You will think about leaving the classroom. It might happen after a few years of classroom teaching, or even just one year if it’s a tough one. Even if it’s still a mostly satisfying place to be and even if it feels like where you belong, you might wonder if there is something else out there that you should be doing.
My goal in this post is not to talk you out of leaving the classroom. I want to provide some tips and encouragement for your situation.
First, I get it. I’ve been there. I have been a classroom teacher for 21 years, but I left the classroom to serve as a coach for teachers for seven years. Despite those 21 years in the classroom, about every three to four years, I considered leaving the classroom and doing something else.
Let’s be clear. It’s not usually the students that make us want to leave. It could be any combination of these reasons:
lack of support from your team or your administration
lack of support from your students’ family community
a particularly challenging student or group of students
lack of resources
resentment about working so many hours for so little pay
burn out
feeling ineffective and helpless to make any changes
Some things to consider before you leave the classroom:
First, make a list of what you like about you classroom teaching job and what you do not like. A few times, when I compared my lists, I realized that staying in the classroom was what I really wanted to do. A few other times, I made a change.
Are you just tired of where you are? If you are feeling “stale” at what you are doing, could you make a change such as switching grade levels? How about transferring to another school in your district or teaching in another district? Either one of these would help re-energize you because you will have to learn something new and have to change up how you are currently doing your routine tasks.
Speaking of feeling “stale” — if you are not learning and growing and feeling supported by other teachers and the administration at your current school, consider a change of schools before leaving education altogether.
I have known so many teachers who were reluctant to do this (moving is never fun), but now claim that it was the best decision they ever made. Think about whether this might be the right decision for you.
Are you enjoying the planning more than the actual teaching and being with students daily? Consider searching for some kind of job where you help create curriculum or learning materials. Opening your own store on Teachers Pay Teachers or Etsy is a great way to get started and to see if this is something you really want to do.
Are you enjoying time with students? Is there some other role where you could still work with students, but not be a classroom teacher?
This might involve getting another certification or degree. Many people find it very satisfying to be an exceptional education teacher, an academically gifted teacher, or a teacher for ELL (English Language Learner) students.
Keep in mind that these other jobs are not necessarily less stressful — they are just different. Each group of students has its own challenges, paperwork, etc. But having a smaller “caseload” of students can be more rewarding, so it’s worth thinking about.
Consider a job where you train adults. This might be a coaching role in your school or district (which also may require another certification or degree).
But there are adult education opportunities in the private sector as well. Many companies and organizations employ their own training teams for various topics.
You could also search for an educational consulting job and consider leading professional development for teachers in different schools. Some cautions with this: adults have different learning needs. You will need to study this topic and consider whether that is something you want to do. Also, some of these types of jobs might involve travel, which may not fit your current life situation.
Would you like to impact the profession in an administrative role or a policy role? This will no doubt require you to go back to school, but investigate the options in your area. Many colleges and universities are working to revamp their programs and make them more accessible and “do-able” for classroom teachers.
How about teaching at the college level and training future teachers? This, too, will require more education on your part, but your experience as a classroom teacher will bring enormous credibility to your work with student teachers.
Then, there is always the option of leaving education altogether. After careful consideration of your options and what you think will really make you happy, this may be the best choice for you.
While I hate to even suggest it, I have known many people who are much happier in an entirely different career. They miss the students and the camaraderie of working in a school environment, but doing something different was the right choice for them.
The bottom line to think about — what will make you happy AND earn an income? Think about what really gives you joy in your current work situation and how you might be able to use that and replicate it in some other place or in some other way. Share your gifts with the world and enjoy what you do.
I have been teaching for 28 years, 21 of them in an elementary classroom. Even I can’t believe that I have “lasted” this long. Avoiding burnout is key.
With all of the demands and the stress of teaching, I have often been asked exactly what I do to keep myself going and to stay in teaching for so long. Here are seven of my best tips.
1 – Amplify the positive — in your students, in your principal/leader’s strengths, in your colleagues, and in policies or practices. When you look for the good, you will find it. You will find plenty of negatives, often without even looking.
But if you stay focused on what is the good in this situation or in this person, you will learn and grow and find something positive from it.
This is not to encourage toxic positivity. It is just having an awareness that yes, there are negative things (and they often need to be addressed somehow), but there are always positives too. If the negatives far outweigh the positives for you, it’s time to make a change for your own health.
2 – Be an encourager — this will follow from amplifying the positive. When you do find the good, share it with others who need some encouragement.
I find that what you “send out” to others tends to come back to you. Encouragement can be in the form of a verbal comment, a post-it note, an email, a hug, a cooked or baked treat — whatever is comfortable for you.
