Happy Teacher

         How are you, teacher?

          I have found that there isn't enough literature on teacher well-being. Agree? I think that's a really big problem. Teachers need support beyond how to facilitate an effective class, or how to engage students and keep them happily learning, and how to improve outcomes/data. What about teacher's needs?

           We, as a society, need to put some focus on supporting teacher health and helping them achieve balance between work life and personal life.

            Here is an excerpt from my book in progress:

Teacher burnout is a conflict that even the greatest teacher can experience at some point or another.
Many teachers face this within the first 1-3 years of teaching – and it can last a long time without strategies, guidance, and support to overcome it. I was fortunate enough to overcome the burden of “burnout” early in my years as an educator – thus, leaving me looking forward to my future in this career, rather than having me dread each day feeling stuck. Any teacher feeling burnout can overcome it, no matter where they are on their educator journey. It’s not too late!

What is “Teacher Burnout”?

Burnout occurs when people feel drained emotionally, physically, and mentally by some constant
stressors. One of the most common causes is work, and teachers tend to take this stress to a whole new level. The conflict teachers face typically stems from their Type A personalities and tendencies to take on the weight of the world in their desire to “make a difference.” The thing is we don’t remember that even the smallest acts can and will make that difference. Taking work home, prepping at home, staying late at school, and volunteering for the umpteen thousandth time is not what makes a difference.

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Teachers often feel overwhelmed, tired, unappreciated, and frustrated by the daily challenge of
maintaining a positive and productive learning environment while neglecting their own fundamental needs. Things that overwhelm and stress a teacher include grading – Lord help us: the grading, meetings, conferences and training, accommodations, planning, creating, data tracking and reviewing, and oh so much more… the list goes on and on. It’s exhausting. Feeling unappreciated can come from treatment by students, parents, fellow faculty, and administration–though great admin is one thing I’ve always been fortunate to have. Frustration can stem from going above and beyond delivering excellent instruction to reach all students, yet still having those underachievers that – no matter what you do – you just can’t motivate.

You’re Not Alone

A teacher experiencing burnout can often feel very lonely. Well, I am here to assure you that more
educators are feeling it than the ones who are not. So why don’t we talk about it more? Why is it taboo to say you are feeling unhappy and unfulfilled as an educator? The reason is that teachers are viewed as difference makers who have some supernatural powers of patience and caliber for omniscience. That’s a lot of pressure for anyone! Those are some high-stake shoes to fill. The truth is that we aren’t superhuman all-knowing beings without limits of patience. And that’s ok.

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If you need help, let me know. I am here, and I've been there. ❣

Your Class as a Training Session

          Have you every been to a professional development session where the presenter talked at you and read the slides word for word the entire time? Where there was no engagement or practice of concepts and the room was too crowded to maintain your focus? Where you counted down the slow moving minutes in anticipation of the lunch break? I have. 

            Imagine if that was how your classroom was run. How do you think students would feel about learning or staying interested in what you have to say? They wouldn't enjoy it anymore than you do in PD sessions that go like that. 

             It is important to think of every class as a new training session. Show your passion for what you are teaching and make sure to facilitate student centered lessons. Think about a PD session you attended that got you excited about what you learned and aim to recreate that for your students. 

             Start each lesson with an engaging warm up that gets them (students) wondering what the class will be about. Have a think-pair-share time to review the warm-up. Each pair should come up with 2-3 questions about what the content might cover that day. Then, they can change partners and share 1 of their questions or inferences on what the class will be about that day. 

              After that there should be a review of the agenda and objective for the day. Begin the explicit teach portion with reading a relevant text or video that continues getting students to think about the topic and purpose of the lesson. When you finally get to slides, remember that explicit teach shouldn't take more than 15 or so minutes - kids just don't have the attention span for much longer. Try not to read what is on the slides to them. Trust that you know the content and teach authentically. One way to avoid reading the slides is to only put bullet points, not whole sentences. 

               Once the explicit teach portion is finished, provide students with different opportunities to interact with what they have just learned. Stations, digital breakouts, Kahoot!, and card sorts are a few ideas to engage students in practice with concepts and content. 

                In the end, students should finish with a ticket out that gives them an opportunity to express what they understood, wondered about, or took away from the day's lesson.

                 Just remember the worst and best training you ever attended, and decide how you can recreate the things that worked for you as an audience member.