Exhausted from Teaching? Tips for Fighting Teacher Burnout
Did you know that in 2022, 80% of teachers surveyed said they are considering leaving their teaching career behind due to teaching burnout? That’s a HUGE percentage! This is especially true for teachers in Title 1 schools. The days are long, the workload bleeds into your weekends, and the job is often thankless. Non-bankable hours are real!
What is truly incredible is that even though burnout is real, 82% of these same teachers said they’d continue teaching for the students and 76% of them would continue because they are passionate about teaching.
As a Title 1 teacher, you may find yourself burned out. When there aren’t enough hours in a day, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the challenges of helping your students.
But you don’t need to work around the clock! With some dedicated professional development, smart time management, and prioritizing self-care, you can reach your goals without feeling exhausted or defeated.
What is teacher burnout?
We hear a lot about burnout in the professional realm; but what exactly does it mean?
Burnout can look different for everyone. But in general, it means you’ve hit your limit. You’re exhausted emotionally and physically. You just feel drained.
Symptoms of burnout can include:
- Lacking motivation
- Feeling detached, isolated, and alone
- Giving up on goals
- Day-long exhaustion
- General anxiety and depression
- Unable to recover, even with breaks
When you’re experiencing burnout, you don’t have any more to give. And as a teacher, this affects both you and your students.
7 Strategies to Prevent and Manage Teaching Burnout
If you’re experiencing burnout as a Title 1 teacher, or you’d like to take the steps to prevent it, these strategies can help you achieve your goals.
When life feels overwhelming, begin here:
Develop effective strategies for engagement
Working with students and families living in poverty brings unique challenges to the classroom that can make it hard to engage your students each day; when children are hungry, learning takes second priority at school.
If you’re struggling with classroom engagement, and feeling defeated about your student’s learning progress, consider where their basic needs are and aren’t being met.
Exhausted or hungry students need these primary needs taken care of in order to best focus on their learning.
Beyond these needs, you may consider professional development opportunities to help you gain effective strategies for student engagement.
Look into cooperative learning, project-based instruction, or alternative classroom structures like Genius Hour that give your students ownership over their learning process. These methods can be particularly helpful for those students feeling a lack of control outside of school.
Prioritize self-care and your well-being
As a teacher of Title 1 students, it can be easy to lose sight of your own needs. To avoid burnout and exhaustion, you must prioritize your own well-being. They say that stressed teachers create stressed students.
So in taking care of yourself, you’re also taking care of students.
In a job where there’s always work that could be done, taking breaks from school work is not always an easy task; but taking this time will help you come back rested and more effective in your teaching.
Be diligent in scheduling time away from school work.
Additionally, build a supportive network of friends or family that you can talk to when you’re feeling overwhelmed. And most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. We all do at some point.
Re-focus, re-evaluate, re-adjust
When life is go-go-go, it is incredibly easy to lose perspective.
Remember to take a step back and remember your purpose. Teachers don’t enter the profession for a high salary – they do it because they’re passionate about education, supporting students, and sharing knowledge.
Re-focus on this purpose, re-evaluate the ways you are spending your time, and re-adjust to fit your needs both professionally and personally.
This process can help you better organize your time, delegate tasks, and find moments for rest.
Most of all, it serves as a reminder to pace yourself. Life is not a race.
Create a growth plan for your professional development goals
Once you’ve taken steps to find balance in your life, it is time to create your professional development plan. This will help you in the long term in so many areas like: personal finances, classroom management, community connection, and more.
Identify the goals and objectives that will improve your effectiveness as an educator, and create an action plan for yourself to reach those goals.
You’ll want to structure this plan so that it is feasible but also provides an element of challenge. Challenge is how we experience growth!
Look for one-day conferences or workshops to attend as well as longer certificate programs or leadership opportunities.
Pursuing professional development activities doesn’t have to mean lost classroom time – it can be a great way for Title 1 teachers to recharge and continue building their skills. You and your students will reap the benefits.
The Global Institute for Coaches and Entrepreneurs has been working in the Dallas/Fort Worth schools to incorporate life coaching with a focus on mental and behavioral wellness. Because of the transformations we’ve seen, it just made sense to create a website specifically for educators and administrators working within Title 1 schools.
Certifying teachers as life coaches as a form of professional development creates positive shifts not only for the teacher, but for their students, communities, and districts!
Enlist the support of an experienced mentor or colleague in the field
A great way to stay inspired about teaching and pursue professional development is to develop a relationship with an experienced mentor or colleague.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to the members of your school’s Title 1 support staff, as well as other teachers in the district. Teachers are some of the most generous people you’ll come in contact with and can be an integral source of support. And community is one of our greatest weapons against Title 1 teaching burnout.
An experienced teacher can provide valuable guidance and professional feedback. They can also share classroom management strategies that they have garnered from hands-on experience.
As a former Title 1 educator, LaKendra Smalley, the founder of The Global Institute for Coaches and Entrepreneurs wanted to create opportunities for current educators and administrators. Whether it’s mentorship through a life coach, who supports you with much needed tools to break through burnout or her certification program.
Remember to network and develop further connections throughout your field. District-organized professional development days are great for this.
The education community is your best resource when searching for practical information, support, and available grants within your district.
Investigate online courses and certifications that fit your needs and strengths.
There is an abundance of online learning resources that can offer you professional development.
Take advantage of online courses, webinars, and certifications that are tailored specifically for Title 1 teachers.
Online resources are accessible and fit to your busy schedule so you can access them when it is most convenient.
Try this flexible way to improve your teaching skills and gain new knowledge from the comfort of your own home, in addition to traditional seminars or professional development workshops.
Be unapologetic in your need for rest
When you have big dreams, they come with big expectations. This can lead to guilt over taking a day off, feeling unproductive, or failing to quickly reach your goals.
But this attitude is a fast track to burnout.
Pace yourself and be unapologetic in your need for rest. You don’t need to complete all of your goals overnight. Small steps are major accomplishments, especially when you’re working in a high-stress career like education.
Develop a clear and manageable professional development plan and take it day by day.
Final thoughts: Title 1 Teacher Burnout
Though being a Title 1 teacher comes with a unique set of challenges, there are resources available to help you prevent burnout.
By prioritizing self-care along with your professional development, you’ll be able to achieve your goals without spreading yourself too thin.
And, if you’re a teacher currently experiencing burnout, know that you’re not alone; it is incredibly common to experience burnout in a profession that requires all of you. Remember to seek help from your loved ones and take care of yourself.
