What Do I Do When the Demands of My Job Are Overwhelming?
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Question:
I am in my 6th year of teaching. I love the kids, but at the same time, I have almost no ability to keep them in line in a satisfactory way. I love the subjects I teach, (chemistry and biology) and I like to research to add to the textbook, but I have three small children of my own and no time for out of class prep, especially since my wife works nights. What I passionately hate is the grading, recording, the drudgery of trying to keep up a grade book and attendance recorded. So as a teacher, I love the kids, but hate classroom management. I love the science subjects and the lesson prep, but hate that I end up doing it on my own time when I should be hanging out with my own children, and hate the drudgery of paperwork and politics that go along with teaching. Any suggestions? Thanks for the help.
Question:
Wow, I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this exact gripe from a teacher. The kids are easy to love, but grading and paperwork becomes every teacher’s demise. Here are some tips to make the difficult aspects of your job more tolerable.
1. To help strengthen your classroom management skills, consider enrolling in a workshop or conference about this topic. Often times these are offered by state departments of education, or companies that specialize in classroom management, and only take up a few hours of your time. You will most likely emerge from the workshop armed with new management techniques and strategies to try out.
2. Keep in mind that most or all jobs will have both responsibilities you love and those you don’t. Try making a list of these things to determine if the cons of your current position really do outweigh the pros.
3. After you have a physical list, try to focus on the positive parts of your teaching job. Consider writing down the inspirational moments you get have your students or make it a point to schedule a special family vacation each summer to remind yourself that most professionals don’t have the luxury of a summer without work.
4. To help lighten the workload at home, you may try creating a strict schedule for yourself at school. Perhaps you can grade on your lunch break or train yourself to stay one hour after school to ensure that your work is completed before you go home. This may not sound enticing, but once you get home, your children can have you all to themselves, and once they are in bed, some uninterrupted relaxation for you.
5. If you ultimately decide that it is time for a career change, know that you are not alone and many people have several different professions over a lifetime.
Good luck!
Tags: career planning advice, Teacher, teaching, time management
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