Tid-BiT: FIve Things I Should Be Doing As A Teacher, That I Don't

Five Things I Should Be Doing As A Teacher, That I Don't

How My Sanity Is Saved By Being Practical and Using Common Sense

This morning's post is brought to you by Pinterest and not in the way that you might think. If you have read my past posts, you know that I am not a huge fan of Pinterest or TPT, and if you have been on my Pinterest page, you may also notice that I don't pin often and if I do, it's normally to post something practical (which I don't find often).

HOWEVER, this morning I had an email from the Pinterest Gods, stating that they had some boards that they thought I might like. None of which I did. In fact, that damn email took me down the rabbit hole and immediately the feelings of guilt and self-loathing started to seep in. Again.

You see, this is why I don't get on the site often. But, it did remind me of why I quit getting on there in the first place and of all of the things that I quit doing as I was burning out. 

1. I quit getting on Pinterest. (Obviously.)

I really do respect it. Really I do. I have gotten some good, basic ideas from Pinterest and it is helpful when I am in a pinch and can't think of what to do when I am faced with a problem to solve. However, when I was on there this morning, I was shaking my head at how complicated things like Class Dojo were made. I'm talking bulletin boards, coloring sheets where kids keep track of their points daily, 20 different ways to reward and punish kids with points, depending on their behavior. I actually laughed. Are people feeling that this is normal?

 I am not coming down on you if you promptly give each student 5 points each day for turning in homework, after you fight to collect it, grade and correct every problem, and then pass it back. I really am not, but know that there is a simpler way. Which brings me to my next thing...

2. I quit giving homework. 

My daughter was on the phone with my mom the other day and they were talking about homework. My mom asked her if I give homework, I said, "No." She asked, "Why?" I said, "Because I don't want to grade it!" It's as simple as that. I get enough proof of whether or not a student needs more support at school. The students also work hard enough during the day, that they don't need to go home to more work. 

Communication with parents is key, however. If a student is really struggling. Parents are made aware and I give them suggestions. If they really want to help their child at home, they will either use the resources I suggest, or not. Parents have never been surprised by grades or report cards, because we communicate often, when necessary, in order to support their child. 

3. I quit giving reading logs. 

This was something I quit about 3/4 of the way through this year and I wish I would have quit 11 years ago, when I started teaching. Why did it take me so long to quit this obnoxious use of paper and my time? There was always great participation for the first two weeks, and then my highest readers were the only ones filling them out. 

Alice Keeler inspired me to ask myself this question, "Why do we ask students to do unrealistic things that adults would never do in real life?" Such as, write down the number of pages we read and record our thinking every time we read a book at home? 

Don't get me wrong, OF COURSE I encourage reading at home. OF COURSE, I have ways of getting books into the backpacks of my students. But, just as my philosophy stands with homework, either a parent is going to take that suggestion to read to and with their child, or not. All I can do is grow a students' personal love of reading as much as I can at school so they WANT to read at home. Am I growing their love of reading by making them mechanically fill out sheets of 'proof' that they did it? Nope. 

4. I quit weekly and monthly newsletters.

Before I lose you and you write me off as a terrible communicator who is closing the door to my classroom and letting no one in, let me make this very clear: I am AWESOME at communicating with parents of my students. I am very clear on all of the ways that they can communicate with me and ask me questions several times throughout the year and especially those first few weeks of school.

I send home many different pieces of information about daily routines, ways to get ahold of me, what my expectations are, and consequences for not respecting those expectations in my classroom. 

My favorite ways of communicating with parents are Seesaw and Remind. 

With Seesaw, parents are able to see, to the hour, what and how their child is doing at school. They see videos, picture posts, and notes that their child is working on every single day, several times a day. Isn't that better than me just stating the standards or learning targets that we are working on each week? I'm gonna say, yeah. It is. I also use it to send quick updates on classroom happenings and upcoming events. 

Remind is a free texting and emailing app that lets me privately send texts and/or class announcements to parents reminding them of upcoming events or updating them on their child's behavior, if that is what their need is. Instant, short, and practical. Done. Parents can also text me with questions and concerns. We often schedule conferences through this service too! All numbers are made private and it is really easy to set up. 

5. I quit feeling like my classroom was MINE.

Our classroom is organized, low maintenance, organized, clean, organized, and safe. Did I mention that it's organized?

My students know where everything is, how to get the things they need, where to put them when they are done, and where to go to find any resource they need. IF they can't find something, they know what to do then too... ask three friends for help. Still can't figure it out? Ok, NOW you can ask me. AND I DON'T NEED TO BUY OR MAKE A SIGN TO HOLD UP THAT STATES, "ASK 3 THEN ME." (Yes, I saw that on Pinterest today.)

