Time to Call It Quits: Insight into why kids and teachers are burnt out in education!

It is likely that most of us have heard the joke about teachers not being in education for the money or the glory. Both of those are accurate, however, in the current state of education it is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine why anyone would want to enter the profession. For me, becoming a teacher nearly fifteen years ago required grit. My father was particularly confused by the decision. He felt I was capable of so much more and that I would be able to make so much more money working in another field. Being the fiery adolescent I was, I did it anyway. Now, don’t get me wrong, my father respected the way I did the job. It worked out very well when my children were young and could be at work with me instead of in daycare. I had no idea what the following years would bring my way…none.

My career began in a charter school, which at the time was a very scary thing to do. Districts were still “king” and considered to be the stable, secure option for new teachers. After two years there, and a series of genuinely unfortunate events, I was looking for a new teaching home. I found myself teaching in a multi-age classroom at a private school. At the time this was perceived as going from the frying pan to the fire. Again, after just two short years, I found myself surrounded by a level of political mess that I was unwilling to deal with and I was looking for a different environment. Four years of teaching under my belt, I was offered a position within a local district teaching middle school Reading. I stayed in the district for several years after this point. I was moved from 6th grade Reading back to 5th grade, then to 6th grade math. I remember thinking to myself, everyone keeps saying I’m good at teaching and had the skills to be in administration.

I had thought of this many times before. At that time, I had two kids under two years old and was working to identify how I would physically be able to attend the courses to obtain my masters degree. I chose to complete my degree online through St. Leo University. I thought that was the ticket back to achieving my mission. An avenue on which I would be able to really have a positive impact on students and their families. My subsequent admin positions showed me that even at that level, your hands are still tied. You are stuck with the policies and procedures mandated by politicians and higher ups. With two young children at home, I ended up returning to the classroom. Determined to find a way to end up in the best school, with the best administration, with the best vision for kids, and be part of building a program where students REALLY came first. Just when I thought I had found that magical unicorn of a place, I found myself again realizing that we were behind the eight ball. Constantly addressing the symptoms and not the problems, like I had already been doing for more than ten years. Asking more of staff than is humanly possible and wondering why we had high absence rates, and a lot of turn over.

Now, I know some of you that know me are thinking I’m speaking of only the schools I’ve been at, but in reality, it’s all schools. So, why did I retire from the classroom? For my own mental health, that’s why. I was performing tasks for years that in other fields would have constituted a separate person be added to the payroll. I was going without breaks or even lunches at times to ensure that all the “things” that seemed so critical were completed, but at the end of the day, who was left? In a day I was anything from teacher to disciplinarian to athletic coach to mentor or spreadsheet creator. I clocked in consistently before seven for a workday that began at 7:45 just to accomplish all the tasks appropriately. Most of the days during my career, I never left on time at the end of the day. I was jokingly accused of living at the school on too many occasions to recall. If there was an event, I was there. If there was coverage needed, I was there. If someone dropped the ball, I cleaned up the mess. If a parent was upset, happy, nervous, or scared, I was there. Talk about burning out.

Here's what I learned from my past experiences:

- You are 1000% replaceable. Despite the guilt trips, comments made or sales pitches aimed at retaining you, the moment you’re gone, you have to know that enough is enough and stick to the decision!

- People will always talk. We are social creatures by nature. We need relationships to survive. Don’t let someone’s opinion of you gaslight you into becoming who they claim to see. Often their claims are really what they see in themselves more than what they see in you.

- Don’t collect red flags. Even a rat knows a sinking ship. When you see something and your intuition tells you it is or isn’t good, then trust that assessment. Don’t make excuses for those above you, or even beside you, thinking that logic is how you’ll survive. Believe what you see bigger than words, always.

- Don’t be afraid to try something new! Particularly in education, we have a ton of transferable skills when we finally decide we can’t be in a classroom anymore. Companies are constantly seeking individuals with creativity, organization, problem solving, interpersonal and collaboration skills. (This is a teacher skills description if I’ve ever read one!)

- Be proud of you. Don’t let your yearly evaluation or comments from others become your reality. Yes, take feedback into consideration, however, when you identify your passions and your proficiency and learn how to harness them, you will be a better version of yourself than you may have thought possible.