Category: Teacher Burnout

If you are a teacher, then you have undoubtedly heard this comment, or something like it, tossed around in passing:

“Oh, you’re a teacher? Must be nice…”

The implication being that “it must be nice” to have summers off and week-long vacations sprinkled in throughout the year.

Nevertheless, I used to feign ignorance when I heard the comment. “Interesting you say that. Tell me more,” I’d say. I’m sure, despite my controlled, cool exterior, I couldn’t mask my true feelings very well. Whomever I was talking to probably sensed the beast awakening within me.

And even if I did coax it out of that person, what good did it do? Not much. You can try all you want to explain that teaching is not like that at all. That, when those week-long “vacations” come along most of us collapse into bed, usually sick. Then we spend the rest of the week wrapping up all the loose ends in our outside lives that we put on hold while we were in the thick of teaching. Finally, as the next wave of school approaches, we begin preparing our curriculum and our minds so we can tread water for a little.

You could cite all the hours it takes to prepare and correct. You could bring up the countless emails, the paperwork, the report cards, the data entry and it probably just sounds like you’re complaining. I probably sound like I’m complaining now…

You could also try talking about the alarming rates of teacher burnout and how teachers are leaving the profession in droves. You might even ask, “if it’s so ‘nice’ why would so many people be leaving? And why would so few people be enrolling in courses to become teachers?”

But, ultimately, people aren’t going to understand until they experience it. And if I’m being honest, neither would I if I were in their shoes. The position just looks too good on paper. I wouldn’t be able to get past that vacation time!

The truth of the matter is that teaching got the best of me after 12 years. If you want to read about it, I wrote about The #1 Reason I Burnt Out Teaching, for your consideration.

So with that in mind, I’ve honestly lost the fire from my eyes when I hear that comment. I can personally guarantee you that there are plenty of other jobs that I have no clue about either. Maybe, I’d try those jobs and beg for my teaching career back?

But, I can also know the reverse to be true. There are plenty of people that would try teaching and drop to their knees pleading for there old jobs back as well.

So, let’s not try and make the tone of this challenge to be a Gotcha type of thing. If anyone out there is reading this and does decide to take on my challenge, I would applaud you for it. In return, I hope you would give an honest appraisal of the experience.

With the parameters set, let the games begin!

The 1-Week Substitute Teacher Challenge

The premise is simple. For any non-teacher to get a feel for the profession, they should become a substitute teacher at their local elementary school for 1 week (preferably with the same class for the whole week).

This originated from a place of spite. “If you want to say ‘must be nice’ you have to do this challenge first. Then we’ll see how ‘nice’ it is! Then we’ll see how quickly you rush back to your cubicle to check your fantasy scores and spend more effort trying to look busy than actually accomplishing work! That’ll show you!“

I was younger then and my world view wasn’t as developed necessarily. Also, all my friends were in starter positions and that’s how they described their jobs. I know now that is not everyone’s reality.

More importantly, I now issue the challenge so we can all come to a place of understanding. I think it would be valuable for as many members of society to see the actual inner-workings of a school. My guess is that it would be pretty eye-opening. I even suspect it might help get the ball rolling on some much needed change in the education system.

So, if a person were to take this challenge, I would be equal parts impressed and curious to hear their honest appraisal of the process.

Circling back (after having written the rest of the post), I’m more convinced than ever that this should be baked into our societal obligations like jury duty!

Parameters and Logistics of the Challenge

Obviously, with a name like “The 1-Week Substitute Teacher Challenge”, there’s little question on how long it would be. I chose one week, because I think it’s long enough to give a person a feel. Also, it’s at least logistically feasible. Unlikely as it may be to get someone to take this challenge, It’s not impossible.

I also mentioned that the challenge should take place in an elementary school. The reason I’ve chosen elementary is NOT because I think certain positions are easier than others. They all come with inherent challenges.

The reason I chose elementary is because it’s going to give you the most accurate feel for the job. I’ve substituted at all 3 levels and once you get into the upper-grades there is usually less of an emphasis on teaching as a substitute. Usually you give the assignment and the kids either do it or they don’t. If you think about it, it makes sense. There’s far less likelihood that a substitute is going to be able to teach today’s calculus lesson than the lesson on addition.

Though, in middle school, a substitute could get a serious run for their money trying to manage behaviors. Still, with an elementary position, you are the teacher and it’s your show. You are taking the kids through all the lessons and there is an expectation that they learn what you teach so they can build upon it the next day. That is why I chose elementary school as the setting.

As far as other logistics are concerned, you would probably have to fill out an application and have a cursory interview. The truth of the matter is that substitute teachers are a rare and dying breed. They are in short supply. With low pay and high degree of difficulty it’s no big mystery why. So, with that in mind, you should feel confident that you’ll get the job and find work rather easily.

Taking the Challenge

In theory, if you were to take this challenge on, you would be running the show, with your own classroom, for a week. Most likely, if my experience is any indicator, the teacher who you are covering for will have planned out the week for you.

This is a huge part of the job that’s already done for you. While we’re at it, you most likely wouldn’t have to do answer parent emails or enter data or any of the other mountains of extra work that teachers have to contend with daily.

Nevertheless, despite all of this, I still think there would be great insight and value in having to run the show for a week.

Here are some of the things that you would still have to do:

1. Prepare and administer mini-lessons.

2. Give small group instruction and ensure other students are on task.

3. Transition students between lessons.

4. Bring students to specials and lunches. Perform recess duty.

5. Correct student work and give feedback for the next day.

6. Answer the phone when it rings in the middle of a lesson. Take attendance/Lunch Count and all the logistical elements of daily teaching.

7. Manage behaviors and student dynamics. Hold students accountable for work.

8. Manage the barrage of questions ranging from “Can I go to the nurse/library/bathroom?” to “Can I use my laptop to do this/anything else that you didn’t explicitly mention but I want to do.”

And even though that is a fraction of the main teachers responsibilities (Not an exaggeration! Read my burnout post if you don’t believe me.) I really do think it would give you an honest gist of the job. At that point, I would be curious to hear your genuine opinion of it.

I have only one other condition! I suppose I’m a bit paranoid that someone will answer my aforementioned spiteful stance, with some spite of their own. “Teaching is a piece of cake,” type of thing…

Here’s my condition. If you get to Thursday of your week of teaching and your stance is that the job is easy, then I get to film a 45-minute lesson and observe you on Friday.

That seems fair to me. Teachers get observed all the time. A principal or superintendent can walk into our room at any moment. We also get filmed. So, forgive me for being a little dubious. I will just need to see the tape before I let you tell me “it must be nice.”

Then, if I see the tape and you are successfully leading the class through lessons, managing behaviors and distractions, correcting work and giving valuable feedback and all the other elements we spoke about, then I will tip my cap to you in earnest.

I’ll also encourage you to change careers and become a teacher. We’re dropping like flies and I’m no exception. It’s a noble profession and we would need you in the ranks!

Really though, there’s a more likely outcome that would take place…

The Likely Outcome of the 1-Week Teacher Substitute Challenge

Most likely, I think you’d be exhausted. I think you’d get home fried and decide to order take-out rather than cook. I suspect that your laundry would start to pile up for the week and you’d have a few more bottles of wine in the recycle bin.

Each day you’d wake up a little less eager and a little more fatigued. I think it would be a long week for you.

And honestly, it wouldn’t really be a fair fight. There’s so much that goes into a day of teaching, that you can only understand if you do it.

Like I said before, you can try and convince people but you’ll probably fail. It’s only when you are in the thick of it that it actually crystallizes. But that’s what makes this challenge so valuable!