When I worked as an instructional coach, I would often leave a post-it note about something positive I saw in a teacher’s classroom (see #1 above).
I did this because I realize how “threatening” it can be to have someone you barely know (or someone in a perceived power role) come into your classroom, see what you are doing or what is happening, and then leave without saying anything or giving any feedback. So I just left a quick note and tried to follow up with more detailed feedback later.
When I returned to these classrooms, I would notice that every single teacher had the notes posted somewhere in their classroom where they would see them frequently.
It reminded me that we all need encouragement and positive feedback. If we don’t get it from those in “power”, we can still do that for each other. Try it and see how it affects you and other teachers around you.
Attend an education conference (Ask if your school or district will pay the attendance fee. In this era of less funding for schools, it may not be possible but it doesn’t hurt to ask anyway! Plus, your leaders will see you as someone who is trying to learn and improve, which will only have positive effects for you.)
Try to find ONE good thing about every single professional development you attend (and you will probably find more if are looking. See tip #1 above.)
4 – Have some kind of daily quiet time. You can spend the time in prayer, in meditation, just sitting and taking deep breaths, reading something from an inspirational or devotional book — or a combination of all four! The amount of time does not matter as much as having some consistently quiet time where you just stop and listen.
5 – Engage in some kind of physical activity daily.
Just like with the quiet time suggestion above, the amount of time does not matter so much as the consistency.
Find something that you enjoy enough to actually do it, then schedule a time and stick to it.
Some examples: walking, jogging, yoga (find good videos on YouTube), Pilates or barre fitness (my favorite is Physique 57, weights or resistance training.
Exercise will relieve stress, clear your mind, help you to see situations and people in a more positive light, and will help you feel better about yourself.
6 – Eat healthier than you did yesterday. This might mean eating more fruits and vegetables, drinking more water, eating less sugar or processed food. Just do a little better than you did yesterday.
7 – Make a list of your favorite self-care activities and choose something from your list.
Here are 12 examples: take a warm bath, light a scented candle, take a walk in a favorite outdoor area, make a gratitude list, get (or give yourself) a manicure or pedicure, buy some fresh flowers, declutter some areas that is causing you stress, pet an animal, sit outside in a favorite space, listen to a favorite playlist, listen to a podcast that makes you laugh or inspires you, read something you enjoy.
I hope these tips will be helpful for you. I would love to hear your thoughts!
I have been an intermittent faster for over a year. I’m sharing my story about how and why I got started with this healthy eating and wellness lifestyle in the hopes that it will help you as well.
First, a disclaimer. Do your homework — read about it first. I’m not a doctor and I am not offering medical advice. Intermittent fasting may not be the best approach for your particular needs. I am only sharing how I got started and how it works for me.
ONCE UPON A TIME . . .
I once heard a quote from Dr. Jerome Harste, a professor of education at Indiana University who said, “You must always assume that one of the pillars of your thinking is dead wrong.” While he was speaking about education in an entirely different context, that quote has stuck with me for many years.
When it comes to my eating habits, that quote comes to mind again. Let me explain.
When I was in middle school and high school, I did not like to eat breakfast until 10 or 11 a.m. My family typically ate dinner around 6 p.m., so I was “fasting” for about 16 – 17 hours per day.
That period of time in my life was when I felt the best, had the most energy, and maintained a healthy weight without much effort. (Okay, I was also a lot younger then, but I still remember how good I felt at that time!)
For years (like about 40 of them), I believed the popular nutritional idea that you need to eat 5-6 small meals per day to keep your metabolism high. I, like many people, fell for that idea since it seemed to make sense and also had some science behind it (or so I thought).
However, in addition to spending an obscene amount of time “prepping” all of these meals and snacks, I was losing energy and started slowly gaining weight. So I did what most people do — I cut calories and carbs even more, which did nothing to change things.
It should have occurred to me that this eating approach was not healthy for ME, based on the fact that I had low energy, was slowly gaining weight, and was obsessing about food. Then my thyroid levels dropped, which only made everything worse.
Every time I would mention my eating plan issues to friends, they would parrot the same advice that I was following, but I didn’t connect the dots to notice that these friends all struggled with maintaining their weight as well.
TIME FOR A CHANGE
Clearly, something needed to change. I refused to accept that I was getting older, everything was slowing down, blah blah blah. There had to be a better way. I started seeing a naturopathic doctor who helped me increase the fats in my diet and reduce the amount of gluten and processed foods I was eating.
I also started doing my own research. I heard about Amanda Tress and her “Faster Way to Fat Loss” program on someone’s blog. I was interested in learning more, so I went to her site and noticed a term called “intermittent fasting.”