Of course I get interrupted when working with students or small groups. They are six years old and I have 30 of them! I'm in the career of education. I deal with it. 

The students don't need colorful labels on all of my drawers. They don't need all of my walls plastered with smiling cookie-cutter children or frogs. (I'm referencing my first year of teaching here.) They need a safe, well-organized, and balanced classroom. They need love. They need to learn to be independent and that if they need something they know where to go to get it. They need a space that is theirs and OURS, not mine. 

Bottom line: stop feeling that because you see it online, that is what should be happening in your room. We teachers, as self-proclaimed perfectionists, control-freaks, and Type A personalities are burning ourselves out by comparing ourselves to pictures from classrooms we have NEVER and WILL NEVER go to. STOP. IT. Do what's right. Do what works. Do what's best for YOUR kids. Be happy. 

BURN ON!

Burned-INterview #2: Learning to Let Go, Before Letting Go of Teaching

Burned-INterview #2:

This Burned-Out Teacher Wishes She Would Have Let Go; 

Before Letting Go of Teaching

BiT Interviews are completely anonymous and are conducted to get to know what burned-out teachers or current teachers are feeling and going through before they either have left or leave the education profession. 

AH: (Me!) Amber Harper   BiT: Interviewee

AH: How many school systems have you worked in?
BiT: I worked in one school system. Two separate schools.

AH:Rural, suburbs, inner city?
BiT: I worked in a rural school for 2 years and then an urban 100% free/reduced school the last half of my career. This school has a high Burmese population and I worked there for 2 1/2 years.


AH: Elementary, middle, high or special assignment?
BiT: I worked for 4 1/2 years in an elementary school.

AH: Did you always want to be a teacher?
BiT: Yes, I always said that I wanted to be a teacher, but I didn't become a teacher right away. I went to work and then went back to school and returned when I was 28.

AH: Of all that is hard about being a teacher, what is burning you out the most?
BiT: When I left, we were on our fourth principal in 2.5 years, our third assistant principal in 2.5 years.
The admin was not for the teachers, more of "I'm going to do whatever makes me look good."
A student who should have been put into an ED program and was not given the attention that she deserved.
I took a leave and then couldn't return for mental health.
I couldn't teach because of a kid I'm trying to restrain for 45 min. You call administration and they don't come to help you. Tables and chairs are being thrown. It wasn't safe. That's what pushed me out of it. 

I wouldn't say that I was burned out, but there are just a lot of things on your plate as a teacher. 

We started taking these "bundle assessments" on iPads, reading and math. Our success as a teacher was based on these tests. Half of my class didn't speak English, so it didn't matter whether I read it to them or not. My scores would be compared to all of the other schools in the district, including an affluent school.
They would question why the affluent school would score 80% and my school would score 60%. We were NOT allowed to bring up the fact that our kids were not English-speaking students. That was not an excuse. It was all about our teaching. 

You start to feel like you're losing your mind. You start to wonder, "Am I insane? Am I really an insane person?"

So all of this, on top of this student with these outbursts during the tests. This went on 1/2 the year. I finally just took a leave after November and resigned after Christmas. 

This was a daily thing. If you saw pictures of this, you would be astounded. 

Another big issue was the MASSIVE amounts of meetings. In the middle of the day, I would be pulled out of class. I'd have to get a 1/2 day sub every other week for some reason. Meetings about what we can better do to better serve our students. I could be in my class serving my kids. Why were we having these meetings? A meeting to talk about the last meeting? To talk about the next meeting?When you know you have SO MUCH stuff to do and your brain is just thinking the whole time, "...okay, I have this to do, I have to do this. Then, I can't forget to do this. Oh, and I need to do this." And everything they would give me during the meeting would go right into the recycle bin. 

Because we are a Title school, you are forced to have these extra meetings. WHY? I could have been talking to a coworker. We could have been planning or collaborating.

The year before, at the other school, we would have a meeting once a week. It would alternate. Meeting as a school, then meeting with grade level, alternating and it was GREAT! But, not at my second school. It was ALL. THE. TIME. 

It was a negative building to work in, because all of the teachers were so upset all the time. 
They were all crying. It is so sad. You cry because you care. If you didn't care, you wouldn't cry. I would sit and bawl. This was hysterical crying like my mom or dad died. I had a full on panic attack one morning when I walked into my classroom one day. I had to leave. I couldn't even do what I was trying to do, and now you are piling things on again. 

It will be interesting to see how many of my colleagues leave this year. 

AH: Did you have any assistants?
BiT: No. No assistants. I had 23 kids.

AH: Where do you feel teachers are most unsupported?
BiT: When you have concerns or let's say if something is presented and you feel that this is not what is going to help my students the best. Being able to be honest about whether or not you think this is the best for kids without any backlash.