There’ll be a moment when the small group that you’re running is talking about anything but the lesson and you look up to see that 4 kids are on their laptops even though there was no mention of laptops in your mini-lesson (which confused even you and you are quite certain nobody even bothered listening to).

Then, when the kid that has been tapping you on the shoulder asking to go to the bathroom for the 3rd time makes you realize that Tommy has been in the bathroom for 17 minutes but there’s not much you can do about it now.

Next, you look up from this scene to see a projectile fly across the class so you decide to get the situation back on track. You ask for everybody’s attention but only 3-5 students even look your way. Finally, after great effort, you get their attention (for the most part) and the phone rings.

You forgot to do attendance and what’s the lunch count?

Now you have to get their attention back, take lunch count and enter it into the computer along with the attendance. Meanwhile you’re just hoping the chaos behind you doesn’t escalate too much. While you’re entering attendance another kid taps you on the shoulder. You reluctantly look up to see a face you don’t recognize.

It turns out that it’s a student from the neighboring class asking you to keep the noise down.

Desperate, you start threatening to call parents. Finally, after dogged determination, you get everything back to a somewhat decent state. About then is when Tommy waltzes in from the bathroom complaining that “he doesn’t get it.” Just as you’re about to reprimand and ultimately explain the lesson, yet another kid taps you on the shoulder.

You are 7 minutes late for Art class.

Hurriedly, you herd everyone into a line (but really it’s a blob) and take the late and loud “walk of shame” down the hallway to Art class as the art teacher gives you a knowing look and a welcomed reprieve. You turn and plod back to the classroom.

You walk in and are shocked by the tornado that has hit your room. How can humans be so messy in so little time? Reeling, you begin to clean up but you’re also mindful that you have to get the next lesson better. At the same time, you look at the clock and are absolutely shocked to see that it’s not even 11 am. Worse yet, it’s only Monday. This is going to be a long week.

Also, you forgot to enter Tommy’s lunch…

To be Clear/Fair

I want to be clear about one point. The above scene I painted is NOT the likely experience of a seasoned teacher. They’ve probably experienced these sorts of scenes along the way and learned to navigate them.

Often times a teacher will find themselves realizing it is too late to change something about this year’s class but “next year this will be different”…

That scene is more likely what a person taking the substitute challenge would experience. It takes an unfathomable amount of know-how just to run day to day operations with 20+ students, and I don’t think the average person off the street would be very-well equipped to manage it all.

Also, in fairness, there is a “special treatment” that is reserved for a substitute teacher. It’s often as if children can smell blood in the air.

Because I have been a substitute before I try extra hard to ensure that my class is extra diligent and respectful to them. That being said, it doesn’t always work out.

On the flip side of the coin, the substitute teacher is spared all of the other responsibilities that a teacher has to take on. We talked about these earlier (data entry, emails, teacher accountability measures, seating charts, bulletin boards, field trips… the list goes on and on).

After a few days of subbing, I do suspect the person might be more empathic of the idea that once the final bell rings, a teacher’s job is anything but done for the day.

The idea of going home completely shattered and opening up and inbox to see “27 unread messages” and knowing that there is work to correct and lessons to plan (and much more) might resonate a bit more for the person undergoing this challenge.

Politicians, Administrators, and Decision Makers

I said before that I think that every citizen should have a civic duty, like jury duty, to be a substitute teach for a week… I know that this would never happen and there’s good reasons why it shouldn’t happen. Really though, it’s more of a thought experiment to prove a point and open people’s eyes to the harsh realities of the profession.

Continuing on in this vein, I think all politicians and decision makers should have to teach for at least one year before they are allowed to vote/make decisions on education. Maybe then, coming from a position of understanding (albeit cursory), teachers wouldn’t be so slammed with extraneous measures that seriously detract from their ability to teach, and drive them out of the profession.

Taking it a step further, while simultaneously wanting to avoid contentiousness, I think administration should be required to teach a minimum of 5 years.

To be clear, I wouldn’t touch their job with a 10-foot pole. It looks even more daunting than mine. That probably explains why there is a principal carousel happening across the land. Principals, vice principals and folks in other leadership positions (like superintendent) are jumping from district to district at a break-neck pace.

I’m sure they also wouldn’t mind my idea to have politicians and policy makers be required to teach for a year. Then, they wouldn’t have to enforce these ridiculous measures being imposed on teachers that negatively impact teachers, students, and school cultures as a whole.

But if I may, far too many times I am regaled with a tale from a supervisor of how they did this or that so well back when they were a teacher (usually when they are critiquing me after their mandatory observations ). Later on, I come to find out that they only taught for 2 years. Almost by definition this probably means they weren’t nearly as good as they suspect they were… Furthermore, I suspect they were using their teaching position as a way to fast track their upper management career. As a result, they probably didn’t give their teaching what it requires.

And before I go further, I also want to note that I have had many dedicated amazing leaders as well. I respect them and do not want to paint an unfair portrait. That being said, I think teachers would greatly benefit from administrators that have made a serious go of teaching before looking to lead.

Coaching/Birthday Parties

Just the other weekend we took our son to a park to meet up with some of his friends. On the baseball field two guys were running t-ball practice. It was obvious to me (but not in a condescending way) as I was watching these guys admirably try to teach these kids about t-ball, that they probably weren’t teachers.

There were kids swinging bats haphazardly as others chased balls around the field. The coaches were running to and fro putting out little fires and preventing potential disasters.

It’s what I imagine herding cats across the great plains might look like.

But, it also occurred to me that these guys might be getting a very small taste of the teaching profession. Also, I respect that they would volunteer their time to teach a group of kids about a new, complex game.

And if you asked these coaches honestly if practice went as they had envisioned, they would probably concede that it had not. And if you asked them if all the kids learned everything they need about tee-ball, they’d also tell you that this was not the case.

The reality is that the kids are all coming in with different background understandings of baseball. One kid’s parent played baseball/softball in college while a different kids parent had barely even heard of the sport. This is true for everything in teaching as well. It’s just one small part of the equation.

A similar thing can be said about birthday parties for younger kids. I’ve been to some that are well-run and some that are complete chaos. At the end of it, the hosts usually collapse in a stupor into the couch, as they look around dazed at the disastrous state of their home. Cleaning up, there’s a “next year we’ll…” type conversation that usually ensues.

And if they are brave enough to try it again, you can bet there are going to be “more organized activities,” or that they’ll plan to “have the party outside in a park so the kids can run around.”

This too is a micro-dose of just one aspect of the teaching profession. And once you have experienced these, or better yet, you’ve taken the 1-Week Substitute Teacher Challenge, you are much more likely to enjoy a real treat.

Observing the Master Teacher

There are certain teachers that are absolute masters.

I am a good teacher, but I’ll never claim to be a master. Every once in a while I have great moments and get a taste. But for the master, this is an every day experience.

If you have survived my 1-week Substitute Teacher Challenge, you are MUCH more likely to appreciate the master teacher at work.

To truly get an appreciation, ideally the master teacher would come back in and resume teaching the group of kids you just taught for the week.

What you will witness will astound you. Without seeing it with your own eyes, you would swear it wasn’t even possible.

It is like going to a concert and sitting in the front row while I a master guitarist flies up and down the fretboard with one hand and impossibly finger-picks each note to perfection with the other.

It’s an art form and a true pleasure to watch.

There is calmness, joy, enthusiasm, organization, improvisation, laughter leadership, and so much more.

When the kids calmly walk to their seats and eagerly set to their individualized work, there is a hum that every teacher strives for that fills the room.

