Do you remember when you decided to go into education? You probably had visions of being a teacher, standing in front of the class, really feeling like you were in the flow of teaching, explaining concepts and ideas, maybe cracking some jokes.
There is light streaming through the windows of your classroom. You are energized, engaged, on.
The good news here –it’s not just you. We have all been there. Some of us are still there.
And of course the students are diligently following along.
The whole daydream seemed so fun. You were excited, thinking about the difference you were going to make. What meaningful work this would be.
Ok, don’t feel bad (here are some teacher self-care tips).
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A lot of us envisioned the same thing. We didn’t realize how hard it was going to be to make change, and to actually teach and engage students. The hours of instructional time we supposedly had, got eaten up with repeating the same things over and over, with redirecting attention to learning, and occasionally having a full-out argument with an eight year old.
It wasn’t as glamorous as we expected.
(Here’s a classroom management quiz, below, that may help a bit)
[tqb_quiz id=’861′]
The good news here –it’s not just you. We have all been there. Some of us are still there.
The kids aren’t getting any easier to deal with (we all know that kids have changed in the last decade let alone the last three). The stakes are getting higher.
They need to learn a lot.
They need to test well.
And you need to be able to teach them in-person, on-line, or in some funky format called “hybrid” that doesn’t mean the same thing at any two schools. No problem, we will surely get compensated more for the harder work, right?
This doesn’t feel like what you signed up for. And it really isn’t.
But it doesn’t have to be this hard –I promise.
And I am going to walk you through some strategies to make it all seem more manageable. But for today, it is time to remind yourself of your why. On those hard days you need to be really super clear on your why. Was your why? Helping to make a difference? Was it to create change in society for the better?
This is where you need to start – remembering your why. Taking a deep breath.
Being open and ready to accept help and make this whole situation feel easier and more manageable.
If you are still listening, it is because you were meant to do this job, and you aren’t ready to give up.
Let’s Talk About It
What wears you down? What leaves you exhausted? Let’s talk about it, and think about ways we can help each other. Leave your thoughts in the comments below!