Having to say, "Oh yes! This sounds GREAT!" Even though, in your mind, you're thinking, "This is NOT going to work. There is a better way."

You can't say that without being chastised, or being viewed as negative. It looks good on paper, but is not good in application. 

AH: How often were administration in your classroom?
BiT:Last year, we had an amazing administrator who wouldn't do what the district told her because she knew it wasn't the best for kids. She was let go. She was in the classroom every day and talked to the kids to see what they are working on. It wasn't just a walk-thru. She was always asking, "What can I do to help you? What can we do for these kids?" She was so wonderful and so supportive and had experience of 30 years working with EL kids. The school wouldn't listen to ANYTHING that she had to say. It was heart-breaking.

The current principal is only in the classroom to observe you. This principal is a "Yes" person. I feel like, I would like them to just show their face once in a while, you know? I worked in the business world before I was in education and I had a personal relationship with my manager and employees. And, then (as a teacher) I was like, how can I possibly feel comfortable around you when you are ONLY coming in to observe me? I haven't built a relationship with you and neither have the kids. 

You do these observations and and OH MY GOODNESS. DO YOU REALLY THINK THEY ARE 100% ENGAGED? They are looking at things that are so insignificant. These kids are 5 and 6! Yes . She's chewing on her shirt. Yes. She's touching her friend's hair. There are always going to be those one or two who have things going on. 

If you have an administrator who is totally disengaged unless they are coming in to do their walkthroughs, and they mark you, and then they ask you questions about the kids and you're like, "I guess you would have NO idea what is going on with this child, because you are NEVER around!"

I'm one who likes to take care of a lot of stuff on my own. I have good classroom management skills, but when you are working with an ED student, things are just different. When you are constantly running through administrators and they don't know me, they think I'm the problem. It's not me! I was highly effective and they would send in new teachers to watch my classroom management, because I was so skilled with that. Then I felt so unsupported. Finally when it came down to me telling them that and they were like, "You mean you feel like we don't support you?" I said, "No." After that, it just snowballed.

I wanted to do everything I could to support her, but I had 22 other students to worry about and I can't spend all of my time with just her. It was definitely affecting the other kids. It was traumatizing. If I was a child seeing that, I wouldn't have wanted to go to school.

What do you feel is the best way to support a teacher who is burned-out?
There is so much pressure put on a teacher and so many things that you are dealing with as an educator. People say, "I'd love to do your job and hang out with kids all day." THEY HAVE NO IDEA. 

I cried in my car and got medicated. 

Nobody wakes up in the morning and thinks, "I want to be a bad teacher." Were there a couple of bad teachers in my building, of course, but did they have the proper guidance? I don't know. We are rolling through administrators left and right and your expectations are changing every day.

Each teacher is struggling in different areas. They say, "Go ask this teacher to help you." But they are already drowning in their own area and don't have time to help.  They can't help me because I know they are struggling with other things (in their life) that the administrator doesn't know about because they never talk to the teachers. 

There is honestly not enough time to sit and support each other. I would like more time. 

You know you learn the most when you are sitting in collaboration with your colleagues and you are like, "That is a great idea!" OR if you could go into another teacher's classroom. You find answers to questions. How are they handling this? How are they handling that? 

Do you feel that you have other teachers to confide in?
Yes, but maybe that compounded things. She moved to another school and I would call her. She was someone I could go to about things. She was older and went into education later in life. She was more mature and gave me sound advice. As you get older you learn more about life. 

I knew that whatever she and I talked about, it was between her and I. I never had to worry about someone else finding out. 

In the building I was in last year, that was not the norm. In the school that I was in, we would get 10-12 new teachers every year. I was considered a 'veteran' teacher. 

When you taught, did you have anything that you did to help you decompress?
I didn't have anything that I could do at work, but I worked out. I would sometimes go outside and walk around the building. 

What do you wish was available to burned-out teachers?
More time for teachers to talk. Why can't we go to school 4.5 days and then plan and prep on Friday afternoons?  There is so much that is required of educators. I have so many high expectations and I want to be the best. I want my kids to grow and be successful. I feel like it's constant pressure. 

If you go back, what will you do differently?
I have to learn to let things go. Some teachers are good at that and I always wanted to be perfect. I feel like I can't do that, because then I feel like I'm failing the kids. 

What would you say to a teacher who is getting ready to enter the classroom?
You are never going to be perfect and you are always going to be a work in progress. 

You learn new things every year and every year is different. 

Find one really, really good friend at school. One that you can trust and one who can help you and support you. That makes a huge difference. 

Take Aways and Tips:

I have listened to this interview many times, and now read the transcript over and over again and it, quite frankly, makes me feel like I have no problems. 