Personally, I could watch it all day as if I were watching my favorite movie. You too will appreciate it all the more once you have had your crack at teaching.

And it is then that you will realize that this master needs to be given the trust and the freedom to do what they deem is best for their students. It is clear that they are deeply invested in each member of this classroom and will only do what they feel is in their best interests.

It is then that you will realize the tragedy taking place throughout education. That these masters are being forced to leave before they want to or seeking greener pastures is criminal. Or, equally as bad, the idea that future masters are calling it quits before they can realize their true calling is a true shame.

According to some surface research, nearly 50% of teachers quit within the first five years. Yikes!

So now we have experienced teachers being driven from the profession, far fewer people entering the field, and far more quitting within 5 years once they do enter?

How’s that for data? Put that in your spreadsheet why don’t you?

Sigh…

In Summary

There is no arguing the importance of education as a foundational piece of a healthy society.

As it stands now, far too many teachers are leaving the field, and part of that reason, I posit, is because there is a complete underestimation of what the profession actually entails.

Enter the 1-Week Substitute Teacher Challenge!

Originally it was devised as a prerequisite for any person that wanted to say “must be nice” when talking about being a teacher and referencing all the vacation time.

Over time, it has evolved into a measure for citizens to gain understanding of all that a teacher endures in the name of educating the future

Make the 1-week substitute teacher challenge mandatory, like jury duty. Then, for anyone directly influencing education, give them even more stringent parameters that need to be met.

Once people get a true sense of the job, they will be far more supportive of the concept that education needs to be put back in the hands of the experts.

Education needs to be put back in the hands of the teachers.

Thank you, as always for reading. Reach out and contact me with other questions. And while you are at it, be sure to subscribe (right margin and “contact me” page). As I write this post, I’m relatively new (3 months) to the game but am chugging along with no end in sight. Subscribe and get the content hand-delivered (or at least emailed) right to you inbox. Thanks again and be well!

In this post I propose a solution to the problem of teacher burnout that is plaguing education. Obviously, there’s no magic elixir to be ingested to make all our problems go away. But this idea would be easy enough to implement and could also be quite impactful. I hope you agree…

It’s a rather simple idea really. And honestly, I’ll even openly accept your feedback on it. I’m not married to the idea, and I’m certain it can be improved upon (that’s where you come in right?).

Nevertheless, I’m going to make my case for it and let you determine what you think.

If you’ve read my stuff before, you know that I was yet another casualty in the slew of teachers burning out and looking for greener pastures.

You can read about it here in my post The #1 Reason I Burnt Out Teaching.

In essence, I make the argument that teachers are far too overextended with massive quantities of extra tasks and trivialities, that have accumulated over time in the teaching profession. As a result, they cannot dedicate the necessary amount of bandwidth to their core responsibilities of prepping, teaching, providing feedback and creating a safe learning environment for all of their students to thrive. This lack of success coupled with the frazzled, unrelenting, overextended struggle to keep your head above water, ultimately takes its toll.

These core responsibilities in a class of 20+ (sometimes 30+) students from differing households that are at differing places in their journey through this increasingly complicated world, should be more than enough.

But it’s not. Not even close.

So, of course, this got me thinking. And when I get thinking, trouble is soon to follow. Nevertheless, here is what I have so far…

My Solution for a More Sustainable Existence for Teachers

It seems to me that data and test scores reign supreme in today’s educational world. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry and we are all (mostly) beholden to the scores to prove our effectiveness.

In national rankings of schools there’s always some algorithm that factors in math, reading, and now Science standardized scores. It then fuses these with all sorts of other data that result in what determines “a good school”.

But there’s other data out there as well, namely the rise in teacher burnout rates and the decrease in teacher enrollment rates. I’m no math genius, but with more teachers leaving and less teachers coming down the pipeline, somewhere in that equation there’s severe lack of teachers.

That can’t be good.

My idea also stems from the idea that each district has to publicly post their standardized testing scores. In theory, this tells you which districts are good and which are bad.

Well, my idea is this:

I think every district should have to publicly post “Teacher Happiness Scores”,.

Yup, that’s it. Have every school posts their teacher happiness scores. Make it public knowledge. Then, let the storm ensue and see where the dust settles.

I believe this simple idea could have far-reaching ramifications in education and would ultimately change it for the better. Let me try and explain.

The Argument for Teacher Happiness Scores

Basically, my argument is based on a few incongruities that I see in the educational system that are forcing teachers to either go against the current or succumb to the warped system of which they are a part.

Problem 1 – Teachers are Overworked: If teachers are overworked than they are spread too thin. This means they can’t dedicate nearly enough of their time doing their core responsibilities.

So who suffers? Well, obviously the teacher suffers. But equally (perhaps more) importantly the students suffer. They aren’t getting the quality lessons or the feedback they need to meet them at their level. Because the teacher is spread too thin, a resultant directionless feeling can be sensed by the student and they may begin to check out.

Taking it further, if students across the land are not getting what they need than neither is our future as a nation. Overboard? Maybe. But these are the far-reaching ramifications I speak of.

“Workload” would definitely be a metric in my Teacher Happiness Scale.

Problem 2 – An imbalance in Power

Power is a tricky one. If you’ve watched or read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (spoiler coming) you know that Frodo, after the most epic journey imaginable, finally reaches his destination and couldn’t bring himself to do what he had set out to do (destroy the ring of power). The power was just too tempting.

The way I see it, the scales of power need to be equal in order to maximize one’s path forward. We see imbalances everywhere in society, and we are certainly seeing it in our schools.

Right now, teachers have precious little say in what is taught despite their years of teaching wisdom.

My idea would reveal which schools actually let teachers teach. It would reveal which pastures are greener. Once teachers from barren wastelands start heading to these greener pastures, schools and districts would be forced to adapt.

This would give some power (autonomy) back to the teacher and allow them to do what they do best. It would also force schools to reconsider what measures (read: time-wasting activities) they would want to implement and what they should leave out (or better yet subtract).

Add “Teacher Autonomy” as a metric to the Teacher Happiness Scales.

Problem 3 – Test Scores:

With so much money and so much pressure on testing scores alone, education has tipped dangerously towards the acquisition of better scores by all means necessary. As a result, practices are put in place which eschew best teaching practices and attempt to jam test-taking knowledge into a student’s brain.

This goes against the teacher’s nature and forces them into a box as well. It also deemphasizes all the other aspects of a healthy classroom that can’t be tested.

In short, it’s a complete imbalance in what it takes to educate a complete, well-rounded future citizen.

My Teacher Happiness Scores would factor this in by ranking how much your school “teaches to the test”.

Problem 4 – Teachers are Under-supported/Underappreciated:

Unless you are a teacher, you are not going to fully understand what the job entails. This is true for any job I suppose. But my suspicion is that, society as a whole, has no clue what actually goes into the occupation.

From the outside looking in, with summers off and vacations every few months, it looks like a glorious job. But if that were the case teachers wouldn’t be dropping like flies now would we?

This one is admittedly a little more nebulous in nature, but a teacher knows when their hard work is appreciated. When this is the case, it often makes the teacher want to work even harder because they know what they are doing is valued. It is, after all, a big reason most people get into the profession in the first place (to help).

So, with this metric the teacher can wrap in how valued they feel by administration, families, and all the rest. All people want their hard work to be appreciated. Teachers are no different.

Add “I feel valued and appreciated” to the Teacher Happiness Metric.

What Else?

Honestly, I could come up with more , but I also want to hear what you would put on this scale. If you come up with one, put it in the comments below.

I also want to try and keep this metric as simple as possible. It will be an overall grade, if you will, of a teacher’s conditions in a specific school.

