Burned-Out? Please Reignite the Flame Or Get Out of the Kitchen!

Usually what happens on Linkedin, stays on Linkedin, but this discussion topic warranted a post.  A teacher started a discussion regarding 50+ educators and survival tips. Many, many 50+ educators responded with wonderful, positive, ideas and comments about what they do in order to "survive" teaching. As a matter of fact, the responses weren't even those of educators who are just "surviving". Most of the teachers who responded, like me, are still passionate about teaching.

Somewhere along the line of reading the comments, one of the comments really bothered me, and this was my general response:

I think, as a teacher, when you reach the point where you can't stand your job, you should find something else to do. I know it sounds harsh, but we are dealing with children. This past year was really difficult with a new thing being thrown at us every day, but I have not lost my passion for teaching. Imagine your child or grandchild sitting in a room where the teacher is miserable.
And I refuse to hold my kids accountable for the actions of their parents. If their parents don't care, that means I shouldn't care about them? I know it's hard in the teaching profession right now, a lot of the public hates us, standardized testing, charter schools, class size, you name it. But if you don't like what you do, when working with children, maybe it is time to get out of the classroom.

Of course, the teacher I was thinking of  when I wrote this response, wrote a direct comment berating me. But as I stated to her,  in a friendly sort of way, I stand by what I said. I know the economy is bad right now. I know people still have mortgages to pay. I know there is a ton of crap being thrown at us every day, from every angle, from people who don't have a clue of what it means to be an educator.  If you have 3-5 years left until retirement inputting data , it's not that bad. But, we deal with human beings, children, we deal with children!

I am no saint. If you've read my posts on Blogger or Wordpress, you know I get angry at my kids, their parents, administration, and heck, even President Obama.  Each day in my school is not sunshine and roses. But, I get over it, and I find a way, ready to do what I said I was going to do, educate our children! Most of the time, most of the time, I am patient, loving, and passionate about what I do.

Can you imagine what it's like being stuck in the room with a teacher who is miserable? He or she has no real interest in teaching? Those poor kids! Parents in the know tell the principal not to put their kid in that class. Parents insist their kids be pulled out in the middle of the year. The strategy for teaching is "death by worksheet", and no real learning takes place in the classroom. The teacher is miserable, and doesn't care who knows it, teachers, parents, and most of all, her students.

My first year of teaching, I had a principal who was retiring in a year. The teachers would come in and sit on the desks in the front office, drinking coffee. He would go in his office and close the door all day. There was no interaction with the students and staff, he was just waiting it out.  From what I heard, he used to be a great principal, but he was done by the time I got there.

I read a post the other day, "You Are a Difference Maker!", and I posted the link as one of the comments on Linkedin.  The quote in this post by Haim Ginot moved me. "I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration."

 If you are burned out, and your only thought each day is how much you hate your job, how much of yourself will you give to your students? Do those kids a favor, get help.  Please find a way to reignite the flame or think about getting out of the kitchen.