This teacher has dealt with it all: unsupportive and inconsistent leadership, severe behavior problems within her classroom, struggles with perfectionism and depression, and consequently had to leave to feel like she could gain control of her life again. 

During the conversation there was a period of time where she and I talked in depth about how badly we need to 'turn it off' and go home. I have worked and met a lot of teachers throughout my career and most of them are self-proclaimed perfectionists and/or control freaks They care so much that they can't stand to leave before 6:00 most nights and insist on coming in over the weekend to prepare for the following week or to enter and organize data. 

My question becomes this: When do we just say, "ENOUGH is ENOUGH."? Should we wait until we are burned out from feeling like failures for years? Or do we wait until we feel that if our administrator gives us one more bad evaluation, after being absent from our classroom for months, we have no other choice but to find a different profession? Obviously not. 

My biggest take away from our hour long conversation is how important consistent and realistic expectations from administration are to a teacher's success. And, as I type this I think to myself, imagine if the way we treat teachers was the norm for how teachers treated students? Wouldn't they burn out too? Would that be considered acceptable?

I can imagine that if a teacher's life at school is a dash of chaotic, one cup of unpredictable, and baked on high pressure and disrespect all day long and then removed from that oven only to be sat back on the high heat of being a parent and spouse with other potentially stressful obligations, that can make the burn-out even more inevitable.

As I reflect on my experiences, I realize, also, that I constantly felt like the victim in my situation. I didn't do anything to turn that ship around either, until I was eight years deep, depressed, and felt like I didn't deserve better. I now know different.

As I have dealt with burnout, I have learned that I actually have more control than I think I do:

- I have total control over where I work. If I am unhappy where I am, I am responsible of that situation. I can leave. And I have. 

- I determine my attitude. 100% of the time. No excuses. I can either tell myself all day that I suck, or that I am doing the best that I can and that I am awesome. I choose the latter. 

- I am obsessed with being that friend to other teachers who is positive, helpful, and trustworthy. That is what I choose to do, and because of this, people are there for me too. 

- I believe in sticking up for myself as a professional. I have stopped living in fear of being fired for asking questions and defending my position as a professional. If my boss makes my life a living hell because of this belief, I will leave. Because I am in control of my environment. Period. 

- I have let go. I used to feel like my room had to be the prettiest and trendiest. I used to feel that I had to know, word-for-word what I was going to say for each lesson. This is no longer my truth. My room is organized, safe, and colorful. It is a place where I let my guard down and act goofy with my kids. It is a place I teach them to be kind and to think for themselves. Then, when the day is over, I plan to pick up where we left off the next day and... I leave. I "leave it all on the court," as I have heard NBA basketball players say. 

Before you burn out, know that you are in control. It may not feel like it, but you really are. Email me to tell me your story. We are in this together. 

Burn on!

Burned-INterview #1- This Burned-Out Teacher is Teaching with Her Emotions, When She Was Told Not To

Welcome to the very first Burned-INterview!

BiT Interviews are completely anonymous and are conducted to get to know what burned-out teachers are feeling or what they felt in the past, before they ended up leaving their education profession. 

AH: (Me!) Amber Harper   BiT: Interviewee

AH: How long have you been teaching?
BiT: I've been teaching for 5 years.
AH: How many school systems have you worked in?
BiT: I've worked in two.
AH: Hey! Me too! Were the schools rural, suburban, or inner city?
BiT: One is a complete Title school with a high free/reduced lunch population. It is a rural school. The other used to be pretty affluent and now half are Title but not completely free/reduced lunch. There is more economic disparity than the other school system I worked in. It is suburban. 
AH: What school setting are you working in?
BiT: I work with elementary school students.
AH: Did you always want to be a teacher?
BiT: Yes, but I don't know when I decided or why I wanted to be one.
AH: Of all that is hard about being a teacher, what is burning you out the most?
BiT: I realized really quickly how little control teachers have. You think you get to plan and interact with students the way that you want to, but then you HAVE to do "X,Y, and Z." Making things transparent means having to share lesson plans with other teachers, principals, and other staff which makes me feel really micromanaged. It's like their always watching me, as opposed to watching out for me. 
AH: Where do you feel you are the most unsupported as a teacher?
BiT: I get no acknowledgement for the work that I do with kids from my administration. Education is going through a lot, so resources are being taken away from me and administration is just like, "Well, we don't have this anymore, so you need to figure out a way to deal with it, pull up your boot straps and move on."
I feel that the rug is pulled out from under us all the time and then they tell us, "Don't be emotional. Leave your emotions at the door. They have no place in the classroom. Your job is to teach. You are a teacher." 
Well, I WANT to get emotional! It's the only way that I can connect with my kids on a HUMAN level, you know? I work with KIDS! Things happen to us! Why should I not be allowed to show some friggin emotions? Come on. I'm not sorry.
AH: What do you feel is the best way to support a teacher who is burned-out?
BiT: Show a little empathy! I want to feel like I can identify with other teachers and that I am not alone in how I feel. I want others to feel like they can talk to me too. Like we are in this together! I mean, I want administrators to try to teach my students and see how they feel about it. You know?