The Specifics of the Scale

I was thinking it would be a 1-10 number system for my Teacher Happiness Scale.

Teachers would give scores (1-10) of what their overall impression is of the school/district/community that they are a part of.

So far, here are the metrics that teachers would be ranking.

1. Workload
2. Autonomy
3. Teaching to the Test
4. Feeling Valued and Appreciated (by Administration and Community)

The simple premise (again) is that as the scores came out, the balance of powers would have to shift. The conditions would then have to change in order for districts to retain their valuable teachers.

Remember, teacher numbers are being depleted, so we are becoming harder and harder to replace.

The resultant shifts in power would allow teachers to focus their energies on where it belongs; the students.

As a result, the teacher happiness scores would go up right alongside the overall health of the students.

This, in theory, would eventually lead to less burnout and would probably increase the teacher enrollment numbers (as word trickled down that the profession was actually sustainable once again).

Eventually I would even love to see these incorporated into the equations that give us these ubiquitous “best schools in the state/nation” articles.

I know it sounds lofty, but a person can dream can’t they?

What About Money/Salary?

This is just my humble opinion, but in the court of public opinion, it feels as though teachers don’t always come out on top with regards to money.

As such, when teachers go on strike, the only message that seems to permeate is that “teachers just want more money.” It’s not right, but it’s the world we live in.

So, for the greater good, I just assume exclude any discussion of money in these scales. That way it can’t be used against us.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t recognize that so many teachers are grossly underpaid. I absolutely do, and it’s certainly a huge problem.

I’m just trying to see how to make the biggest impact possible on the teaching profession. I think money too often obfuscates, for the outside world, the other real issues that we’re facing.

Also, most school salaries scales are public record so you can still access the information and factor into your personal equation (insert wink emoji here).

Potential Pitfalls

What could possibly go wrong with a Teacher Happiness Scale?

Ha! In a way it sounds so childish (Yay, let’s all live in happy land where everybody’s happy!). Part of me feels foolish even writing this thing… (But I do believe in it). The name needs work though…

I suppose there are many pitfalls that I’m not considering as well.

Right now, I see the resultant teacher migration as being a potential problem. As teachers change schools for greener pastures they are potentially creating that situation where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

There would be an influx of talented teachers vying for the “good schools” and it would leave other schools begging for scraps. This would trickle down to the students and most likely broaden the growing learning gap.

One thought is to give schools 3 years to get their “acts together” before the scores are made public.

My sense though, is that this migration is already happening anyways. I think it has a lot to do with some of the conditions created by schools that are desperate to increase their test scores.

Another potential problem is a shift in power too far towards the teachers (If only). Doubtful, but it could happen I suppose. Nevertheless, I would rather that a teacher have power over a student’s future than some of these other forces.

Let me know (kindly) if you have other thoughts on this matter.

In Summary

There you have it. I guess I just wrote a post that features a “Teacher Happiness Scale” as a cure-all for all the ills in education and society as a whole.

Take it with a grain a salt I suppose, but don’t ignore its merits!

Who knows the students best (besides parents)? The teachers.

Who knows where their energies should and should not be spent in order to educate the whole child? The teachers.

Who got into the profession to help our youth grow up into well-rounded citizens (and not just good test-takers)? The teachers.

Who just wants autonomy and a little appreciation for this important work? Let’s all say it together. The teachers.

Make the Teacher Happiness Scale public knowledge. Give these scores weight and integrate them into the national school ranking system. Make the districts and schools adjust and put education back in the hands of the teachers themselves.

Only then will be begin to approach the balance that we so desperately need in education.

Thank you all for reading! This post was a little experimental in nature but I think it has its merits. If you agree, I DEFINITELY want to hear about it. If you disagree, I also want to hear from you (as long as you do so kindly). You can reach out and contact me any time. I also invite you to subscribe (right margin or “contact me” page) so you can have each post “hand-delivered” to your inbox.

The following post is designed to explain why I personally burnt out teaching. I have read a fair amount of articles that reference many points for why other teachers burn out, but they don’t get to the heart of it for me personally (except one which I’ll link to). Hence, this post. Part of me is curious to see if other teachers connect with it at all. In the end, I think I have a positive story to tell from it. Also, to be clear, my hope is that I don’t come off like I’m whining, rather, telling it like it is. If you connect to any of it, or want to add your thoughts, please feel free to do so in the comments at the end.

I’ve been putting this post off for far too long. In truth, I’ve been avoiding it. Part of me just doesn’t want to revisit the place I landed when I decided I needed to get out of teaching. I was spiraling downward mentally, physically and emotionally.

There was the sensation that I was throwing away my identity of being an elementary teacher. It felt as though I was abandoning my co-workers, students, and their families as well.

I had absolutely no succession plan, but I knew I just needed out. And out I went.

On the other hand, I also want to write this post while I can still go back to that place. In this way, I can make it a more accurate portrayal of why I decided to take a year off.

Then, I got this magazine (pictured below) delivered to my home and I decided to take it as a sign. One thing I like about this article is how it addresses the fact that this crisis “predates the pandemic.” That’s certainly true for me as well..

In the end, I can look back and know I made the right decision. I also feel as though I have a much better plan going forward as well.

My new plan, that I devised this year, is to have the option to retire early. This, along with a few other ideas I explore on this site, have given me a lot of hope for my future in the profession.

But for now, I want to try and show you why I burnt out and see if any of it resonates with you. I said this in the intro, but I really don’t feel like many of the articles I’ve read on teacher burnout really get to the heart of it for me personally.

In addition, I want to mention that this is coming from my perspective as an elementary educator. I know teaching in different grade levels, districts, etc. can come with varying challenges as well. I can only speak to my experience, so that’s what I’ll do. It’ll be interesting to see how much of it connects with your experience.

I see the teacher burnout rates rising across the country and I have to imagine that some of those casualties of the profession have similar reasoning to me. I’d be curious to hear your thoughts about the matter at the end…

In the Interest of Fairness

It would be disingenuous if I said that teaching was the only reason that I burnt out. Two major events also added to the equation as well.

First off, we bought a fixer upper house 5 years ago and I have put A LOT of time and energy into getting it just so. This has, most likely, drained my energy stores and left me more vulnerable on the job.

Secondly, we had our first kid 3 years ago. What a wonderful event, but it’s no secret that kids demand a lot of your time and energy as well. I happily give this , but if we are being truthful, this event probably also gave me less bandwidth for the job.

Looking back, I think I was always walking along the edge of teacher burnout. The two aforementioned factors above are probably what tipped me over the edge.

On the plus side, I spent the first 5 months of this year doing all the major renovations I had hanging over my head for the house. This is now off of my plate and puts me in a more favorable spot as I resume my job next year.

But only time will tell how much that helps. If I’m being honest, there’s still a lingering fear/concern that I’m going fall back into that place. I plan to resist and change some of these factors, but I don’t know how it will actually go until I go back.

Building a Case

For some reason I feel like I’m putting myself on trial here.

“So, Mr. D, you say you burnt out?” the prosecutor might ask while I’m on the stand. “Interesting… Please, if you would, tell the court these ‘horrible conditions’ you ‘endured’ that led to your ‘burnout’. Please tell us how a job with summers off and holiday breaks and week-long vacations interspersed throughout was so darn horrible for you. Really, tell us. We’re all dying to know…”

Well geez, when you put it that way, it makes it harder to explain doesn’t it?

Nevertheless, I’m going to give it a go and let you decide the verdict in the end. Section by section, I’m going to build the case for myself and we’ll see if it adds up to a reasonable cause for seeking other options.

