I have always been passionate about my occupation as a teacher. I love what I do but I especially love the students and the people I work side by side with. I have been teaching computer classes for over 25 years and it is a subject I have enjoyed teaching every year.
We are in the home stretch this school year and I have noticed many teacher friends and online stories of teachers being burned out. Teachers have to work more than one job to provide for their families due to very low wages. They have what seems like endless correcting of the mounds of classwork daily. Teachers also have stress over testing and some even take extra classes to advance their degrees. Then they go home to families and responsibilities and the many hats they wear outside of the classroom. Teacher shortages are at an all-time high and many wonderful and fantastic teachers are leaving the profession in search of better things.
I was working in my classroom this past summer before school started and a teacher I have worked with in the past came into the office and she said something very profound that I took it to heart. She said, “Why are we here this early before school starts? Why do we as teachers come in one to two weeks before school starts to get ready? We don’t get overtime pay for this.”
Her statements made a lot of sense to me. So I made it my mission this year to not take home any extra work from school. I leave work at work. My school laptop has not crossed the threshold of my home since school started last August.
It has made all the difference in my stress levels, my mood, my connections with my family, and my productivity at school.
We as teachers need to take back our lives. We have one of the hardest and most emotional jobs on the planet. Our homes should be a safe haven after a long day of teaching and raising the next generation of leaders. Our homes should give us respite after a day of meetings, deadlines, and sanitizing our classrooms. Our homes should not be an extension of our classrooms.
Yes, it is important to take our job seriously. But we need to take care of ourselves just as much. Just like losing pressure in an airplane, we need to put the oxygen mask on ourselves first, then our children. We need to do that in our profession. Leaving work at work is one way to do that.
We don’t get an hourly wage. We cannot get paid extra for working overtime. We as teachers need to take back our homes and our personal time.
Do any teachers out there leave schoolwork at work? What are some ways you destress from teaching or your job? Please comment below.