Are you burned out?

Discussion in 'General Education' started by Scribe, Feb 24, 2013.

  1. catnfiddle

    catnfiddle Moderator

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    Mar 3, 2013

    Happy to say my burnout from last week has passed, at least for the time being. It's more of a frustration at not being able to do what I wish I could do for my students for various reasons. The spinning of wheels drains the gas tank. Thankfully, time and perspective help me remember that I love my job and how I do it.
     
  2. cometclear

    cometclear Rookie

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    No, they don't think like that. "Burnout" is what most people consider "having a job" means. I don't know if this phenomenon is born of people who went directly from college to teaching without anything in between, if it's a product of adults who had a relatively privileged childhoods or what it is, but feeling "worn out" by your job and overwhelmed is par for the course, particularly in this economy. This mindset on the part of many teachers is precisely what breeds hostility to the occupation. Very few people want to listen to someone whining about the stresses of their jobs. Working the graveyard at NORAD? Sure. Teaching, no.
     
  3. GTB4GT

    GTB4GT Habitué

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    Mar 3, 2013

    If I understand your argument..on one hand, you say that being "worn out" and overwhelmed is par for the course for every job. But yet, teachers are the only ones "whining" about it?

    I am new to teaching but spent 30 years in engineering/industrial management. The people here on this board, none of whom I know personally, are discussing the issue amongts themselves on an anonymous teacher's forum. I for one think it is healthy to vent a little amongst peers and to seek advice/encouragement. They are not "griping" publicly in their community about the difficulty and hardships of their profession. Like any challenging job, it has its share of challenges, many of which are unique to this field. I don't know why you have a problem with this. People in all walks of life deal with stress/burnout and telling them to suck it up and ignore it is not helpful advice imo.In fact, it would be foolish and dangerous.

    I have had employees who have dealt with this issue. As a manager, I would never "sweep it under the rug". It is a real issue and one I took rather seriously.There are solutions to helping people deal with stress, telling them to ignore it and it will go away is a sign of an ineffective manager imo.
     
  4. JustMe

    JustMe Virtuoso

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    Mar 3, 2013

    I actually don't understand what you're trying to communicate here...the first line is confusing me. But we're a family of farmers and I can assure you they feel burnout.

    :confused:
     
  5. teacherintexas

    teacherintexas Maven

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    Mar 3, 2013

    Are these comments going to be used in your book?
     
  6. Scribe

    Scribe Rookie

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    Mar 3, 2013

    No, absolutely not. I'm here because I'm passionate about education and like discussing it. I would never use quotes without someone's permission. I came across an article on teacher burnout that was so harsh and condemning that I wanted to find out from actual teachers if they felt the same way. I know it all sounds like a sales pitch (and I'm sorry for that) but I genuinely feel this is a book that should be written and I want to write it!
     
  7. Scribe

    Scribe Rookie

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    Mar 3, 2013

    That's awesome! It is that time of year, isn't it though. Everyone feels it during the Feb-March doldrums. It'll be summer before you know it too!
     
  8. cometclear

    cometclear Rookie

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    Mar 3, 2013

    There is a particular propensity of people in certain professions/occupations to complain about being overwhelmed. Unfortunately, that seems to be the case in education. I'm noting it's particularly counter-productive for teachers to do this, given the immense amount of hostility towards teachers that is out there at this time.

    I don't know that I argued that people should keep their stress locked up. I can think of numerous, healthy ways of dealing with stress. For teachers, I think a very poor way of dealing with it is airing these feelings of "burnout" publicly, given the current climate. Do you think folks who complain of "burnout" on this forum restrict their airing of these feelings to this forum? My experience is that they do not. Most likely, they tell people around them of these things. I have seen numerous examples of teachers airing these things in the most public of forums and all it does is confirm the suspicions of those already oriented towards disliking teachers. If I, as a fellow teacher, have grown tired of this type of emoting, I can't imagine the reaction from many non-teachers.

    I think you may have gotten to the heart of my disagreement with some when you stated that there are challenges "unique to this field." I really don't think the challenges in this field are all that unique from most others. Certainly not based upon the common gripes that are cited as reasons for this phenomenon of "burnout." Unreasonable expectations, dumb bosses, having to please ungrateful coworkers/customers/students, giving up nights and weekends for work are all par for the course these days. If we're all suffering from "burnout," perhaps we need some "burnout" job exchanges. Two years and then you trade fields with someone else. First dibs on movie critic.
     
  9. cometclear

    cometclear Rookie

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    In what region does your family farm? I have lived among hundreds of dairy farmers and wheat farmers in two different states. Never have I heard any of them complain of being "burned out." I don't believe they even think in terms of "burning out" on farming. As I understand this rather unclear concept called "burnout," it is something distinct from being tired or "worn out." Perhaps clarifying what "burnout" means would clear some of this up.
     
  10. JustMe

    JustMe Virtuoso

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    Mar 3, 2013

    This is what I noted originally...others may not always use the term "burnout", but I think the feelings are the same. They're "over it", it's no longer worth it, it's too stressful thinking of when the family farm will finally have to fold like the one down the road, and so forth. How do you define it?
     
  11. teacherintexas

    teacherintexas Maven

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    Mar 3, 2013

    That's good.
     
  12. ecteach

    ecteach Groupie

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    Mar 3, 2013

    Burned out--no!
    Overwhelmed--yes!

    I think there is a difference. I still love teaching. I still love being a teacher. It's everything else that overwhelms me.
     
  13. tgim

    tgim Habitué

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    Mar 3, 2013

    AGREE!!
     
  14. cometclear

    cometclear Rookie

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    I don't know. Frankly, I hate the term and it reminds me of many other pseudo-scientific terms and phrases people create in our culture which are then passed off as legitimate phenomena.
     
  15. chebrutta

    chebrutta Enthusiast

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    Mar 4, 2013

    Yup. Burnt out. I would like for the game rules to stay consistent... Not change every year or even every few months, as seems to be the new norm. I'm tired of being threatened with salary reduction. I'm tired of reinventing the curriculum wheel every time someone at the DO or DOE sneezes. I would like to teach without being bullied about Marzano. I would love to stop losing class time for every test that they have to take that isn't even valid. I need more than 90 minutes every other day with my kids.

    I don't feel like I'm teaching this year so much as leaping through a land mine field.
     
  16. catnfiddle

    catnfiddle Moderator

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    Mar 4, 2013

    It's funny. I've turned Marzano into a game. For example, if I can find a way to point out similarities and differences, I go complete bat-poo insane over how wonderful it is. It may only be funny to me, but those kids are getting their similarities and differences!
     

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