What I hope to prove is not that any one item I present is the culprit. What I hope to convey is that the totality of everything that is put on the teacher’s plate accumulates and makes the teacher’s workload completely unsustainable.

This unsustainable workload is what ultimately got me.

Let’s see how I do…

Core Teacher Responsibilities

At the very core, in my mind, the teacher has 3 major responsibilities on the job. These are preparing lessons, teaching the lessons and giving feedback on student work.

Woven into these core responsibilities is the necessity of creating a classroom environment for all students to succeed. These students are coming from varying backgrounds with different skill levels and differing views of the world. Having them all interact in a way that is conducive to learning is no small task.

Back to the prep. It is often said that the ratio of time to prepare a lesson and teach it is 1:1. In other words, if a Science block is 45 minutes long, you can expect that that prep will be 45 minutes as well.

So, right off the bat, with a daily Writing, Reading, Science/Social Studies, Math, and social emotional lesson, you are, in theory, looking at about 4 hours of preparation for any given day.

Then, it’s often said, for a student to crystalize the learning, you must provide timely and impactful feedback on their work. If you have 24 students and do a mere 5 minutes per student, that’s another 2 hours per day as well.

Add in the fact that each student needs to be met at their developmental “just-right” level, and you are looking at lesson plans within the grander plans designed to meet kids where they are at. This is a 3X multiplier for each plan (easy, medium and challenging) which could as much as triple your prep time.

Obviously, teachers probably don’t spend 6-12 hours per day on prep and feedback alone. But, just putting the numbers out there will help put my case in perspective. Whatever the actual numbers are, we can all agree that you have to tackle these 3 core parts of the job in order to feel successful.

Any teacher has probably learned the hard way that if you show up unprepared for a day/lesson your likelihood of getting eaten alive goes up exponentially.

As a result, you need to put in those requisite hours just as a baseline so that you can get through a given day relatively unscathed.

“But that is not all! Oh, no. That is not all…” said the Cat in the Hat.

Always Adding – Never Subtracting

Every year, in the schools I’ve been a part of, there is always a new angle of attack that we implement to better serve our students.

To me, based on my conversations with teachers in other districts, it feels like some unified front that the educational overlords install in all schools across the land.

Whether it’s PLCs, data-driven curriculum, time on learning, educational choice, creating global citizens, creating 21st century skills, or whatever the “new coat of paint” initiative is for that year, there always seems to be a push to add on, without a recognition that we may have to subtract in order to make room for this new initiative.

As a result, I often find myself confused about our direction while simultaneously noticing that I have even more on my plate.

Five or so years ago, for example, data driven instruction was a big deal. As a result, I still have to make time to input all of this data we collect on a spreadsheet. But, does anybody look at this data anymore? Also, does anybody even know how to analyze this data correctly? Nobody talks to me about it. Yet, here I am painstakingly inputting it into a spreadsheet even though we haven’t talked about it in 3 years.

This may only amount to 5 hours of extra work over the course of the year. But when you add a new one of these each year, those hours add up! The fact that it doesn’t get used, makes it feel like a complete waste of time.

In addition, because each year has a new push, much of the time it renders your past curriculum obsolete. This means you have to design a new curriculum to match whatever new direction the district is going. This, of course, takes time.

And time (or lack thereof) is a theme that will be woven throughout this post…

Other Major Variables

We’ve already established that the baseline for teachers to prepare, teach and provide meaningful feedback is rather time consuming. We’ve also seen, that given the fact that major changes sweep through education on the regular, it usually means that you can’t reuse past material nearly as often as you’d like.

This section, right here, is where the picture of my burnout really starts to fill in.

One year, I tried to approach a principal about some of this stuff. To her credit she listened intently and asked me to keep track of all the other things that were on my plate. I didn’t know it would eventually end up in this post, but that’s exactly what I did.

It should be noted that I think her job as principal is even harder than mine. And that, to me, is part of the problem as well. We’re all running around like headless chickens!

Nevertheless, here is a list of some of the myriad other responsibilities that factor into the equation. I’m certain I’ve missed things as well so don’t hesitate to chime in below if you have something to add.

List of Other Variables that Led to Me Burning Out

I’ve organized these in categories as best I could.

Category 1 – Behavior

Behavior Charts – Every year I have students with behavior concerns. Kind of comes with the territory in the job. When a student’s behavior gets to a certain level the teacher is expected to design and implement a “simple” behavior chart. This means checking in with the student(s) after each period and reviewing their behavior for that block. “You were on task for half of the time, but the other half you were launching projectiles across the room, so that’s one out of two points,” type of thing. It can end up being contentious because they have something to gain from positive results. Either way it takes bandwidth.

Parent Communication – When a student is exhibiting difficult behaviors it is up to you to communicate with the parents. This requires emails, phone calls, meetings and all the fixings. This can be very time consuming, and there’s no guarantee that the behaviors will change.

Documentation – For the more concerning behaviors, a record needs to be kept. This means that each time a noteworthy behavior occurs we have to enter it in a program explaining the actions we took AND what we plan to do to resolve the issue moving forward.

The Actual Behaviors – The behaviors themselves, day in and day out, can take their toll over time. We all want to be understanding of the underlying difficulty the student is experiencing, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a cumulative effect on your nerves. If there are multiple behavior concerns in the class this can only compound the issue.

Category 2 – IEPs

In Massachusetts, where I work, almost 1 in 5 students has an IEP. My school has special circumstances so there’s an even higher rate. Each student with an IEP means there’s going to be an IEP meeting which equates to a lot of extra work for everyone involved. Here’s a list of some of it.

School and Doctor Surveys – About two weeks before an IEP meeting I get a survey from the school psychologist and from the doctor’s office of the student. Each of these is over 150 questions of 1 – 5 ratings that is used to determine, according to the teacher, how the student is faring. Each one takes over a half hour and requires a lot of concentration. You are also made to understand that some of the questions are redundant and made to test you so you better be consistent!

Meeting Forms – Our school requires us to fill out forms with data and proof to support our findings on how the student is performing in class. It’s not clear how much they are read, but they are very time consuming.

Reading/Adhering to the IEP – It seems like we are constantly reminded that the IEP is a legal document. This means that, whatever is written on it, must legally be followed. First off, they are long and very dense (And I have worked with many special educators that carry the huge burden of writing these with so much else on their plates). It takes a lot of time to actually read and understand them. Secondly, each student has special considerations that legally must be followed. This means a lot of care must be taken to meet each individuals specific needs.

I’ve had students that needed all of their worksheets printed on blue paper for example. If you have six students with similar considerations, it’s simply a lot to manage. Also, no teacher wants to feel like they are blocking a student from learning, so you just have to find a way to get it all done.

The Actual IEP Meeting – Some meetings are more stressful than others. In some, you have the pleasure of pointing out how the student is thriving. In others, the tone is very contentious and the school (and you by extension) feels like it’s being put on trial. There can be moderators and advocates. The meetings last over an hour so you had better have your sub plans in place. There’s no guarantee, however, that the parents will show up making your sub plans instantly obsolete.

Category 3 – Home Communication

This is a big one. A teacher is meant to be in constant communication with home, and understandably so. However, it seems like there are so many different ways we are expected to uphold this communication. Even so, there is no guarantee that the messages will be received. Here are some of the ways we are expected to communicate.

Newsletter – Each month we are expected to send a newsletter home highlighting what we have done, as well as what’s coming up. These are time consuming and I find only some of the families actually take the time to read these (and in fairness when my day comes to read them, I’m not certain I will either!).