AH: Oh, I know. I think about that a lot. Do you feel that you have other teachers to confide in?
BiT: Yes, I do. I have a coworker who I talk things through with. But, you know, you can't have a relationship where all you do is complain. We take a 'time-out' to complain about what happened and then we discuss what we can do about it to keep it from happening again. You know? It's really hard not to just bitch all of the time, but I want to solve the problem. Sometimes there is no real solution, though. It's WAY more helpful for me to confide in a teacher. Other professionals don't get it. They just shake their heads and say, "I don't know how you do it." Well, you know? I don't know how I do it sometimes either. (chuckle)
AH: What do you wish was available to burned-out teachers?
BiT:  I wish there was like, NOT Pinterest. Do you know what I mean? It makes me feel AWFUL! I don't have the time or the energy to spend making pretty things for my kids. And quite frankly, I don't think they'd care. Every one is always sharing their BEST lessons and BEST teaching life. TEACHING IS NOT PINTEREST PEOPLE! I want to be part of a community where teachers can build each other up and make each other feel awesome!
AH: Who do you feel you associate with best when you are at your worst? Energetic people or people who share in your unhappiness at school?
BiT: You mean when there is a problem and no one wants to acknowledge it? I would really like someone in the middle. Like, someone who will listen without judgement and offers solutions. Someone who gets it, but that is positive and helpful.

Take Aways and Burning Questions

I, personally, am a very emotional person. I am passionate and excitable and cry to show a variety of emotions. Just ask my co-workers and husband. It's the truth. So when our conversation turned to emotions, I was all ears.

Throughout our entire conversation, the topic of emotions kept returning over and over again. She told of her feelings of resentment from being micromanaged, inadequacy from not being trusted to do her job well, lack of real control over her life within the walls of her school, and disappointment that the word 'transparency' has become a way of being checked on, instead of looked out for by her fellow teachers and administrators.

This teacher has been told on many occasions that she is to, "Leave emotions at the door. Whatever happened this morning, weekend, or the night before has no place in the classroom. Your job as a teacher is to teach the curriculum and when you bring in outside baggage, you are distracted and, therefore, not focused on teaching."

Is this realistic? She answered this question herself:

Why are we told to leave our emotions at the door? We should be using those emotions to connect with students on a HUMAN level. 

Teachers are social animals. We CRAVE communication and emotional connection. In fact, we don't just crave it, we THRIVE on it. And yet we are literally locked into a room, with children, and told not to be emotional. 

Should we be expected to pack down all of our emotions for the sake of breaking some invisible 'emotion boundary' that lies mysteriously between teacher and human?

Upon hearing about the Sandy Hook shootings, back in 2014, the teacher I interviewed was devastated, as was the World. When she entered her classroom the next day, a student approached her and asked, "... if that happened here, you would protect us, right?" Curriculum out the window. Insert emotional conversation about fear, guns, and the need for love.

How do you NOT get emotional when tragedy happens and you are asked a question like that by a child? 

I challenge you this week to take the advice of this teacher.      

OWN YOUR HUMANITY.  Be an emotional teacher. Get excited about your ability to shape lives or that you got a new car. Teach them the steps you took to save for it. Get angry about events in history, that you spilled your coffee all over the carpet right before the kids walked in, or that a student puked all over your phone while you were reading together. Talk to them about it. Then, teach them how you controlled that anger.

Here are some take-aways from our discussion about solutions to feeling over-emotional at school:

- Talk to others about how you are feeling without the fear of being judged. Other teachers are feeling the same way you are. Have a healthy, constructive conversation about them. Ask questions. Make suggestions. Connect, talk, cry or laugh with other teachers. Show emotions to each other.

- Leave. Go home and do something that makes you happy. I rarely stay past my contract time these days, because I have found that if I stay, I begin to find things to keep me busy. I'm happier and able to control my emotions better.

- Know you are not alone. When a student thew up all over my phone last week, I took a 20 min break and cried in the bathroom. That was the tipping point that day for me and I had had it. I didn't want anyone else to know, but they found out... just like they always do. My friends talked me down. They reminded me that I, in fact, wasn't crazy and that I am a human-being. (Also, that they would have also lost their minds if someone tossed their cheerios all over their lifeline!) Losing your cool is part of being alive. That felt good to hear. 

