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I feel like on any given week my stress fluctuates from 3-5. Most days, I try to keep it a 3, but honestly I feel like my stress takes places before or after a school day starts or ends. Faculty meeting days stress me because it 40 minutes earlier and I always feel less prepared not having 10 minutes before go time. Traffic or a tough morning trying to get out of the house can also elevate my stress level before a day starts and it only goes up once the kids arrive. I find teaching less stressful, but the constant to-do list haunts me. Meetings after work are hard too because it disrupts the work home balance. Days when exercise is a priority, my stress level is more manageable but then coming home to family and feeling guilty for not being there or a messy house can instantly make my stress level rise.

I wish the school system would support a mental health or vacation day without limitations (if you have the time, you have the time) because I think a ME day could go a long way in a profession where every child's stress becomes your stress.

Until that day comes, a happy staff can make any day a better day

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Decision-Making Machines- Do you know how many decisions we make each day before we even take attendance?! Thousands. And it feels like every decision we make effects so many things. Does the exact wording of my objective really effect my students learning? Really. Probably not. But heaven help me if I get it wrong and someone finds out. Lately, it feels a little tiny bit like being hunted. Like you need to look over your shoulder while you are munching the grass in case the hunter is there waiting to pounce on you when you make a mistake.

Never Good Enough- NO matter what you do, it feels like you are never good enough. I am a life-long learner, always growing, don't get me wrong, but I'd like someone to just say that I'm good at my job. Let me bask in that glory for a day or two. Then I bet you I'd do something to be even better on my own. In my opinion teaching is more of an art form than a science. It would be really nice if someone were to step back and admire my artwork and say, "What a wonderful gift you have." and maybe throw in some ooos and aahs.

Time-It is not possible to get it all done. It's The Never Ending Story.

Behavior- I know there are more difficult schools out there, but I feel as if I have survived battle when I get home at the end of the day. It's exhausting. And I'm a parent and most days I do not have an ounce of patience or energy left to give my own family. I have no idea what the answer is to this problem. Admin and Special Educators and Specialists are just as baffled as the Teachers are about what to do to support some of our challenging babies. All we can do is to keep trying.

That being said- I LOVE MY JOB.  And I wouldn't trade it for anything! It's who I am. It's who I am meant to be. Luckily I'm a spaz and can handle stress thrown at me. But it sure would be less stressful if we had more time to do things, the expectations weren't set so ridiculously high that they always feel out of reach, the kids actually listened to some of the things I said, I felt more appreciated, and I was able to take a break and walk away from all of the decision-making once in awhile.

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Paperwork: As a 1st year Special Educator, the amount of paperwork that goes into IEPs is so overwhelming, still. Especially when it’s things that you’re relying on someone else to complete, such as gen ed teachers and related service providers. It’s very stressful when they are on their own schedule and not what you would like happening.

Time: Working with a team of 4 teachers it is hard to find time to collaboratively plan because they also have responsibilities both during school hours and outside of school hours so finding cooperative times are hard. Also making sure I get everything done and make the most of my contract time has been hard. I usually get to school early so I can leave on time and have minimal to do at home.

Balance: I have finally found some balance but trying to find the home/school balance is really hard. I feel like everything overlaps and I end up spending just as much time at home talking about school or doing work as I spend in my classroom. Finding that balance has been a big stressor this year.

Observations: having to have so many observations as a new teacher is haed, but working my tail off each day and then having them come in and everything go awry is very stressful because I don’t want them to think that is a reflection of me when my 4th graders act crazy. It’s a stress too when it feels as if they are always trying to observe me and not so much with others. Makes me feel very concerned about how they feel about my teaching.

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Paperwork- I understand that there may not be a solution to the problem, but it would be nice to have some collaborative planning time to go over attendance, what is coming up/due, complete grade level newsletters, discuss our SLO/PDP/SPA data, go over goal team discussions (within our grade level), and any other administrative work.

I also agree with not having enough time during the day to do what is expected and be as exceptional as I want to be. I also want to be a part of professional groups, but have noticed that my life as a parent does not allow me to participate as I would like to in groups like House team, SPA and book club. If I wasn't able to come into work at 6:30 everyday, there is no way I would be prepared. I feel a lot of pressure to make each lesson perfect and fun, but wish we had more time for character education.

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There is just not enough time in a day (and I’m not just talking about a school day of 8:20-3:50) to do everything that is expected of teachers and certainly not enough time to give our students what they deserve. The only reason my stress level isn’t a 5 is because I have accepted that it is ok to try my best between the hours of 7:30-5:30 during the week and Sunday at home and leave it at that and I’ve accepted that teaching isn’t a job, it’s a lifestyle. I also have a very supportive mentor, a great team of therapists, and very helpful coworkers. And I know I’m lucky. What I don’t have is time to plan, organize, contact parents, and do the countless after and before school activities to “help me be a better teacher”, “have fun at work” and “involve families”. And don’t get me wrong, I love my paraprofessionals but it takes so much time and effort to train them. Also I have learned that you almost never get substitutes...

