Teaching Today: Fighting Fatigue + Beating Burnout

It is estimated that teachers make 1000+ decisions every school day, which may be a conservative estimate. Yet, lack of support and the oftentimes overwhelming push-and-pull on teachers’ very existence, before, during and after school, can be soul crushing. It is argued to be the most powerfully predictive reason teachers quit the field or change schools—more foretelling than any other workplace issue. So, what do teachers actually do?...

Prep Time. Seek out students’ interests and devise activities that make connections with those curiosities; work closely with the librarian to select and provide books in keeping with students’ interests; analyse students’ knowledge and understanding for gaps that may hinder new learning; plan remedial instruction that will fill shortcomings in students’ comprehension; create an atmosphere in which a true ‘community of learners’ is facilitated; Ready-Set-Go...

Period One. Record attendance within the first 20 minutes of the lesson; allocate 2-3 minutes at the start for warm-up activities with familiar material; provide an overview of today's lesson content and introduce new vocabulary/concepts before proper lesson delivery; first focus on the basics before advancing to more complex concepts; make explicit the connections between prior learning and new learning; explicate the connections between/among the components within a lesson; indicate how ‘new’ learning objective results in a higher-order skill or strategy; create classroom procedures that allow students to take risks and make mistakes without punishment or humiliation; rearrange the current seating plan as Jenny and Johnny are not good study-buddies...

…discuss appropriate classroom behavior at frequent intervals; structure a variety of learning activities in which the social climate of the classroom enhanced; determine the level and degree of scaffolding necessary for the cohort; use clear models; use simple language; physically act out the steps for an activity; model positive dispositions; provide sufficient guided practice for the whole class before progressing to individual work; check student understanding with quick think-pair-share task; observe a sea of puzzled faces…

...re-track slightly and communicate the steps learners must employ to perform and complete the task(s); adjust explanations and examples until students can demonstrate their own understanding; remember to discriminate ‘most’ from ‘least’ important information; provide self-monitoring checklists for comprehension and completion; read and reread the primary text multiple times; pair strong and poor readers; use consumable materials so that students can highlight or mark on text; provide significant opportunities for students of all abilities to learn from each other; offer lots of specific praise; move around the room helping those who may be wasting time and/or struggling; invite select students to share their findings or discoveries with the rest of the class; calmly walk away from James who is seeking unwarranted attention…

…carefully monitor class progress, especially when students transition from one activity to another; ease transitions by providing cues and warnings; adjust timings to better match the attention span of today's class; give a short 'stretch' break; intermittently grade spelling separately from content; provide oral instruction for students with reading difficulties; allow advanced students to design and follow through on self-initiated projects; provide timely feedback so that students can see the relationship between what was taught and what was learned; champion students to set personal goals and keep track of their progress through journaling; realize that there are two glue sticks for a class of 24 to share; notice that the three pairs of class scissors are all missing; breathe; smile; improvise…

…encourage students to participate in all activities to the fullest extent possible; create a timeline for completing next summative assessment task; help students understand that grading, evaluation, and assessment is based on identifiable objectives; check for understanding in the 'back' corners; distribute homework sheets then realize I am two copies short; end lesson and run to the photocopier room to print extra notes for next class and discover the black toner needs replacing…

…wipe the whiteboard clean; check emails intermittently; register replacement of new toner; respond professionally to a disrespectful email from a parent; keep thoughts about the principal’s latest idea to myself; nominate one student to Mr X to represent the advisory class at the next assembly; discover I inadvertently overlooked a test scheduled later in the day at the exact same time as the 2pm fire drill; respond to several non-urgent emails from colleagues; visit the toilet; refresh makeup; drink water…

Period Two. Articulate, assimilate, calculate, collaborate, collate, confiscate, congratulate, conjugate, contemplate, debate, decorate, demonstrate, designate, disseminate, duplicate, emulate, estimate, evaluate, explicate, hyphenate, illuminate, illustrate, investigate, laminate, navigate, negotiate, nominate, operate, participate, reinstate, reiterate, relocate, renegotiate, restate, stimulate, tabulate, translate, and validate...

Recess Time. How do you spell…? How does this principle apply to the following situation? How soon will I have a copy of James' IEP? Is it raining outside? What day is it today - do I have duty? Is that student learning at grade-level? May I have an electronic calendar of this semester's CCAs? Me? Sick? Who's sick? So, what do you think? Under what conditions is this equation not valid? Vomit? What are the student's sensory issues related to lighting, sounds, smells, space, and other issues? What IS that smell? What is the best way to communicate with their parents? Where should that kid sit to maximize participation in class? Who said that? Who is Od-hiya-ulh-aq? Still no black toner? Fire drill. But it's only 11am. I thought it was at 2pm. Now? How? Why? OMG! Where's my handbag... Do I have time to go to the toilet...

Every teacher craves more energy at the end of the day. They want to give their best to their family, just as they have given their best to their students. They want to exercise, go to dinner on a week night, help their own kids with homework, or talk with their spouse. Yet, I worry for all sorts of reasons. I replay the decisions I made during the day, and how I may fine-tune my practice tomorrow.

These traits are commendable, but can mean that educators fall prey to perfectionism and do not leave enough time for rest and recuperation. The act of teaching is giving opportunities, ideas, knowledge, and guidance to students. One cannot do this effectively when they are running on empty. Teachers please, take care of your needs, balance your life for optimum health, and regularly check in on your own mental wellness.