Patti Pilat Buono

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I think I’m done, Pat…

Yeah, I hear you, Boo Boo. I started teaching in 1987, and with just over two years until retirement, time seems to be slowing down.

It’s quite disconcerting, I must say, to hear from younger teachers personally as well as the recent literature about the feeling of “teacher burn-out” and the people leaving service after just a few years. This week, let’s talk about strategies to combat burnout, both from a self-care perspective and as colleagues.

1700 Openings Today

In one of the top five districts in the country in terms of size, we confront the teacher shortage and retention problems on a daily basis. As of this writing, we are looking at well over 1700 openings in my district for teachers. With a teaching population over 18000, that equates to almost a 10% rate of classrooms without a certified, qualified educator at the helm.

One in ten classes don’t have a teacher.

One in ten students have an unlicensed person in front of them right now.

It’s a crisis of gigantic proportions.

Killing “The Pipeline”

One of the frustrating things is the lack of Business Education degree colleges around the country. My own alma mater—Montclair State University—was once a nationally known training center for Business Education, but now lacks this certification track for students. There are so many examples of this I couldn’t even start to list them—it would be shorter to list the colleges and universities that still offer this important certification.

More and more, our ranks are being filled with Alternative Route to Licensure, or second-career business and industry professionals. I think this is fantastic in terms of corporate and workplace knowledge, and believe these professionals bring not only a wealth of information, but a completely different perspective from a traditionally-trained educator.

What they lack, however, is classroom management and pedagogy. Since those types of things can be taught and learned “on the job” it is incumbent upon us as colleagues to work with new service and industry professionals so they can be as successful as possible.

Is it all about the greenbacks?

But, Pat, teachers don’t make any money—they’re basically on the poverty line! That’s why they are leaving!

Not quite accurate, my dear, not by a long shot.

Research shows that teachers are absolutely undervalued and underpaid, and yet we end up composing a disproportionate percentage of millionaires in this country. Read that again, Boo Boo, and make sure you are part of that percentage.

I will devote an entire future blog to this phenomenon, but encourage you to start to embrace this mindset. In my opinion, knowing that there is a very simple path to financial freedom as an educator will help make some of the difficult days easier to handle.

Is it really “those kids”?

“Those kids” are often cited as the reason so many teachers are leaving the profession—or changing their major mid-stream in college.

I get it—I really do. Having spent five years in the most poverty-stricken, gang-infested middle school in our district taught me more than a single year at the “country club” high school I am currently serving.

I submit to you, however, that it isn’t really the kids that are causing the teacher shortages, as much as it is a training deficit. Dealing with the trauma survivors that are current students requires significant training and information for educators that we are just not receiving. Behind every misbehavior is a story, but we are either ill-equipped, or lack the time to pursue improving the situation with the individual student.

In my extensive experience, building strong and positive relationships with students of all ages from all backgrounds goes a very long way in curbing the misbehaviors and anti-social scenarios that cause so many problems in the modern school.

“16 is 16 every single year. I’m the one getting older. Remember that when normal developmental behaviors annoy you.“
John G

“But you have summers off!”

This quote is indicative of how society sees teachers today—as working minimal hours and getting maximum compensation. While we know nothing could be further from the truth, this stigma remains and makes going into education an unpopular choice in many social circles.

Your time off should be the primary chunk of time that you work on your mental, emotional and spiritual health. We have started many summers by completely “vegging out” at home, recovering from the extreme exhaustion the school year can bring.

While it is easy to overschedule your summers with another job or summer school, I encourage you to consider taking frequent breaks throughout the year to support your personal health. Doing this will significantly diminish your feelings of burn-out and exhaustion.

“Use summers to support your own learning and development. It will help you feel more prepared when you return.”
Mike D.

Working With Your Colleagues

As one of ten teachers in the “B” building on my campus, I feel like I can provide support and a little comic relief to my colleagues. There are several strategies that I’ve seen recommended for supporting teachers and minimizing the impact of teacher stress and burn out. Consider the following, and ask yourself what part you can play in keeping your friends and colleagues satisfied and engaged as educators:

Listen to them – Sometimes, all it takes is having a friendly ear to decrease the feelings of inadequacy that frequently accompany burnout. Teachers don’t always need someone to solve a problem for them, but they will always appreciate someone to vent their frustrations to. Make time to be that sounding board that your colleagues might need on any given day…and twice on Fridays!
Help them feel empowered and respected – On the other hand, it is important for you to make yourself vulnerable to your colleagues, as well. Find something you are struggling with—an engaging activity for example—and solicit ideas from other people in your building. By soliciting their opinion and suggestion, you support their feeling of being necessary and appreciated within the profession.
Make their day a bit easier – We have 85-minute periods with 4-minute passing. Sometimes, you just gotta pee! Even just offering to cover class for a restroom break might be the best thing in their day! Being able to take or make a personal call during the school day can be challenging, as well. Having a neighbor down the hall keep an eye on your class, help you grade papers, or take notes at a meeting are all ways that you can lighten the load for another teacher.
An attitude of gratitude – In my school, we start every meeting with gratitude, and it gets us off on the right foot. Start to cultivate that attitude of gratitude, and make sure you spread it as far and wide as you can. I had notecards made for our Business Management department, making it even easier to write a quick thank you note to my colleagues when they help me out.
Support all teacher initiatives – I don’t care if you are in the union or not, EVERY teacher can support initiatives for higher pay or better working conditions. Try to take “politics” out of the equation and support teacher initiatives within your school, district and state. During a recent teacher demonstration at my school for our contract dispute, we had many teachers come out for a few minutes in solidarity of the cause who were not vocal union members. It really meant a lot to have that support.
Consider wellness as professional development – I had a milkshake today sitting at my desk at school, and it was damn good. My administration had a truck come to campus to provide this free service to all of the teachers. That, my friends, is good professional development. We need to broaden our definition of professional development to include the health and well-being of our teachers.

Taking Care Of Yourself

“My strategy is to turn off work when you are not at the school. Don’t check your school email in the evenings, the weekends, or vacations. That is your time.”
Suzanne M

“Remember to take time for yourself every weekend and holiday!”

Judy M.

You are the absolute best defense against burn out, and I strongly encourage you to search your own soul for means to combat it. Whether it is planning and taking frequent vacations like me, or engaging in pickleball or CrossFit on a regular basis, you need to find your own means of keeping yourself healthy.

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Start every day off with something that will brighten your day and feed your soul.

We want you around for a long time.

We need you. The kids need you. Don’t give up

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR!!!

Wow, thank you for reading about teacher burnout!

Hey, since you’re here! You may as well check out classroom seating strategies, here, and learn about project based learning, here! Check out our other topics here! Either way, I appreciate you!

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