At first, I thought, “Fasting? I could never do that. That would be too hard. It would shut my metabolism down. I would obsess about food. I would probably gain weight because I would be so hungry at the end of my fast, etc., etc.”
But — after reading her article, and remembering the time in my life when I actually was intermittently fasting — I realized that this approach might work for me. At least it was worth a try. (By the way, Amanda has an amazing eating plan and workout program. Check it out here
HOW I STARTED & THE RESULTS I GOT
So I started. At first, I only fasted for about 14 hours a day, noting the time when I “closed my eating window”, i.e., stopped eating at night, then “opened my eating window” 14 hours later.
Much of the fasting actually happened overnight. When I got used to that and was feeling great, I then slowly increased my fasting time. Now I regularly fast for 16-18 hours daily.
During my fast, I drink only water and black coffee. I learned about the importance of a “clean fast” from Gin Stephens’ blog post.
Guess what happened? I effortlessly lost 10 lbs (which was my goal), my thyroid hormones balanced themselves, and I have tons more energy. Even my hair and skin look better and healthier, which I attribute to autophagy (see below).
Best of all — I save tons of time by not preparing all those “mini-meals” and snacks for my teaching day. I basically take a snack to school and then eat dinner later at home.
Eating small meals all day long was one of those “pillars of thinking” that was dead wrong. At least for me.
Now I notice other people with their containers of food and how they eat every few hours. I also notice that every single one of them has weight issues of some type (either truly overweight or just highly conscious of weight).
I realize this approach may not be right for everyone, but I encourage you to look into it and see if it might be a good fit for you.
*Podcasts: I highly recommend Intermittent Fasting Podcast – with Melanie Avalon and Gin Stephens. I found this podcast when Gin and Melanie were on their second episode and I have been listening ever since. They give tons of information and helpful tips. They also discuss intermittent fasting research and explain it in a user-friendly way.
On their website, they include links to various studies in their show notes for each podcast.
Within your eating window, make every effort to eat 8 – 10 fruit/vegetable servings. I know it sounds like a lot, but with each serving being only ½ cup, it’s not as hard as it sounds.
Exercise. In some way. Every day. I am a fan of brisk walking, using cardio machines, yoga, Pilates, and weight training.
I started using exercise videos way back in 1986 and became a huge fan of the FIRM videos. There have been lots of changes in that company over the years, but the original FIRM workouts, designed by Anna & Cynthia Benson, remain favorites of mine.
(Try to ignore the hairstyles, etc. It was the 80’s. Everything was big and puffy. Except the people in the videos!)
SOME BENEFITS OF INTERMITTENT FASTING:
*balanced hormones, which helps make your stored body fat more accessible for fat burning
*lower insulin levels & higher human growth hormone levels, which leads to fat burning and muscle toning
*cellular repair & removal of waste material from cells. This is called autophagy, which protects against disease.
*reduced inflammation in the body, which slows the aging process and helps prevent disease
*improves heart health factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels
*may help to protect against neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
If you are a teacher, you are probably scheduling or will soon schedule conferences with your student’s parents or caregivers. Here are some tips to make this a positive and productive experience!
One note: when the word “parents” is used in this post, it refers to any adult who is in a parenting or caregiving role for the child.
SCHEDULING
First, you need to schedule conferences. This may seem simple but it can make a big difference in your stress level! While you should offer many time slots at varying times of the day (including at least one evening), you do not have to schedule yourself like an airport runway.
Plug in conferences that you believe will be “easy” (i.e., the student is doing well academically and emotionally, parents are supportive) at any time.
For the parents that you believe might be more time demanding, schedule the conference either between two other conferences (so that you have an excuse to end their conference at the scheduled time), OR leave unscheduled time after their time slot (if you believe you and the parent will truly need more time to discuss the child’s needs).
If there are parents that you suspect may be angry or unreasonable, schedule carefully. Make sure that there will be other teachers nearby who are also having conferences at the same time (next door, across the hall — NOT just in the next wing). You may also want to ensure that an administrator will be in the building during the time of that conference.
If/when your school offers evening conference times (which they really should do), make sure you are scheduling conferences during the time frame that other people are also in the building.
PREPARING FOR CONFERENCES
When you send your conference schedule times home, consider sending a form with questions for the conference as well. It’s best to leave the questions open-ended to allow for a variety of responses.
Examples include: What are your specific academic questions? What are your specific social-emotional questions? What questions do you have about the curriculum/academic expectations? What questions do you have about your child’s work habits? What other resources do you need?
This helps you to identify what the parent is most concerned about and what should be addressed during the conference. Sometimes they have very specific questions or concerns that may not get addressed in a standard conference unless you know what they would like to discuss.