Do you agree? What are YOU doing to own your emotions within your four walls? 

I know you are not excited to share your thoughts with me via social media. I totally get it! Send me an email at burnedinteacher@gmail.com and let me know your thoughts. Want to talk? I can interview YOU too! Other teachers want to hear your stories. It helps us feel connected and human. 

BURN ON!

Stop the Shame: Admit You are Burned Out and Take Action

Stop the Shame: 

Admit You Are Burned Out and Do Something About It 

We've all felt it. Some of us may feel burned-out now and are afraid to take the steps necessary to get us out of that slump! This is a post from last May and I'm bringing it back for all of you who are rethinking your career as an educator. Here are the steps I found helpful as I pulled myself out of burnout... more than once.  

Step 1: Admit That You Are Burned Out

When I was feeling burned-out and hating life, I felt 100% alone and isolated. I didn't feel that it was acceptable to feel the feelings that I had. After months of tears and not talking to anyone but my husband about this, because I was ashamed,  he was exhausted and told me to quit. I knew that I was an awesome teacher. Students, other teachers, and parents told me all the time how great I was. They showered me with compliments, and although it used to fuel my fire, I had found myself numb to it. 

It wasn't until I started doing some searching online that I realized, not only were other teachers feeling the same way, there was actual research being done about it. Up until the last few weeks, I had skimmed some of the articles and then closed out thinking, "Okay, I'm not alone, but these people are full of sh@#! How am I seriously going to feel better about my career choice?"

Recently, I have been doing some deep research about being burned-out online and it is helping me so much! I am becoming sharply focused on my attitude and behaviors as a burned-in teacher. After reading a lot of articles (you will find the links below), here are the biggest take-aways that I have for you to reflect on about YOURSELF as an educator:

Potential Causes of Teacher Burn-Out:

1. Your students don't seem to care.

2. You feel you are disciplining more than teaching.

3. The pressure to perform is high and your workload is even higher.

4. You are experiencing constant changes in expectations and standards.

5. You feel you are being over-evaluated.

6. You are constantly dealing with colleagues who are less then fun to work with.

7. You have low self-esteem.

8. You are working for administrators who are terrible managers.

9. You are confused about your role as a teacher.

10. Your working conditions are bad.

Signs You are Burned-Out:

1. You take a lot of days off of work

2. You don't share or seek great ideas.

3. When you do converse, you are complaining.

4. You have lost that "spark".

5. You are exhausted.

6. You rarely smile or laugh (especially at school).

7. You are anxious.

8. You feel overwhelmed.

9. You seek collaboration and can't find anyone willing to work with you.

10. You isolate yourself.

11. You feel that everything is an emergency.

12. You feel numb to feeling any emotions for students or other teachers.

13. You take forever to get out of bed to go to work.

14. You despise staying after school to do work in the classroom.

15. You feel severe annoyance about every little thing.

16. You use planning time to search for jobs outside of education.

Step 2: Take Action

Possible Solutions:

1. Be more playful.

2. Be present in your teaching.

3. Decide what you want to be and who you want to be.

4. Be an actor. (Fake it!)

5. Embrace the uncertainty.

6. Find balance.

7. Search yourself. What do YOU love to do?

8. Grow relationships in and out of school.

9. Show gratitude.

10. Heal. Know these feelings will pass if you want them to and you will come out stronger.

Find Inspiration:
1. Google 'Teacher Burn-Out'. Read about burnout and solutions.
2. Find TED-ed Talks.
3. Find a hashtag on twitter that inspires you or find great people to follow. (Follow me on Twitter @burnedinteacher)
4. Find funny teacher memes.
5. Find a group of teachers online to share triumphs with.
6. Decide what is important to you and what is not.
7.Plan activities in your off time that have nothing to do with teaching.

Resources:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-burnout-four-warning-signs-nicholas-provenzano 

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/reboot-resources-for-teacher-inspiration-monica-burns

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/rediscovering-your-fulfillment-as-teacher-allen-mendler

http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/05/20/ctq-pillars-signs-of-solutions-for-burnout.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/12/12/teacher-the-day-i-knew-for-sure-i-was-burned-out/

http://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/Resources/Educ/CAMHPS/Coping%20with%20teacher%20burnout.pdf

http://www.nafme.org/teacher-burnout-is-real-signs-and-how-to-avoid-it/

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/5-tips-avoiding-teacher-burnout-mary-beth-hertz

I hope that recognizing the signs is helpful to you and your journey to become burned-in again. Now, take the next step and TAKE ACTION! For me, taking action is simply enjoying my summer vacation with no thoughts about school for weeks on end. I love my school and my kids, but I am done for now.

