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How to Create a Twitter account for Beginners - Part 1

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A few weeks ago, I was sitting at home on a gorgeous Carolina blue day. It was spring break-and I was in burnout recovery mode.

I felt it consciously, deeply. This year has been oh-so-tough, for myriad reasons.

I also found myself wondering: Is burnout contagious in schools? Because it certainly seems pervasive. As we head into summer, I know my colleagues are feeling the strain of testing and staying motivated for themselves and their students. I'm far, far from being alone.

Let's take a closer look at this phenomenon that every teacher suffers-and rethink how we approach burnout.

What Is Burnout?

Teaching is one of the most visceral jobs I've ever experienced. It's emotionally, physically, and mentally consuming. I often find myself worried about how to reach every student, or wracked with guilt because I've let my work/life balance shift in favor of work.

I know what needs to be done to be successful, but there is simply too much to do. Still, I keep clawing my way back. Because in teaching, you can never do enough.

But that kind of constant, intracranial hammering is not sustainable. In order to address it, we have to define what burnout looks like. Then we can attack it.

Recognize these signs?

Exhaustion. This is a fatigue so deep that there's no way to "turn it off," no matter how badly you want to. It's deep in your bones. The kind of tired where you just want to ooze into your bed and disconnect from life.

Extreme graveness. Realizing you go hours without smiling or laughing, or days without a belly laugh.

Anxiety. The constant, nagging feeling that you can and should do more, while simultaneously realizing you need to unplug and spend more time with your family. But there are so many things to do.

Being overwhelmed. Questioning how they can possibly add one more task, expectation, or mandate to your plate. Compromising your values of excellence just so you can check-off 15 more boxes to stay in compliance. All the while knowing it still won't be enough.

Seeking. Losing your creativity, imagination, patience, and enthusiasm for daily challenges. Craving reflection time and productive collaboration rather than group complaining.

Isolation. Wanting to head for the deepest, darkest cave where no one will see your vulnerability. A place where your limits are unseen and unquestioned and all is quiet.

Emerging Stronger

Burnout has visited me in full force twice this year. It's brought me to the edge of my sanity, wrenched emotions out of me when I felt I could give no more, and sapped energy from the depths of my bones.

But guess what: I'm all right. I'm still here. I'm learning as I go-and learning as I let go. And I'm actually thankful for its visits.

Here are a few lessons I've learned from dealing with burnout in the past few months.

1. Sfumato. One of Leonardo da Vinci's seven essential elements of genius is known as Sfumato, Italian for "smoked," or "going up in smoke." This principle is the ability to embrace uncertainty, the unknown, and the unknowable. In my interpretation, it's also an ability to "let go" of everything that's left undone when you know you've done your best. Embrace Sfumato.

2. Balance. In yoga, those lithe bodies in stretching poses are beautiful to behold-yet the beauty stems from a tension of opposites. In yoga, muscles compromise to support others, meaning that balance is not a matter of symmetry as much as support. That's a lesson we can extend from our internal selves in order to seek out a supportive community.

3. Self. I'm human. It's not selfish to address my own needs or say "no" once in a while. My job, as much as I love it and thrive upon its challenges, is not everything I am. I am more than my job. I need my creative outlets-drawing, nature, reading, writing, and playing-in order to be whole and wholly present for others.

4. Relationships. Friends, family, and faith are critical. Time away from work is best for me to recharge-without distractions of work staring at me from home. Small adventures with my family and friends, exploring new ideas and places, writing notes, and sharing acts of gratitude are things that I need regularly. I'm also learning that asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.

5. Gratitude. Being present and intentional with your days, even for just a few breaths at a time, can give you a survivor's lens for managing the problems at your doorstep. For me, it's about having gratitude for the people in my life. Embracing the questions that underlie my curiosity. Remembering the passions that have driven me to and throughout my job. Holding a clearer vision of what it takes to make and keep me well.

6. Healing. Here's my biggest takeaway. When I lift weights, my muscles undergo tiny tears, with temporary pain-but the subsequent healing leads to stronger muscles. And the next time, I can handle a little bit more.

With these strategies, I've learned to view the challenges of burnout through a new lens and rethink the "gifts" it's brought me.

