What Do You Do When You Are On The Brink of Quitting Your Teaching Job?
Hey! I’ve been there, so I know how it feels. It was almost two years ago when I was sitting in my cars crying, talking on the phone with one of my colleagues.
“I don’t think I want to come back! It’s just too much!”
I meant every single word, and back then it was entirely clear to me I was facing a problem I had to deal with.
Teaching can overtake everything if you allow it to happen. It can drain you and set you on the way to growing anxiety and stress.
But this is the truth: you will have to take steps to either make your teaching life better and less draining or find the way out that is the least damaging to your wallet (I’m talking about finding a different school).
I want to offer you a list of actions you can take to deal with your stress and figure out what your ultimate goal will be, whether it will be changing jobs, positions, or schools.
1) Please, know that being overwhelmed, stressed and feeling like you hate your job is normal.
It happens to new and also experienced teachers. So stop asking yourself a question, “What’s wrong with me?” Nothing is wrong with YOU. It’s just that it’s hard to be a teacher, indeed.
You see, thousands of teachers either changed their jobs or schools or quit. Also, thousands of teachers had the same issues as you do right now, and they reached for help. Therefore, there will be two ways out of your situation: either you will leave your job, or you will overcome your difficulties with someone’s help and stay in teaching.
Either way, your choice will be the correct one. Yes, whatever you will do is a good choice! Don’t feel guilty and like a loser. Your choice is the right one!
2) Become selfish.
The paperwork seems to be piling up? Some kids don’t cooperate
How about starting
What is the worst case scenario if you don’t submit that report on time? What if kids have to
Please, don’t think that the world or the school system will stop to exist if you postpone grading or the completion of the SGO.
Take it easy. The work will always be there. You don’t need to do it all and at once.
3) Take a few days off.
There are personal days for a reason in your contract. There are sick days for a reason in your contract. Don’t feel guilty to take a few days off. And don’t take the days off to do planning or grading!
Take some day off for yourself to clear up your thoughts, talk to people who can support you, dedicate some time to your hobby, create a plan of future actions that will help you overcome the current problem in your profession.
4) Don’t assume you need to be perfect your first or even the second or the third year of teaching.
Ditch perfectionism!
Don’t compare yourself with what teacher you wish you could be, or what your classroom you wish would look like. Give yourself time and accept everything as an experiment and a tremendous opportunity to learn from your mistakes.
Give yourself time to figure out discipline in your classroom. Give yourself time to figure out the procedures in school-related to parent communication, lesson planning, lesson submission, etc. Give yourself time, a lot of time, to figure out the design of an effective lesson. Just learn from every mistake and don’t hold these mistakes against yourself.
Believe me, administration in most situations is much more flexible towards deadlines because most of them understand that teachers are the wheels that make school machine turn, so give yourself some credit and be a learner rather than a person faking “I got it!” attitude.
5) Start a job search. Yes, do it.
There many schools that need teachers and many positions being unfilled. If you do feel uncomfortable in your current school, or the pressure is too big, or the atmosphere feels wrong, don’t hesitate to consider a job search.
Changing an environment, grade level,
A decision to change the place where you teach is your decision, and therefore, it’s the correct decision. Make sure to check out my previous post on a job search and a sample of my resume.
6) Figure out the survival plan: minimum input with a maximum output.
Teachers’ energy goes up and down’ like a roller coaster throughout the year. While September is usually full of fun and goes fast, February and March seem to be the hardest when teachers’ spirit is the lowest.
It may happen that in these months you feel more likely to quit or think about it. If you find yourself facing the low energy time stretch, you need to make your survival plan.
What can you do in your class every day that would take the least energy and preparation on your part and deliver the same or even better results for students?
Can you splurge on TpT and get ready-made units on topics you need to teach? Are there materials that would make your students work independently? Is there a way to arrange a self-running classroom?
What about home? Do you take time to take care of your spiritual and physical needs? You cannot pore from an empty cup.
If home time does not replenish your physical and mental energy, your day in school will always be wrong. To come rested to work is necessary for your survival plan.
Trust me, a happy, rested teacher is a much better teacher. Also, can you share units, materials
7) If you feel like what you are teaching doesn’t fly with kids, or continuing teaching a particular unit will bring more frustration to both you and your students, put it on pause and do something else.
Being flexible and accommodating is more important than sticking with something that does not really work. Remember, you don’t need tobe perfect.
If you realize your unit plan is a mess, or it doesn’t work the way you wanted it to work, don’t feel frustrated or compelled to finish what you. The best way to deal with something that does not work is to find another way that would work even better.
There is always more than one path to one goal.
8) Find a hobby.
Doing something you love brings not only mental relaxation but the physical effect of being happy and relaxed. Knowing that you have something that ignites your imagination and brings you joy is a great way to counterbalance work-related stress.
Being involved in activities related to what you love will shift your perspective on your job and will open up new ways to look at your profession and your purpose in life.
What if your hobby can become your business? What if your hobby just makes you happy, so you feel less stressed and preoccupied with what’s happening in your day job?
Explore your passion as a teacher and believe me when I say that new ways of thinking about your teaching job will set the road for further changes and transitions in your life.
9) “This too shall pass.”
We, teachers, tend to think that the situations we find ourselves in are permanent: difficult school administration, difficult kids, new curriculum, new testing and procedure to follow.
The truth is everything will change no matter what. The stressful situation will last for a few weeks or months, and then the school is over. You will move to a different class, the administration will change, old procedures and policies will be replaced by new ones. If you find yourself stuck in the mud of negative thinking cause be the status quo, don’t think it will last forever.
Remember: this too, shall pass.
10) Read books that can transform your thinking.
And I don’t mean books on pedagogy or related. You need to find books that you think will fill out the gap of knowledge you miss your life. Is it money, happiness, financial stability, overwhelm, productivity?
Read about things that transform your personality and your way of looking at life. If you need more money, find books about making money. If you lack happiness, read books about how to create happiness in your life.
Find what you long for, and passionately find ways to satisfy your curiosity.