Your school or grade level team may have specific data points you should share with parents at conferences. Examples might include literacy assessment data, math assessment data, etc. Find out what you need to share and print or copy the information you need.
Prepare for the conference by “studying” in advance. Make some notes about the child that you would like to share with the parents, include relevant data, and notes about what the parent asked on the form mentioned above. You don’t need to have a lot to study, but make sure you review it quickly before you meet with parents. (This is similar to how doctors review your chart data before your appointment.)
Create a note sheet or checklist for the conference. This will help keep you focused on all discussion points.
You might just use a spiral bound notebook for these notes. Turn to a fresh page for each individual conference. This helps keep you focused on all the things to be discussed and allows for space to take notes on information the parent shares as well as requests they might make.
CONFERENCE TIPS
Create an inviting area for parents to wait. You might put some chairs in the hall. Consider what is on the walls in the hall for them to look at and read. Make sure it is something somewhat current! Also, consider having a writing project displayed as that gives more to read. A board or sign that welcomes parents is also a nice touch.
Create an inviting space for the conference. Avoid sitting at your small group instruction table with parents on the other side. Sit at a student table or at desks pushed together in a cluster. This puts you and the parents in more of a “same team” posture.
After greeting the parent, ask a general question about how the year is going so far for their child. Similar to the questions asked in advance, this allows the parent to let you know what is uppermost in their mind to discuss.
ALWAYS start by saying something especially good about the child. It does not have to be an academic strength. Mention something that you really appreciate about the child or tell a brief story that shares something the child did in the classroom that illustrates your point.
This automatically puts both parents and teachers in a positive frame of mind about the child and about how to work together for the child’s benefit.
When you need to share some kind of academic or behavioral concern, explain with as much objective data as you can.
Keep in mind that no parent wants to hear that their child is not “measuring up” in some way. That does not mean that you should not be honest with them and tell them exactly where their child is performing. However, you can talk in more positive terms about what you and other teachers are doing (or will do) to help the child with the need.
If it is a behavioral concern, do the same thing but I think it’s also helpful to ask the parent for suggestions or tips. Tell them that they are the expert on their child and that you need their help because you want to help their child do/be their very best. Most parents will be eager to try to help, especially when they see that you are eager to do the same.
Keep emphasizing that you are both on the same team with the same goal: to ensure success for the child.
Parents usually want to help their child but are unsure of what to do.
Even if you think it should be obvious, give them suggestions for what to do at home. They can read to or with their child every day. They can help their child play games to memorize math facts. They can look over their child’s homework and either explain confusing questions themselves or let you know if there is a need for more explanation.
If there are other resources offered by your school (web resources, parent resources, list of tutors), be prepared to share those with the parent.
TROUBLE-SHOOTING
DO NOT get into conversations about other students. If they ask questions about other students’ behavior, keep the focus on their child’s needs.
For example: is there something your child needs me to do to help with this situation? What is concerning you about your child’s friendship with another child? Please encourage your child to let me know about this behavior when it occurs.
Parents will often report bullying behavior to you, even if their child has not reported it. We do need to respond and take bullying seriously, but that does not mean that we need to tell other parents about the accused child’s situation. Try very hard to protect everyone’s privacy and confidentiality.
If they ask questions about other students’ academic levels, keep the focus on their child’s needs.
If they ask why their child is not getting some level of service (from a gifted specialist or another specialist), explain the criteria for service and let them know where their child is performing, but do not give any information about another student’s academic performance. Remember privacy and confidentiality.
As mentioned previously, ask what they believe that their child needs but may not be getting.
IF a parent is upset or angry, just be quiet and listen. While they are talking (or ranting), take deep breaths and try very hard to focus on the feeling behind their words.
Also try very hard to realize that you are just the “front line” — their frustration and anger may be directed at you, but not really be about you specifically. It may be coming from years of frustration or anger about what they perceive is not being done for their child, frustration with not knowing how to handle their child’s needs themselves, or other stresses impacting their family life. Sometimes they just need to vent.
When they calm down (which sometimes ends in tears — have tissues ready), express calm sympathy for their frustration. Then let them know that you care about their feelings and their child and you want to work together to help solve some of the problems.
In rare cases, parents or caregivers may become so irate that they make disparaging or threatening comments to you. In those cases, calmly stand up and tell them that this conference needs to end now and that you will be happy to meet with them again when you have an administrator present.
If they do not stand up and leave your meeting space, you may need to walk out the door and to another teacher’s meeting space or to the office. See above tip for why and when to schedule potentially angry parents.