Burnout has allowed me to emerge in a stronger form-to be more determined and focused on what's most important to me in my relationships and my work. Now I see burnout as a reminder to address the things that my soul needs. And, although I'm far from perfect, I can now teach and lead others through these same feelings from a place of recognition and understanding.

For all of that, dear burnout, I am grateful.

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Six Signs of-and Solutions for-Teacher Burnout

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A few weeks ago, I was sitting at home on a gorgeous Carolina blue day. It was spring break-and I was in burnout recovery mode. I felt it consciously, deeply. This year has been oh-so-tough, for myriad reasons. I also found myself wondering: Is burnout contagious in schools?

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The good news: There's an uptick in the hiring of new teachers since the pink-slip frenzy in the wake of the Great Recession.

The bad news: The new hiring hasn't made up for the teacher shortfall. Attrition is high, and enrollment in teacher preparation programs has fallen some 35 percent over the past five years - a decrease of nearly 240,000 teachers in all.

Parts of most every state in America face troubling teacher shortages: the most frequent shortage areas are math, science, bilingual education and special education.

We've covered many sides of the shortage issue, including the disconnect between training and districts' needs; how the accountability obsession and paperwork are driving some good veteran teachers away; what factors help teachers stick around; as well as efforts to improve training for special-ed teachers to stem that field's attrition and chronic shortage.

Two comprehensive new reports on the issue, from the nonprofit and nonpartisan Learning Policy Institute, offer an opportunity to revisit and dig deeper into a widening problem. You can read the full reports - A Coming Crisis in Teaching? Teacher Supply, Demand, and Shortages in the U.S and Minority Teacher Recruitment, Employment, and Retention: 1987 to 2013 - here. Also, check out the institute's interactive map.

I spoke with the institute's president, Linda Darling-Hammond, professor of education emeritus at Stanford University and co-author of one of the reports.
Whether this is a full-blown "crisis" or just one of many problems in education depends, I guess, on where you sit. The report you co-authored is titled A Coming Crisis in Teaching? High-poverty schools have some of the biggest teacher attrition and shortage challenges. Your report notes that about half of all schools and 90 percent of high-poverty schools are struggling to find enough qualified special education teachers. These shortages are having the biggest impact on the most vulnerable students, aren't they? Do you think the question mark is really needed? Let's talk solutions. You write that teacher attrition and turnover are key factors that have to be addressed if states are going to get out of this crisis. Districts need to focus on retention as much as recruitment. Explain that.
If you're sitting in Utah or Arizona, there's no question mark - you have a crisis in teaching. If you're in better-paying Massachusetts, where there's something of a surplus in some fields, you feel a little less concerned about it. The other aspect of the question mark is about the future. We do certainly have a shortfall of teachers right now, and it looks like it will get much worse. But if we change our policies, we could solve the shortage. The question mark is really a question to us about the policies we'll put in place to address these emerging problems.
I found it troubling that most of the attrition is pre-retirement quitting, a kind of, "I'm out of here." It's not the normal retirement trends of teachers ageing out.
They are. In some places, we see from the data that 1 in 5 teachers in high-minority schools and high-poverty schools is unprepared for teaching. When you think about how dependent on school children are in these communities and what it means for the quality of education they'll receive, it's particularly alarming.

We have a very high attrition rate in the United States: 8 percent of teachers leave every year. That's a couple-hundred-thousand teachers. Less than a third of them are leaving for retirement. If you look at high-performing countries like Finland or Singapore, or go across the border to Ontario, Canada, the attrition rate is usually 3 percent or 4 percent of teachers. If we could reduce our attrition in half to 4 percent - we call it the 4 percent solution - we would actually have no teacher shortages right now. We would have plenty of supply and be able to be much more selective about who we bring into teaching. So it is a big part of the problem and the solution.
To implement the 4 percent solution, focus on pay and working conditions equally? Or one more than the other?
That's exactly right. We actually have a teaching situation right now that is probably as bad as it's been for many, many decades. Teacher salaries have been declining since the 1990s. Teachers are earning about 20 percent less than other college graduates who are similarly educated. Even after you adjust for the difference in the calendar work here, in 30 states a teacher who has a family of four is eligible for several sources of government assistance, including free or reduced-price lunch for their own children in school.

