 finalist for Colorado Teacher of the Year and received the Douglas County School District Outstanding Teacher Award eight years in a row, from 2002 to 2009. In addition to writing articles for the National Writing Project’s The Voice and The Quarterly, she is the author of In the First Few Years: Reflections of a Beginning Teacher, Supporting Beginning Teachers, The Beginning Teacher’s Field Guide: Embarking on Your First Years, and Take Time for You: Self-Care Action Plans for Educators, which was the Independent Publisher’s Gold Award winner in the Education category. She’s a co-author of Strategies to Motivate and Inspire Students along with Robert Marzano, Darrell Scott, and Ming Lee Newcomb, and is a contributing author to Richard Kellough’s Middle School Teaching: A Guide to Methods and Resources and Robert J. Marzano’s Becoming a Reflective Teacher.

Dr. Boogren holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa, a master’s degree with an administrative endorsement from the University of Colorado Denver, and a doctorate from the University of Denver in educational administration and policy studies.

You can follow me here:
Twitter/Instagram: THBoogren
Facebook: www.facebook.com/selfcareforeducators–this is the core way to get to know my work and understand my passions.

So much of the media coverage is focused on the challenges facing women today, but what about the opportunities? Do you feel there are any opportunities that women are particularly well-positioned for?
In the education world, there are many opportunities for women–thankfully. I’m especially excited to see more women in leadership positions and working hard to model and encourage more of a work-life balance than I’ve seen in the past. I have immense hope that we’re moving in the right direction here.

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                                    Image Credit:
Tina H. Boogren

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