Website – Many schools are asked to keep up an individual website for their class. This, in theory, is a way for a parent to be able to check in and see what the homework is for the night or see what we are working on in any given subject. This needs to be constantly updated and there’s a good chance there will be something technological to trip you up and eat up that precious time.

New Home Communication/Messaging Apps – Many parents don’t check emails any more so the communication has to reach their phone somehow. This means yet another form of communication. It also equates to another message that needs to be sent AND another device (your phone) you are expected to utilize.

Emails – Oh emails! How I’ve grown to dislike thee! You could have one email from a parent telling you their kid isn’t challenged and the very next could tell you how their child is struggling with the overly difficult material. Or, better yet, you could have the famous not enough/too much homework emails back to back. Whatever the case, emails are a documented form of communication and they have to be handled with care. Nobody wants to feel they are being brushed off. As such, I find that each email I get equates to, at least a 15-minute response.

And while I’m on the email train, let me just note that emails come from all over (not just home). It could be the math specialist reminding you to enter the data, or the reading specialist reminding you of the meeting you have tomorrow before school. These things pile up while you are actively teaching and almost all require a response. In addition, almost all of them equate to extra work (data entry, meetings, forms, behaviors, etc. ). Just once I’d love to receive the email telling me to take the day off and not to worry about sub plans!

Telephone/Phone Messages – At my current school we’re expected to utilize the messaging system on our landline phone in the classroom. So whenever that blinking light is flashing, it means you have to check the message.

Writing it out, it feels like we are expected to communicate in every medium used by teachers in the last century (newsletter, telephone, emails, websites and phone apps). Everything short of the bat signal is used to communicate with teachers and we’re expected to uphold all of these methods. This requires a lot of bandwidth in my humble opinion.

Category 4 – Miscellaneous

Throughout the days, weeks, and months of a school year there are so many other things that come up and ultimately take away from your core responsibilities as a teacher. Here are some examples that I came up with…

Field Trips – Each year each grade is responsible for organizing multiple field trips. This entails the logistics of booking a bus, finding chaperones, notifying parents, getting all the permission slips (which is always an ordeal), and raising money for the field trip.

Field trip fundraisers are also run by the classroom teacher and it usually involves a car wash or yard sale that happens on the weekend. This means you have to organize, get volunteers, and recruit customers to actually buy whatever it is that you’re selling. All told, each field trip is a massive undertaking.

Teacher Evaluations and Artifacts – Each year we are required to set SMART (an acronym meaning Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based) goals that we strive to attain throughout the year. At the end of the year we have to give proof (artifacts) that we actually attained the goals. We are also required to have a meeting with our evaluator to demonstrate how we achieved our goals.

Honestly, I file this under “teacher accountability measures” because some people feel like we have our feet on the desk reading the newspaper and occasionally glancing up to make sure the students are still alive. Just add it to the pile I guess…

The “5-minute” Survey – Invariably, there will be an important survey that the district or union gives you to fill out. In fairness, it usually does take 5 minutes, but there’s usually some weight (importance) associated with each survey. In addition, it gets added to the always growing to-do list.

Parent Conferences – Twice a year we are required to organize and book parent teacher conferences. There’s no arguing that this is an important venture. But it’s also time consuming to schedule, prepare for, and hold these meetings. Then, if a parent doesn’t show, you are should give at least 3 more attempts to reschedule which can result in a lot of email exchanges.

Sub Plans – These things take so long to do and are so detailed that most teachers (pre-pandemic at least) just decide that it’s just easier to go in sick. In general, as a teacher, you have to be on your A-game. When you are sick, you have to dig even deeper and this takes even more out of you.

But if you do have to miss a day, you can pretty much bank on nearly a day’s worth of work just to be able to stay home. I’ve known many a teacher that started working on sub plans at 4 am then rushed into school in order to get everything set for the sub before school starts.

And because substituting is incredibly difficult (I was a sub for 2 years as I was getting into teaching) and has very poor pay, there’s a good chance you might not even have a sub. This means that you are now leaning on your co-workers who are already overextended just like you. It’s not a great feeling.

Finally, we all have to have emergency sub plans in place which is essentially a week’s worth of teaching material in case we go missing. It’s a one-off but no small feat to map out a week of material that won’t connect to what you have been doing in class.

Staff Bonding – I sincerely like my co-workers. They are dedicated, intelligent, friendly, hard working people. But the sad reality is that I don’t feel like I have any time for them. In fact, I time my walks down the hall so that I have to be somewhere so someone can’t randomly “grab me” in the hall for a “quick chat”.

And by extension, I certainly don’t feel like I have the bandwidth to sign up for a staff breakfast dish that I’ll be bringing in or contribute to/go to a staff baby shower.

My honest take is that these are relics from the past, when teaching wasn’t so untenable. These days, just looking at the breakfast options, for example, you can see that not many people have time either. There might be a few homemade dishes but most are store-bought (fruit platters, donuts, coffee, muffins, juice). This, to me, suggests that other people feel the same way I do. They don’t have time so they happily sacrifice money in order to fulfill their obligation (nobody wants to show up to a party empty-handed).

All the rest – By now you either get it or you don’t so I’m just going to list as many other things as I can that require special attention and/or disrupt the normal rhythm of school.

Here’s the list:

Seating Charts, Decorating Bulletin Boards, Decorating Classroom, Cleaning/Organizing Classroom, Welcoming/Saying good-bye to new/departing students in the middle of the school year, creating packets for students going on vacation, Creating Groups (for math, science or reading work, etc.), Organizing Inter-class activities, Field Day, Halloween, Collecting forms from home, Interaction with specialists (re: behaviors/concerns that happen at specials), interaction with band teachers (re: forms or instruments or contact info for a student), Organizing special visits from experts in various fields, Book Drives, Working with Education Researchers, standardized testing (this should have it’s own write-up), Attendance/Lunch count (something always comes up!), students arriving late/dismissing early, Fire Drills, Clearing closets and tops of book cases to fulfill fire codes before the inspectors come, broken copy machines, computer malfunctions, IT person fixing equipment in the middle of class, Applying for grants, Staff meetings/development, Integrating new curriculum, Students losing library books, Hall passes, random phone calls, updating teacher licensing requirements (including evidence collection) and, deep breath, report cards…

Category 5 – Report Cards

This gets its own category and it’s number 5 because these things are a category 5 hurricane in a teacher’s life!

First off, is it fair to question whether people read these as intently as they once did? With all the teacher connectivity (see category 3) there is usually nothing groundbreaking/informative that comes out of these. I’m not there when parents/students read the report cards, but in my mind’s eye they get a good once over and then goes in a box until the kid comes back from college and is asked to clean out their closet.

Yet they take so much time!

I’d also file this under “Always Adding – Never Subtracting”. We’ve added all these forms of communication (phones, apps, emails, newsletters, websites, messenger pigeon, etc.) but we are still married to these formal report cards that served a much greater purpose in the days of yore.

I’m not going to sound off much more. I’ll just say that if you ask my wife, she’ll tell you that I block off an entire weekend for comments and then input the individual grade late at night when I’m in full zombie mode. And I may have a few choice comments that I let her hear about whether or not “completes cursive writing effectively” needs its own grade (of which there are 65).

I also won’t sound off on whether a parent can look at a page of 65 different grades (numbered 1 – 4) and get a clear understanding of what their child is doing in class.

As luck would have it, this taxing work is done at the end of a semester/year when you are running on empty. For some it’s the coup de grace.

For me, it wasn’t, but it was very closely related to what ultimately took me out.