Teacher working conditions are worse than they've been. Most states that cut their budgets because of the recession have not even returned to pre-recession levels of spending, which means books and supplies and materials and computers are in short supply. Class sizes are larger than they used to be. Then we have more and more children in poverty, more and more children who are homeless, so in highly impacted communities, the needs that teachers have to be responsive to on behalf of the children are also very, very taxing.
Speaking of teacher preparation programs, President Obama's long- promised overhaul of teacher-prep programs never got off the ground. This report seems to underscore the absolute importance of revisiting that stalled reform effort, no?
Well, you know, the people who go into teaching tend not to go in it for the money per se. They generally want to do good work on behalf of children, but you do have to get salaries in the lowest-spending states up to something that's at least reasonable to support a middle-class existence. There are high-spending states, mostly in New England and a few other places where salaries are reasonable, but other states do have to worry about it. Working conditions, however, are even more important for keeping people in once they've made the choice to teach. They both matter, but I would say that working conditions are equally important.
The reports make clear that minority teachers have some of the highest attrition rates. What can be done to keep minority teachers in the classroom longer? They write that one of their biggest problems is lack of autonomy in the classroom, lack of input in decision-making. That seems to get down to management, right?
Preparation and mentoring matter a lot. Teachers who are well-prepared leave at more than two times lower rates than teachers who are not fully prepared. One of the things we often do in shortages is bring in people who haven't prepared to teach. Then we exacerbate the problem because they leave at two to three times the rate. The same thing is true with mentoring. If we could prepare teachers well, mentor them when they come in and give them decent working conditions, we would be very close to the 4 percent solution.

Absolutely. We need to make some investments in teacher preparation. Obama made a promise when he ran in 2008. He said, "If you will teach, we will pay for your education." That didn't happen, but if we were to reboot that promise and actually ensure that people who choose this noble profession do not come into it with college debt, that would also make a huge difference in the conditions of teaching and supply.
What are some concrete ways in which school districts can work on working conditions to make teachers stick around longer?
Yes. A lot of these problems do get down to management. If you look at the reasons that minority teachers leave, the first reason is lack of administrative support. The second one is concerns about the way accountability pressures in the No Child Left Behind era created pressure to teach to the test, lots of sanctions and the loss of autonomy in the classroom because quite often in central-city schools, where minority teachers are concentrated, they were moved to a scripted, teacher-proof curriculum, geared to test preparation, which is not what people go into teaching for.

They go into teaching to engage students, to excite them about learning, to create exciting classrooms. I think there's both the support that teachers need to be enabled to teach, which administrators are a key part of providing, along with the investments in their teaching conditions. Then there's the opportunity to teach freely and creatively in ways that are exciting and work for children.
Talk a little bit more about that. Should more be done to strengthen principal training or support, and what might that look like?
Of course teachers need materials that are necessary to teach. You know, the books and computers and that kind of thing. So clearly that's a first level of need. But beyond that, teachers always talk about how they want to be able to collaborate with their colleagues. They want to be in a collegial environment. They want to be clear that they're supported in their efforts. That there's moral support and the opportunity to continue to learn and be more effective, which is how teachers get their satisfaction - by meeting the needs of students in ways that allow them to see that learning.

That really means we need great principals. We need principals who know how to create learning environments for teachers as well as kids that are collegial and focused on everyone pulling together in a common direction. We do very little in this country to prepare principals.
Could be called Ed Point.
We do need to do more to support principal training and recruitment. We want to recruit into these jobs the very best teachers who are dynamic leaders as well and then help them learn the management skills that they need to succeed. There are some places that have done good work in this regard. North Carolina has a Principal Fellows Program that allows the recruitment of dynamic people and then underwrites their training. They get to train under the wing of an expert principal in an internship while they're also taking course work. That's produced a lot of great leadership in that state.
Yeah. Steal it, please. It's interesting, as a reporter, the most interesting, innovative and, I think, most successful classrooms I've visited are places where teachers feel they have a good measure of autonomy, are supported, and the schools invest in professional development. Your thoughts?