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This year, I have felt extremely overwhelmed. I often find myself forgetting why I became a teacher. Most days, I even feel like more of a behavior specialist than a teacher and that is not what I signed up to do. I feel as though I can do nothing right and that I am constantly being blamed for things that are out of my control or that I simply was not taught or instructed how to do.

I arrive to school early each morning and stay late each evening. I also take work home with me. My family and friends ask if I get paid overtime for all of the work that I do just to stay afloat. I receive emails at all hours of the night, day, and on weekends. Our administration expects us to make school our number one priority and our entire life, but seem to forget that we have families, children, and other loved ones to care for, let alone ourselves. Still, I feel like I am drowning and that there is not enough time to complete the copious amount of paperwork that I am expected to do. In addition, forgetting one small detail or making one tiny mistake on a document usually results in getting your head chewed off in public or in a private meeting.

As a first year teacher, I do not feel supported by my administration. I am expected to know everything, even though I have very little experience with the state expectations, grade levels, and areas that I teach. Our admin continually stresses that "teamwork makes the dream work" at our school, but I do not feel like we are a team at all. Paraprofessionals and Inclusion helpers are under-appreciated for the part they play in chasing our students up and down hallways, classroom teachers and expected to manage behaviors while teaching highly effective lessons, and special educators are expected to plan curriculum along with all that comes with IEPs.

I can honestly say that the only things that keep me coming to work each day are my supportive staff and the students. Seeing the smiles on the children's faces reminds me why I became a teacher- to make the world a better place- and makes the nausea, indigestion, anxiety attacks, tears, and constant migraines tolerable.

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Paperwork: I feel as though we are CONSTANTLY doing paperwork. Yes it’s a must and can be very helpful, but being given time to complete this kind of stuff would be so helpful!

Emails: The amount of emails I receive in a day is SO overwhelming to me. I’m already so busy throughout the day that by the end of the day I don’t feel like ready 10+ emails that are two pages in length. Sometimes I even miss over important emails because of having so many that they just get lost.

Time: I think time is the biggest stress for most of us. We never have enough time and although this is a constant stress for most in our every day lives, teachers are asked to do so many things EXCEPT TEACH! If we were given the time to actually teach and plan engaging lessons our world would be so much better.

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-Lack of time to create lessons and expectations from some parents that take away a lot of time from the planning for the whole class due to what a parent wants for their specific child. Spending planning time working with student behaviors and not actually getting time to plan lessons or do paperwork.
-PAPERWORK: The amount of paperwork in Special Education is unmanageable to complete without being at school till 9pm every night.
-Safety: Worrying about safety of all students due to behaviors of others or themselves.

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There are not enough hours in the day. I squeeze as much productivity out of each part of my day yet, I still work 3 hours beyond the duty day on a regular basis. Being an overachiever is part of my personality, so much of the stress I put on myself. I rarely say no in my life at school or outside of school.

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Don't get me wrong, I love what I do. However, teaching is a stressful job as it is; now add on extremely behavioral students, lack of additional support, unannounced observations, constant PD, and not enough planning time, just to name a few. Elementary teachers, compared to secondary teachers, are expected to plan 5 lessons a day in only 45 minutes of time. Obviously, we all come in early and stay late, and do the occasional work at home, but this, on top of our dynamic of students causes a high stress level. It's hard to find time to finish everything you need to do in a reasonable time frame plus balance a home/personal life. Not to mention, teachers are constantly required to continue education (Master's programs, Plus 30, etc.). It can be exhausting. With all that being said, we are all here for a reason, and the students always find a way to show us that it's all worth it!

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Trying to teach students, especially those that are below-grade level students and need extra support, while a number of students are out of control behaviorally. I feel responsible for creating a safe and enjoyable learning environment. The stress of trying to figure out how to do this while some students are destroying my classroom, throwing objects at me and at students, yelling/crying loudly non-stop for several minutes and running from the room. My attention is split between meeting the needs of behavior students who need so much attention and teaching to a full class of struggling learners. It's really frustrating. :(

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5 - Expectations of a) working with students who are out of control emotionally, and physically  b) Observations - there is always a high level of expectation that always seems beyond reach  c)  Work load...the paperwork, response time, and preparedness for everyday is overwhelming
d) Keeping up with life at home with our own families while working full-time with all of the responsibilities required.

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Not knowing when there will be an observation adds an unnecessary level of stress on teachers, especially when administrators aren't in classrooms regularly.  We know when they are "out and about" and it puts extra pressure on teachers to feel like they have to perform in order to be seen as effective.

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5 - Observations - I work my tail off everyday and I feel like it's never good enough.  The expectations are not always realistic and that causes stress overload for me.

5- Extra expectations - The job NEVER ends, but I feel like certain people are expected to just be "on call" 24-7 and give infinite time to the job.  After a while, it wears on you and makes you stressed and quite honestly resentful.