The Straw that Broke My Back

Just like everything else I’ve listed or written about, if you isolate what I’m about to say and look at it in a vacuum, you’d say “What’s the big deal?”.

It’s when you zoom out and look at the entirety of the picture that hopefully you start to see what I/we are talking about.

In the year before the pandemic, the teachers at my school got an email that teachers would now be printing, labeling and packing their own report cards to send off (We used to submit them and have the front office handle this work. I don’t blame the front office for pushing back on packing a school’s worth of report cards either).

Included in this email were instructions for how to print the report cards so that they were double-sided and fit the margins correctly.

Because we use a separate program to write report cards, we needed a very specific way to print them so they looked just right… The way a report card should.

These directions were incredibly complex and also inaccurate. As a result. there were numerous glitches and adjustments that had to be made. There were new emails with “updated” instructions. There was trial and error and “back to the drawing board” and all the rest.

It was an ordeal.

And it was incredibly time consuming and frustrating.

Then, once you finally got them printed just so, you had the great privilege of packing and addressing each one to be sent off.

The fact that this came on the heels of what is already an incredibly stressful period of actually writing the damn things was certainly part of it.

The other part was a realization I came to as I was hand-writing the addresses for my students. (I was so shell-shocked from printing the report cards that I sure as heck wasn’t going to attempt printing their addresses on stickers).

“This is never going to end,” I realized.

“It’s going to just keep piling on and piling on. If you are waiting for a day when somebody’s going to say ‘you know what, teachers have enough on their plates, let’s NOT add another thing. In fact, let’s start taking things off their plates. Maybe then, they can have enough energy to do their incredibly difficult and important jobs of helping to guide our youth through this increasingly complex maze that we call life,’ then you are absolutely deluding yourself.”

That was it. Like I said, on it’s own it’s just one thing, but the cumulative effect of these things piled up finally took it’s toll. Shortly after, I began having conversations with my wife about quitting teaching.

Not long after that, the pandemic hit and I held on for one more year (I want to make clear that this was NOT a pandemic-related decision).

But, in the end, it was all too much and I started looking for a way out.

By then, I didn’t even feel like I had a choice in the matter.

Side note: I was very fortunate to have made some sound financial decisions (guided by my parents) in my past (saving well and investing). As such I was able to take a year off without having the added stress of scrambling for my next job. This is part of what I write about and I think it can help many teachers. If you are interested, here is a link to my personal finance page which has a lot of related posts for you to get started on.

Life Outside of School

Did I mention that I have a life and responsibilities outside the classroom? Yeah, I know it’s hard to believe (I hope you are enjoying my increasingly overt change in writing tone (from matter of fact to embittered)), but I have this thing I call a life outside of the classroom as well. I can’t just spend every waking moment answering emails, grading papers, writing report cards, filling out surveys, decorating bulletin boards, creating seating charts, prepping for Math, Writing, Reading, Science/Social Studies, and all the rest…

(Before I completely go off, I’m going to bring it back towards “matter of fact”).

Life outside of the classroom has its own inherent responsibilities that need addressing. Any non-teacher reader will understand these but there are groceries to be bought, meals to be cooked, dishes to be washed, housing repairs to be made, cars to be inspected/maintained, technology to be updated, dogs to be walked, birthdays of loved ones to prepare for, holidays to plan, taxes to be filed and all the other little/larger chores that fill our lives.

And did I mention that I have a wife and a kid? Spending quality time with them is extremely important (And raising a child has its own long list of responsibilities connected with it as well).

Part of the teacher burnout equation (for me at least) is that I couldn’t find any balance at all. My life had become a never-ending to-do list and there was always something hanging over my head. I could never catch up.

As a result, my mood was deeply affected. I lost my sense of humor, and I couldn’t give any part of my life what it needed. This led to a feeling that I was doing poorly in all aspects with no end in sight (except for that brief window in summer when you recover from the previous year and the new year is still far enough away that you don’t stress over it.)

That unsuccessful feeling (despite knowing that I am a good person and giving a lot) was certainly part of the equation as well.

More Evidence that I’m onto Something!

Before I rest my case, I would like to draw the jury’s attention to exhibit S (somewhere deep in the alphabet).

In this exhibit, you will find clear evidence that teacher’s are overworked and overwhelmed.

What’s in the exhibit you ask?

It’s very simple, but I think it proves my point effectively. It’s the “Work to Contract” strike that teachers/unions employ as a tactic to get what they are asking for (usually better contracts, which, not surprisingly, I have ideas on).

In this form of strike, teachers band together and say “we are only going to work during the hours that you pay us for.” Basically, the teachers come in, teach, and do the best they can in the time allotted. Then, as soon as the clock strikes the time when they are no longer being compensated for their time, they pack up and go home.

On it’s own, it doesn’t prove anything. But here’s the thing. This form of strike actually works!

I’ve seen and heard of numerous occasions where teachers “working to contract” actually get what they are asking for.

The obvious implication in this is that there is no possible way that teachers can accomplish all that they are being asked to do in the allotted work time they are being paid for.

The districts understand this. They know that the entire system is built upon “dedicated teachers” working tirelessly on their own time to keep the system afloat. So, as a result, they often capitulate and the teachers get their way.

Take it a step further and apply that idea to almost (not all) any other profession. Can you imagine asking a room of construction workers to do extra work without pay? You know, just out of the goodness of their hearts? They’d laugh you out of the room. That’d be the funniest thing they’d heard all month and they’d get a good chuckle out of it for years afterwards…

“Well, it’s 5 o’clock but I’m just going to stick around for another hour and hang some drywall out of the goodness of my heart. AH HA HA HA HA HA!”

What About Vacation Time?

I know what it looks like from the outside. And believe me, I get it. This is where those “You’re a teacher? Must be nice…” comments come from.

Needless to say, that comment is not my favorite. It’s so demeaning and dismissive of what a teacher actually does and the impact they are trying to make.

Nevertheless, I understand how it might look from the outside.

All I’ll say is that, given the work load I’ve outlined above and given the relentless nature of the job, I usually collapse into bed (and usually sick) at the start of each week-long break.

By then, I’m nearly catatonic and can do little else but stare at a wall for a few days. Then, I set about doing all the other things I put off in my life while I was teaching. Finally, by the end I start preparing for the next run with the hopes that I can get somewhat ahead of it for a week or two before it all piles up again.

Are there moments of down-time? Sure. But mostly it’s what I outlined above. So, when framed that way, how relaxing does that sound?

Another way of putting it is that it’s a preventative measure so that teachers don’t completely collapse.

And I will concede that summers have the potential to be relaxing. But I’ll also point out that many teachers find other jobs over the summer to compensate for their poor pay during the year.

In the end there is a cycle that looks something like this:

Start year –> Burn it on both ends –> week break to recover (but not fully) –> Keep repeating this cycle (with each break representing less recovery) –> Summer—> Repeat it all over again.

In that cycle, the breaks are necessary just to keep you afloat.

Relating to the Grizzled Veteran Teacher

I talked about this before with the straw that broke my back, but there came a time where I realized (right or wrong) that this was never going to change. The workload was just going to keep increasing along with the demands.

The powers that be would continue to add and never subtract.

At a certain point, you can’t help but get jaded. You got into this profession to try to make an impact, but there are so many roadblocks put in your path that it becomes deflating.

Eventually, you see where that crotchety veteran teacher is coming from. You know the one. It’s the teacher you vowed you would never become when you started teaching. The one that refuses to do new initiatives and isolates themselves from the school, just teaching all the stuff they already have materials for, regardless of whether it meets the state standards.

It’s probably a survival mechanism that they had to activate in order to make it this far.