We need a real coherent approach, both in the states and with federal support, to be sure that our schools are well-led. I'd love to see us get a sort of a West Point for leadership in education the way we have the training for leaders in the military, who get the best access to state-of-the-art opportunities to learn these very difficult skills. That would make a huge difference in the quality of our schools, particularly in the highest-need communities.

I like that. I might borrow this from you, if you don't mind.

That is the special sauce right there. Teachers want to work together and collaborate, but then they have to adapt whatever they figure out to their needs of their own classroom. They want to be creative, and they need that opportunity to continue to learn and be supported by the leadership in the school. That's what makes people who want to produce learning happy. They are learners themselves. That's why people go into the profession. If you can get that secret sauce, you've got a lot of the juice you need for that 4 percent solution.

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Frustration. Burnout. Attrition. It's Time To Address The National Teacher Shortage

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The good news: There's an uptick in the hiring of new teachers since the pink-slip frenzy in the wake of the Great Recession. The bad news: The new hiring hasn't made up for the teacher shortfall. Attrition is high, and enrollment in teacher preparation programs has fallen some 35 percent over the past five years - a decrease of nearly 240,000 teachers in all.

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We all experience stress at work, no matter the job. But for teachers, the work seems to be getting harder and the stress harder to shake.

A new report out this month pulls together some stark numbers on this:

Forty-six percent of teachers say they feel high daily stress. That's on par with nurses and physicians. And roughly half of teachers agree with this statement: "The stress and disappointments involved in teaching at this school aren't really worth it."

It's a problem for all of us - not just these unhappy teachers.

Here's why: "Between 30 and 40 percent of teachers leave the profession in their first five years," says Mark Greenberg, a professor of human development and psychology at Penn State.

And that turnover, he says, costs schools - and taxpayers - billions of dollars a year, while research (like this and this) suggests teacher burnout hurts student achievement, too.

Greenberg has studied America's schools for more than 40 years, and, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (also an NPR funder), he helped author the new brief exploring teacher stress.

He says teachers feel frazzled for many reasons, including high-stakes testing and the fact that many students are themselves coming to school stressed. As for the fixes, Greenberg recommends a few.

New teachers who receive steady mentoring are less likely to quit. Workplace wellness programs can also help. But both require schoolwide, even districtwide buy-in. If that's not realistic, Greenberg suggests a fix that is well within every teacher's control, one that just might surprise you ...
Mindfulness
That's right, mindfulness. For teachers. Patricia Jennings wrote the book on it (literally). It's called Mindfulness For Teachers.

Jennings was a teacher herself for two decades and now studies stress in the classroom as a professor and researcher at the University of Virginia. The Journal of Educational Psychology will soon publish a study of her work in New York City, teaching mindfulness to more than 200 educators in high-poverty schools.

Jennings says the teachers who received mindfulness training "showed reduced psychological distress and time urgency - which is this feeling like you don't have enough time. And then improvements in mindfulness and emotion regulation."

Translation: These teachers were better able to cope with classroom challenges and manage their feelings, which made it easier for them to manage their students' big feelings. And that, says Jennings, helps students learn.

What is mindfulness? Definitions vary, but Jennings likes to think of it this way: attending to things in the moment with curiosity and acceptance.

If this all sounds a bit ... squishy, rest assured, there's even research on how mindfulness can help reduce stress in U.S. Marines preparing for deployment.

Meria Carstarphen is not a teacher but knows a thing or two about classroom stress. She has run a couple of big city school systems and is now superintendent in Atlanta. Carstarphen says she advises new teachers: You can't take care of your students if you don't take care of yourself.

"Put your oxygen mask on first," she tells her rookies. "Then we'll talk about everybody else."

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Teachers Are Stressed, And That Should Stress Us All

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When educators are buried under problems beyond their control, here's a solution: Get mindful.

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Sleep is extremely important to the well-being of teenagers - but they're not getting enough. According to a 2016 study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 69 percent of high school students are getting less than eight hours of sleep on an average school night. Sub-optimal sleep for teenagers has been linked to academic inhibitors (e.g., attention and retention issues), mental health problems (e.g., increased risk of depression), and physical challenges (e.g., teens with less sleep are more likely to be overweight.)

Unfortunately, individual educators can't do much to make sure their students sleep enough at night, although districts across the country have been devising new policies - including later start times, even nap clubs - to bring schools more in sync with teen sleep patterns.

