Top 3 Tips for Preventing Teacher Burnout You Need To Know
- Kristy Johnson
- Jan 4, 2021
- 4 min read
Are you running on fumes by Tuesday morning? Wondering how you will ever survive in this profession? As teachers, we often put ourselves last. We tend to put our families and our students first. I have watched many teachers leave the profession due to teacher burnout, and I have decided that is NOT going to be me. Teaching continues to take on many new aspects as our classrooms contain more diverse needs, technology is ever evolving, and our to-do lists seem never-ending! There are staffing shortages, larger class sizes and more demands. As teachers, we must give ourselves some grace and come to the realization that we cannot do it all, so that we continue to enjoy our profession and remember why we were called to it in the first place.
Here are my top 3 teacher burnout solutions that you need to know.
Work Should Stay at Work
This little piece of advice has taken me seven years to learn. Yes, you read that correctly-it has taken me my entire teaching career so far to learn. When I first
began teaching, on a typical day, I would get to school bright and early and stay at work well after the bell, until almost dinner time. On top of this, I would still bring my work home and work in the evenings and on the weekends.
Do you see the dangerous pattern here?! Not only was this killing me, but it was also hurting my family. All of my days revolved around my work. When I realized that I could not continue with this pattern for my mental health, I sat down and made some carefully thought-out changes to my day and did some serious time-blocking..
Here are some things that helped me to leave my work as part of preventing teacher burnout:
Make a schedule for your planning blocks:
At my current school, we meet as a grade level during our entire plan time on Thursdays and half of our plan time on Fridays. This gives me Monday-Wednesday to focus on what I need to get done for my planning purposes:
Mondays: I complete any grading that needs to be done.
Tuesdays: I plan the standard math lesson for the following week.
Wednesdays: I plan the accelerated math lesson for the following week.
Fridays: (Second half of planning) I print all of my master copies of everything for the following week.
Make a schedule for your mornings/afternoons:
I have to be at school 40 minutes before my students arrive each day. Some schools require teachers to stay a certain amount of time past the bell (my previous school was like this). Use this time wisely and make it calculated:
My mornings:
Every day I come in, put my stuff down, and go check my mailbox (I only do this in the mornings, unless I get an email stating I need to at another time). Then, I check my emails. I tell parents the most likely time for my response is in the morning. (I also usually check them during dismissal for anything urgent)
Mondays: Print/copy anything needed for the week. (My plans are already ready from the previous week)
Tuesdays: This is my morning for tutoring students for any math help. I only do this one day per week.
Wednesdays: I catch up with my teammates. I cannot stress how important this is! If I do not schedule time for this, I will do it when I should be doing other things.
Thursdays: Any housekeeping/filing of paperwork.
Fridays: Create groups/plan for pulling kids, etc.
Whatever planning or extra time you have make a plan for and stick to it the best you can!
2. Self-Grading Assignments & Assessments:
An Easy Teacher Burnout Solution
Teaching means LOTS of grading, especially in the upper elementary grades, middle, and high school. Creating self-grading assignments is something that I have started doing to take some of the stress and time that grading causes away. I like to assign digital assignments and assessments whenever possible, using Google Forms such as this Digital Expressions Assignments & Assessments and Rates and Ratios Mastery Check Assessments. Assignments are used as practice and I check as they work. Assessments are self-graded through Google Forms. This means that I do not have to sit and grade each one by hand! It is great!
In addition to self-grading assessments, I also use self-grading assignments like these Decimals Exit Slips. This is available in both print and digital form but the digital forms are through Google Forms, and they are automatically graded and put into a spreadsheet so you can quickly see which students understood the lesson and which did not! Another example of a self-checking assignment is this Equivalent Fractions Self-Checking Game. There is one slide for review of how to find equivalent fractions. Then, there are 25 questions for students to answer. Each question is self-checking, and students can jump to different numbers if they would like to. Using some of these digital formats to help with grading has been an absolute game-changer for me!
3. Self-Care for Teacher Stress Relief
Finally, this one might seem obvious, but some of us need a friendly reminder! Self-care is so important for your stress, well-being, and overall mental health. In addition to making the changes above to lighten your workload while at home and “turn your school brain off,” you must seriously consider self-care. In the evenings and weekends, I encourage you to do the activities that fill your cup. Go for runs, take a yoga class, get together for a wine night with girlfriends, massages, pedicures, journaling-whatever it may be that makes you feel like you again, do it as much as possible!
I know the thought of including anything else in your already busy day may seem impossible, but you can start small! Wake up 10 minutes earlier to enjoy your cup of coffee in the early morning light, take a short walk after dinner, or read for a few minutes before bed. You do not have to do a complete overhaul of your day to feel the change.
Following these teacher burnout solutions will hopefully decrease some of the added stress of being a teacher and support you in preventing teacher burnout for good!
You can find more teacher tips in these posts!
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