That teacher has probably seen leadership change countless times. They’ve seen hundreds of initiatives sweep through education, all with the latest and greatest way to improve education.

But in the end, this teacher knows that it’s just another fad. They tried playing the game for some time. Then, when all was said and done, it just amounted to more busy work with no positive impact on the students.

So eventually, they opted out. And in their heart of hearts, this teacher probably knows that they are wrong on some level. But with so many swings and misses, they probably figure it’s just better to stick with what they know.

I too never want to become that teacher. So, as soon as I felt myself connecting with them, I got out.

Exacerbating Factors

There are some very real factors that can increase a teacher’s burden exponentially. These factors can be completely out of your control, but when combined with all the aforementioned stressors, they can spell doom for a school year.

What I speak of are the major life events that occur and completely derail you. This could be illness, a death of a loved one, an accident, or any other major event that can happen to us all.

In addition, these very same factors can impact the lives of your students which, in turn, impacts you.

Finally, it needs to be said that many of our students are dealing with very difficult situations/trauma at home. Whatever it is, you can bet it doesn’t just stay at home.

Naturally, the teacher wants to help as much as possible, but it usually comes with a heavy cost as well.

When you factor that into all these other contributors to stress, it can completely inundate a teacher. .

Putting a Name to This Primary Source of Burnout

By now I’ve tried, the best I know how, to paint a picture (one I believe to be realistic) of why I burnt out teaching. I was completely and utterly overwhelmed.

Now, for fun, I’d like to try and put a snappy name to it. Please tell me which one you like best!

Name Submission #1 – The Educational Rack

I felt like I was being pulled in a thousand different directions and didn’t have time to do any of it to the standard I would have liked. So, as a result, I didn’t feel good about anything I was accomplishing even though I was being ground down to a nub.

And all the while the work kept piling up, pulling and tightening in new directions.

I won’t get graphic, but the rack is a medieval torture device that worked by pulling on you, hence the name.

Name Submission #2 – The Abysmal Teacher Treadmill

Picture a treadmill on firm ground, but right behind it is giant abyss (Hence the word “abysmal” in the title). What’s in the abyss? I don’t know but I don’t want to find out either.

Standing on the treadmill is you (the teacher). You see the control panel in front of you blinking, but the tread itself is not moving. Also, it’s made clear to you that, no matter what, you cannot get off the treadmill. Unless of course you fall into the abyss, but we don’t like to talk about that…

When the school year starts the treadmill begins at a nice, sustainable, easy pace.

Then, each time an administrator, co-worker, parent, student, or anyone else gives you a task, they look at you , and with an ever-so-slight smile that person calmly press up on either the “speed” or the “incline” of the control panel.

“Don’t forget to enter your data Mr. D.” Beep. Plus 1 speed.

“Can you fill out these surveys before the IEP meeting?” Beep. Plus 1 incline.

“We still need $1,200 to rent the buses for the field trip to Boston. We’d better organize another fundraiser. How about a car wash? Beep, beep, beep. Plus 2 on speed and plus one more on incline. “Oh, and can you call the bus company to book the buses even though we don’t have the money yet?” Beep, plus one more incline. “Also, we’re going to have to fill out the expense reports to access the money we’ve already accumulated from the office. Do you mind?” Beep, plus one speed. “Shoot! We also have to get those permission slips updated and interpreted by Tuesday. Yikes, and we have to do chaperones too…” Beep, beep, beep, beep… You get the point. Before long you are sprinting uphill as fast you can, trying desperately to stay on until some break in the schedule where it lowers/slows for just long enough to catch your breath.

I kind of like this submission. “The Abysmal Teacher Treadmill”. Put it on the ballot.

Name Submission #3 – The Sisyphus Teacher Predicament

I’m no scholar of the classics, but somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I had a vague recollection of the story of Sisyphus.

In short, Sisyphus pissed off Zeus. Then, Zeus condemned him to an eternity in Hades pushing a massive boulder up a steep hill. Invariably, just as Sisyphus is about to secure the boulder at the top of the hill, it rolls back down and he is doomed to start again and again for the rest of time.

I like this one as well, but I’m leery of the fact that Sisyphus is a pretty obscure mythological reference that wouldn’t land for a lot of people.

Nevertheless, there’s a lot to work with there as well.

Submission 4 – Under Construction – The Endless Pool

I’m still workshopping this one. Maybe one of you could help? But you know those endless pools where you swim in place and the machine pushes a current at you?

There’s something there to be worked with. Like the treadmill you are going nowhere, but you also have a potential to increase the current until you feel like you are drowning…

Well, there you have it, we’ve got some names to work with. Let me know if you have a preference in the comments below.

The Unfortunate Underlying Concerns

That last exercise of putting a name to my primary source of burnout was disturbingly cathartic. Best not to think too deeply on that though…

And back to more serious matters, there is one final element that I simply have to mention with regards to the profession of teaching.

In essence, I have major concerns about the education system I’m a part of.

I feel like I spend more of my time sheltering my students from everything that gets thrown at them, rather than guiding them through on their way to a successful outcome.

Somewhere along the way, education became a multi-billion dollar enterprise. As such, everyone is coming out of the woodwork to inject their input and grab their piece of the pie.

The end result, the way I see it, is a premium on students learning dry skills and finding specific answers rather then stoking a student’s curiosity and encouraging them to explore their passions.

And yes, as teachers, we can still stoke those passions. But it feels an awful lot like we’re swimming upstream. It should not be that way. We should all be pulling in the same (relatively) direction!

I’ll have to explore this more another day, but constantly swimming upstream and balancing so many disparate agendas certainly takes its toll…

In Summary – Wrapping Up My Case.

To try and put a bow on this and wrap up my case of Mr. D. vs. The Education System, I will simply draw your attention to all the exhibits that have been presented to you along the way.

I direct you to the time-consuming core responsibilities of a teacher, namely, preparing, teaching and giving feedback on lessons of core subjects each day.

With 20+ students and the amount of time it takes to individualize each of their experiences, this should take up the bulk of a teacher’s energy.

But on no planet can 15% cannot be considered the “bulk” of anything.

The reality is that there are innumerable, time/energy-sucking tasks that are continually piled on a teacher’s plate. These pile up and prevent teachers from giving their core responsibilities even close to the amount of energy they deserve.

An ever-present feeling of inadequacy coupled with the sensation that no amount of work would ever be enough can result. Each day the teacher has to be absolutely on the ball, and even that can feel inadequate at time. Pressing down that hard on the gas for such a long time can leave a teacher feeling completely depleted.

Add in the fact some of the students you work with can have issues that far exceed your level of expertise and it can become a pretty potent cocktail.

And that doesn’t even account for the fact that teachers have lives outside of school. In these lives we try to lead, there are other responsibilities and it can all add up to a very daunting task.

Finally, one can’t help but question the very system we are a part of. Somewhere along the way, it feels as though the education system has lost its way.

And when you lose faith in the system that is grinding you to a nub, you begin to wonder whether it’s worth it all. As a result, many teachers look for a way out.

Ultimately, that’s what happened to me.

With that, the Defense finally rests.

I just wonder if teachers will ever be able to do the same…

Thank you for reading everyone! That was a longer one, and as you can see, I had a lot to say! If anything resonated with you, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. This post entitled “Teacher Workload – The Startling Misconception Ruining Education is the only one I eventually found that really hits the nail on the head for what I was talking about. It’s well written and always nice to know I’m not alone. Lastly, if you have a vote for what I should name this overwhelmed phenomenon I am trying to pinpoint, please let me know. As always, you can always feel free to reach out and contact me any time.