What we can do is pay attention to our own sleep lives. This, it turns out, is something teachers tend to be bad at - especially early career educators. Too often, in an effort to "get it all done," teachers stay up late and wake up early, operating on increasingly worsening sleep deficits and calling it a strong work ethic.

I was in this camp myself, until recently when I began doing a bit of research into the importance of sleep to a long, successful, and fulfilling teaching career.

Here are a few important things I discovered about sleep - and a couple of suggestions on getting more of it.

Consistency is Sleep's Friend

The key to higher-quality, REM-filled sleep is a consistent schedule. Regular exercise helps us sleep better, as does a regular meal time and a regular bed time. In fact, one study suggests that sleep variability (i.e., going to bed at inconsistent times) is one of the most important factors in how well people sleep. It's better then to go to bed at the same time each night rather than going to bed early tonight to "catch up" from a last night's paper-grading marathon. Regular sleep schedules even predict better moods.

To improve at this, we can look at what time we would have to go to bed if we were going to aim at getting seven hours of sleep per night. This becomes our hard and fast bedtime, and paper-grading (which is best done in sprints versus marathons) gets scheduled either before that time or seven hours after it.

Good Sleep is a Fragile Creature

Sleep can be thrown off by all kinds of close-to-bedtime substance consumption, including some you might expect - like caffeine and nicotine - and some that may surprise you, like alcohol. I used to think a glass of wine right before bed wasn't a bad idea but, as it turns out, it is. Apparently you fall asleep quicker with alcohol, but your sleep isn't as deep as it could be otherwise. According to Shawn Stevenson's Sleep Smarter, deeper levels of sleep are "significantly disrupted" by alcohol being in your system," and this makes it so that your body can't "fully rejuvenate."

Getting Enough Sleep Increases Speed and Reduces Errors

If you're like I was for the first five years of my career, you might be reading this and thinking something like, "Well, I don't get enough sleep, and I'm still performing well." Consider this: According to a physician study cited in Stevenson's book, sleep-deprived individuals took 14 percent longer to complete an assigned task. They also committed 20 percent more errors than their well-rested counterparts.

So here's a question: Even if you think you're doing ok even on inadequate amounts of sleep, does that mean you couldn't be performing with greater speed and accuracy if you were sleeping enough?

You Actually Figure Stuff Out While You Sleep

A 2015 New Yorker article, Maria Konnikova's "The Work We Do While We Sleep" , cited a bizarre study that found that our brains "think" when we sleep. Researchers assigned a complex math task to a small group of people. Konnikova describes what happened next:
Though the subjects didn't know it, there was a simpler way of solving the problem-an abstract rule that would enable a quick solution. Few of the subjects spontaneously figured out the solution the first time. Each participant was retested on the task eight hours later; some were allowed to sleep and others had to remain awake. Just under a quarter of the group that took a sleepless break came up with the faster solution. But the insight rate more than doubled among the subjects who had spent the eight hours sleeping: sixty per cent of them could now see the shortcut.
In other words, our brains are actually working while we sleep. So maybe that solution to the classroom management conundrum you've been wrestling with or the curriculum knot you've been trying to untie is waiting for you in your sleep.

You Can't Handle the Light

Melatonin - the substance our body releases when our circadian rhythms say that it's time for bed - make us feel sleepy, but it also does things like normalize our blood pressure, improving our immune systems functions, and improving insulin sensitivity and weight reduction.

Here's the thing, though: exposure to light - especially the blue kind emitted during the daytime and from every electronics screen in the universe - interrupts the body's release of melatonin. Your eyeballs have certain photoreceptors that detect changes in light (these receptors even work in blind people); even our skin has light-sensing abilities.

So, chill on the screens. According to research, screen time needs to end at least an hour before bed.

A Saner Work Schedule: Not All Tasks Are Created Equal

While these were some specific insight I gained about sleep, the reason I began trying to change my sleeping habits was because of the overarching story in all of these facts: sleep makes us more likely to succeed at teaching and more likely to enjoy each day. When something does both of those things - improves our outcomes in the future and our quality of life today -we're foolish to ignore it.

So, if you're an educator who neglects sleep, try out a self-experiment for a few weeks to see how you might be more successful with consistent sleep.

