My husband, mom and I were at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf this morning, when a young man interrupted our conversation about education and told us he was a teacher as well. He teaches middle school in a lower socioeconomic neighborhood. This is his fifth year of teaching and he is burned out, not because he does not like teaching, but because of all the politics and students who don't try. We talked for about 10 minutes about technology and teaching. I could tell he was a kindred spirit...someone who cares about doing the best for students, but gets tired of the BS that we have to put up with.
There are so many teachers like him, who like what they do but get burned out. I have been there almost every year since I started teaching. I have almost quit many times, but never because I did not like my students or teaching history. We all get to that point because of all the extra things we have to deal with.....students who refuse to try, parents who don't value education, useless meetings, etc. We only have 57 minutes per day with each student. There is only so much we can do to help them learn. And yet we are expected to perform miracles. That is what burns us out and makes us wonder if it all is worth it. Then add in the politics and we suddenly become the bad guys. The best teachers in the world get tired of hearing how everything is our fault. We all get burned out. That is why we need vacation...so that we can come back refreshed and recharged and ready to deal with all the challenges for another year.