Understand that some parents may not be able to attend conferences at the times you have set due to their work schedules. People who are paid hourly have to take unpaid time off to visit the school for conferences.
If you are comfortable and if your administrator approves, consider having a brief conference with the parent during their dinner break at their workplace (if it is a public building, such as a hospital or restaurant where other people are around), or at a local restaurant, fast food place or coffee shop. This way, you can talk and share in a less threatening place and the parent can get back to work quickly.
Another option, if your administrator approves, is to have a telephone conference.
LAST TIPS
Believe it or not, parents are often worried about these conferences more than you are.
Even if you do not believe that this parent is doing a great job, they are probably doing the best they can, given their circumstances, and they love their child more than you may think. Coming to an intimidating place, like a school, to hear potentially negative things about their beloved child is very threatening. Be empathetic.
Think about how you might like to receive negative news about your own child. If you don’t have children, think about a child in your life or in your family that you love. How would you want to hear news about that child? What would you want the teacher to say about how they will help?
*Remember — you ARE the expert on children in the age band that you teach. You may not feel like an expert, but you probably know more than the parents do about what children at this age should be able to do independently and you certainly know more about curriculum expectations for children at this grade level.
Be positive, be clear with any data, be respectful, listen to them, and be confident! You’ve got this!
As a teacher and a mom, I have been on both sides of the parent-teacher conference table. Here are a few thoughts from the parent’s side of the table.
1 – my child means the world to me. Please love and appreciate them and find the good in them, even when it’s difficult.
2 – please get to know my child and what makes them unique and special.
3 – please try not to judge my parenting. Very often, we’re doing the very best we can as a family. If you need us to do something specific, please tell us that directly. We need suggestions instead of judgment.
4 – please let me know specific things my child is doing well (instead of general praise, like “He’s doing great!”). I want to reinforce the good things my child is doing.
5 – please be honest with me about where my child is performing. If they are not performing on grade level in any subject, please let me know that.
6 – please let me know specific things I can do at home to help my child if they are not doing well in some area (besides “get a tutor”).
7 – please don’t talk negatively about my child to other people. Think about how you would want your own child to be treated.
8 – please welcome me into your classroom and into the school.
9 – please address any bullying in your classroom.
10 – please think about the value of the homework you assign. (From the education research: elementary students need to spend most of their homework time reading – not doing worksheets/activities about reading – and some math practice.) Anything more than 30-45 minutes is overkill and puts stress on everyone.
11 – please look for other areas in which my child is doing well and tell me about them. Are they kind to everyone? Do they work well with others? Are they creative in their thinking? Do they show artistic or mechanical talent in some way? Test scores don’t measure those important skills. Help me reinforce the good in my child.
12 – please don’t ask me to send in cupcakes or a plain t-shirt (or anything else that might require a trip to the store) by tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. We are often on tight time schedules during the week. Please give us a few day’s (or a week’s) notice.
If you’re a parent, what else would you suggest? Teachers want to know!
Parents, do you ever wonder what teachers really care about? Here are 10 things teachers want parents to know:
1 – please get your child to school on time. Coming in late gets your child’s day started on the wrong foot and often leads to stress and anxiety.
2 – let us know about family issues that may affect your child at school (a move, a family member’s illness or death, separation/divorce, a pet’s illness or death).
3 – we need your help. Listen to your child, yes, but also listen to what we tell you about what is happening at school. We are not judging you so please do not make excuses for your child. We need to work together to help your child overcome hurdles.
4 – understand that we are in this profession because we care about children and truly want the best for your child. Please listen to what we have to say before automatically believing your child’s side of the story. (Most children are motivated to NOT get in trouble, so their side of the story will understandably be a little skewed. It’s not a bad thing, but please understand that you probably need to get more perspective on what happened.)
5 – know that if we ask you for support in some area, we are not asking you to “fix” or to punish your child. We need your suggestions for how to help them overcome their current challenge.
6 – please keep us posted with any changes in how you can be reached (by phone or email).
7 – please ask us how you can help us in the classroom. Sometimes we need volunteers to help with specific activities, sometimes we need extra snacks provided for students who are hungry. Sometimes we just need a pat on the back! But the offer to help in some way lets us know that you value the work we do.
8 – please read any communication that is sent home from school. Whether it’s paper, an email newsletter, a text message — please read it. We are making every effort to keep the communication channels open. We need you to meet us halfway.
9 – please return any forms (permission slips, conference time requests, etc.) as soon as you possibly can.
10 – read to your child as many evenings as you can — even when they are reading independently. Make reading enjoyable and something you do together. Not only does this give you valuable “quality time” with your child, but it models the importance of literacy.
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
