As I Leave Teaching - We are Always On

Greetings Dear Reader,

One of the things that people seem to not get about the average teacher in the average classroom is that they are always “on”.  Even during labs and group work we have to take in everything.  We have to assure that we are observing the learning.  We must be sure to monitor that everyone is performing to his or her best.  We are always on.

As education has changed over the years I have realized that the breaks that teachers get in terms of long vacations or work days are vital to their ability to recharge.  Once I went to work for a for profit school I realized that part of treating education as a business was to delete this practice. 

Break weeks are filled with meetings and “other duties as assigned”.   Prep time gets measured by the minimum standard instead of the complexity of the subject.  Success is measured against retention and passing students instead of student outcomes and real learning.  Merit based rewards are eliminated and teachers are squeezed dry.

What I have learned about being a teacher is that when we are not seen as humans that need to have time to develop and recharge it is easy to become burned out.  It is easy to get disillusioned as well.  If we do not get burned out and disillusioned then we use some of the energy we need to teach to maintain.  Either way the students lose out.

If I could change one thing it would be to make those who make the decisions see how much value there is in time to recover, recreate, and recharge.  When one invests in down time for teacher one gains better teachers. 

As I leave teaching I see clearly how deeply this always on situation has impacted me.  It makes me understand why God wishes us to have times of rest.  It imparts to me the lesson that I must be a good steward of my energies and resources. 

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."