FYI: There are MANY more articles out there on the topic of 'Teacher Burn-Out'. I strongly encourage you to read all you can about it. I am finding new articles every day. They are extremely confirming and refreshing to read. Plus, you may find out (after reading about someone else's teaching life) that you don't have it nearly as bad as you think you do. 

Email me signs that you know you are burned-out. Tell me about your situation. Share your shame so you can become sharply focused on fixing this. You can become burned-in again!
You can also tweet out what you are doing to stay burned-in with #burnedinteacher.

Burn on!

My... How the Time Flies... When You Are Trying to Keep Your Head Above Water

 

Boom. I reached some goals, but it's not good enough. I'm still not happy. WT...???

Hey, Burnies! Thought I gave up did you? Figured I threw in the towel on the whole blogging thing? NOPE! In the past few months, I have been:

a. Moving into our new home.

b. Focusing on my family and getting settled into our AWESOME neighborhood.

c. Starting a new school year with 30 first graders.

d. Working on my career goals of becoming a Google Certified Educator Levels 1 & 2 by Christmas.

  Level 1? Check!

  Level 2? Taking the exam this week! 

  Google Trainer??? Yep! That's happening.

e. Trying new things as a Seesaw Ambassador so that I know what the hell I'm talking about when I present/facilitate about this game-changing app. 

....basically trying to keep my head above water like the rest of you. 

The list could go on, really... but that's not why you are reading...

With all that I have done, all I have learned, all that I still desire... I am lacking fulfillment. I love my students. We are trying new stuff together, failing all over the place, and loving every minute. However, I have a BURNING (no pun intended) desire to help educators love educating kids like I do. A NEED to assist teachers to weed through all that there is to do with technology and pick something to try. A mind-blowing excitement to help teachers narrow their focus to help them to realize how empowering technology can be for them and how simple changes can make a big impact on their lives.

But I need your help, readers. 

I need you to tell me what you are overwhelmed by. I don't want to do this for me, therefore, I don't want to assume that I know you. I don't want to be another 'sage on the stage' who gets up there and talks to hear myself talk. I don't want to tell teachers more vague lists of things they 'should' be doing such as, "give kids real-life experiences" and "make the classroom theirs," etc. YAWN. WE have heard all of those things with no simple "How-to's" attached. 

I want to be  someone who is giving teachers real, simple tools and tricks that can help them to leave the classroom at a decent time AND I MEAN LEAVE, not take it all home and work on it until 11:00 pm on their couch with a half bottle of wine every night. I want to be the coach who helps you navigate through the endless possibilities that you have as a leader of youngsters to help them (and you for that matter) be more productive and less passive. 

YOU have got to tell me what you want, need, desire to help you to be more fulfilled as a fellow educator and human. 

This is me putting myself out there, letting you know that I am ready and willing to listen to anything you have to say about how you are not being supported or how you are being 'supported' but by 'support' you mean more and more and more is being asked of you with no way of knowing how to actually put it into practice. 

Let's do this. Burn on!

The Way Some Burned-In Teachers Think About Summer Is Broken

Go Ahead, Work All Summer... I'll Be Over Here, Enjoying Life.

Today's question comes from Melanie, a fourth grade teacher from Idaho. She writes: 

"I've been teaching for 11 years and I am so burned out by all of the changes that seem to happen in my corporation each year. One year, they change our curriculum maps all around, the next year maybe I get moved a grade level, one year we went 1-to-1 with technology. I know that during summer break I should be relaxing and recharging, but there seems to be something that comes up to rock my world each year. I spend each summer working in my classroom getting ready for the 'next big thing' that is coming. Am I wrong? Should I not go into school?"

Since, I am on summer break, I am going to make this short and sweet, Melanie. Yes, you are wrong and no, you should not be in that building. Don't even go near it. 

Now, before some of you start chasing me with pitchforks and torches while telling me I am the worst teacher in the world, let me explain my answers a little bit. 

1. What I mean by 'wrong' is 'misinformed'.

Listen, we will all naturally think about school over the summer. I mean, it's our JOB to plan ahead and for the most part, we know what we will be getting ourselves into in the fall. However, if you are like me at all, you know that sometimes there is a difference between 'this is happening in August' and what REALLY happens in August. Things don't always go as planned and I would be in a hole in the ground had I spent all summer preparing for things at my old corporation that I was told 'were happening' and NEVER DID. 

If things are really coming down the pipe in August, your administration should be working on the details over the summer to help you succeed. Not you. Don't do their job for them. They are contracted more days than you for a reason. 

2. What I mean by 'you should not be in that building' is exactly what I said. Stay away. Far away. 

I want you to think of school in the summer as a family member or friend that you rarely see. Isn't it so much sweeter when you get to see your favorite cousin or long, lost roomy from college after an extended period of time? Trust me on this, you will be so much more excited to go back and kick butt if you wait at least 5 weeks. Do it. Walk away and don't look back for a month. Your students won't notice the difference and you can focus on YOU. As my principal always tell me, "BREATH." 

Burn on!

The First Step in Becoming Burned-In is Admitting That You Are Burned-Out: Turning Shame into Sharp Focus

Step 1: Admit That  You Are Burned Out

When I was feeling burned-out and hating life, I felt 100% alone and isolated. I didn't feel that it was acceptable to feel the feelings that I was feeling. I didn't talk to anyone about them, even my husband, because he was sick of hearing it. I knew that I was an awesome teacher. Students, other teachers, and parents told me all the time. They showered me with gifts and compliments, and although it used to fuel my fire, I then found myself numb to it. 

It wasn't until I started doing some Google searches that I realized that, not only were other teachers feeling the same way, there was actual research being done about it. Now, until the last few weeks, I had skimmed some of the articles and then closed out thinking, "Okay, I'm not alone, but these people are full of sh@#!"

Recently, I have been doing some deep research about being burned-out online and it is helping me so much! I am becoming sharply focused on my attitude and behaviors as a burned-in teacher. After reading eight articles (you will find the links below), here are the biggest take-aways that I have for you to reflect on about YOURSELF as an educator:

Potential Causes of Teacher Burn-Out:

1. Your students don't seem to care.

2. You feel you are disciplining more than teaching.

3. The pressure to perform is high and your workload is even higher.

4. You are experiencing constant changes in expectations and standards.

5. You feel you are being over-evaluated.

6. You are constantly dealing with colleagues who are less then fun to work with.

7. You have low self-esteem.

8. You are working for administrators who are terrible managers.

9. You are confused about your role as a teacher.

10. Your working conditions are bad.

Signs You are Burned-Out:

1. You take a lot of days off of work

2. You don't share or seek great ideas.

3. When you do converse, you are complaining.

4. You have lost that "spark".

5. You are exhausted.

6. You rarely smile or laugh (especially at school).

7. You are anxious.

8. You feel overwhelmed.

9. You seek collaboration and can't find anyone willing to work with you.

10. You isolate yourself.

11. You feel that everything is an emergency.

12. You feel numb to feeling any emotions for students or other teachers.

13. You take forever to get out of bed to go to work.

14. You despise staying after school to do work in the classroom.

15. You feel severe annoyance about every little thing.

16. You use planning time to search for jobs outside of education.

Step 2: Take Action

Possible Solutions:

1. Be more playful.

2. Be present in your teaching.

3. Decide what you want to be and who you want to be.

4. Be an actor. (Fake it!)

5. Embrace the uncertainty.

6. Find balance.

7. Search yourself. What do YOU love to do?

8. Grow relationships in and out of school.

9. Show gratitude.

10. Heal. Know these feelings will pass if you want them to and you will come out stronger.

Find Inspiration:
1. Google 'Teacher Burn-Out'. Read about burnout and solutions.
2. Find TED-ed Talks.
3. Find a hashtag on twitter that inspires you or find great people to follow. (follow me on Twitter @burnedinteacher)
4. Find funny teacher memes.
5. Find a group of teachers online to share triumphs with.
6. Decide what is important to you and what is not.
7.Plan activities in your off time that have nothing to do with teaching.

Resources:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-burnout-four-warning-signs-nicholas-provenzano 

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/reboot-resources-for-teacher-inspiration-monica-burns

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/rediscovering-your-fulfillment-as-teacher-allen-mendler

http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/05/20/ctq-pillars-signs-of-solutions-for-burnout.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/12/12/teacher-the-day-i-knew-for-sure-i-was-burned-out/

http://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/Resources/Educ/CAMHPS/Coping%20with%20teacher%20burnout.pdf

http://www.nafme.org/teacher-burnout-is-real-signs-and-how-to-avoid-it/

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/5-tips-avoiding-teacher-burnout-mary-beth-hertz

I hope that recognizing the signs is helpful to you and your journey to become burned-in again. Now, take the next step and TAKE ACTION! For me, taking action is simply enjoying my summer vacation with no thoughts about school for weeks on end. I love my school and my kids, but I am done for now.

FYI: There are MANY more articles out there on the topic of 'Teacher Burn-Out'. I strongly encourage you to read all you can about it. I am finding new articles every day. They are extremely confirming and refreshing to read. Plus, you may find out (after reading about someone else's teaching life) that you don't have it nearly as bad as you think you do. 

Email me signs that you know you are burned-out. Tell me about your situation. Share your shame so you can become sharply focused on fixing this. You can become burned-in again!

Burn on!
Amber