For example, start thinking about a schedule you can use to force you into greater efficiency, effectiveness, and sanity as a teacher. Lay out a teacher work schedule - an actual plan of what specific time slots in a week you'll budget for teaching-related work.

It's helpful to get this all on paper, determining first what hours of the day you'll sleep, and then what hours you'll give to non-teaching priorities (e.g., family, exercise, doing the laundry, mental sanity time), and then the hours you have left and divvying up your work-related responsibilities within them. By the end of this process, you'll have built a schedule that prioritizes sleep and forces teaching work to fit into the finite time slots you actually have (versus those that you wish you had) - and help make you a better teacher (and your students better students) in the long run. (You can read more about setting a better work schedule on my blog.)
Dave Stuart, Jr. is a high school teacher in Cedar Springs, Michigan

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Not Getting Enough Sleep? Tired Teachers Aren't Usually the Best Teachers

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Sleep is extremely important to the well-being of teenagers - but they're not getting enough. According to a 2016 study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 69 percent of high school students are getting less than eight hours of sleep on an average school night.

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Last week, my students and I were out of the building on a field experience. As our speaker wrapped up, he called on one final student who had his hand-raised. The student said, "I'd like to acknowledge you for taking the time to talk to us today and for answering all our questions."

Acknowledgments are a regular practice at Gamble, and I typically ask students to provide acknowledgments for our hosts at the conclusion of our field experiences. This time, I had forgotten. But Peter had not.

When Carissa, who was sitting next to me, heard Peter's unprompted acknowledgment, she turned to me, smiling, and whispered, "That means you're doing your job right, you know."

She didn't know it, but her statement was akin to throwing me a lifeline. You see, it was just two days before spring break, and I was running from the specter of teacher burnout and losing ground fast. It was a race to the finish to see which would break first - the school year, or me.

Burnout is defined as "exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration." (Mirriam-Webster)

Teacher burnout is described in many ways, but I found this list of warning signs to be particularly helpful.[1]

Exhaustion - a fatigue so deep that there's no way to "turn it off"

Extreme graveness -Realizing you go hours without smiling or laughing

Anxiety - The constant, nagging feeling that you can and should do more

Being overwhelmed - Questioning how you can possibly add one more task, expectation, or mandate to your plate

Seeking -Losing your creativity, imagination, patience, and enthusiasm

Isolation -Wanting to head for the deepest, darkest cave where no one will see your vulnerability

The stress and exhaustion of teaching is well documented. A recent Gallup poll indicates that 46% of teachers experience high levels of daily stress. This is on par with nurses, and tops the list of surveyed occupations.[2]

Another indicator of stress and exhaustion is the statistic that 43% of teachers sleep an average of six or fewer hours a night.[3] It's little wonder then that "sleep" was the number one response my colleagues provided in answer to the question, "What are you most looking forward to about spring break?"

This continual stress and exhaustion leads to burnout, but teacher burnout is more than just a problem for individual teachers and schools. It is so pervasive that it has profound impacts on the profession as a whole.

NPR cites the following concerning statistics: [4]

8% of teachers leave the field each year; only one-third of this attrition is due to retirement

50% of the teaching profession turns over every 7 years

40-50% of teachers leave the profession within the first five years.

Enrollment in teacher-training programs has fallen 35% in the past five years; a loss of 240,000 teachers

What exactly is it that causes such high levels of stress in teaching? Those who are not in the field of education are often stymied by this. "Seven hour school days and all major holidays and summers off," they reason. "What's so stressful about that?"

However, the difference between the working hours obligated by the contract (as described above) and the fulfillment of the contractual requirements of the job (as described below) is profound. I used to count my work hours each week, but after spending a year consistently tallying 65-70 hour weeks, I stopped counting. It was too overwhelming. And I'm not different from any of my colleagues. All of us work a tremendous number of hours beyond our contractual obligation. Some of this is expected. No one goes into teaching actually believing that the work will be contained within school hours, but how does a contracted thirty-five hour week balloon into seventy hours of work?

Let's begin with the school day. For me, five of the seven hours each day are spent actively teaching. I am fortunate to have two "planning bells" each day; however one of these is used every day for different variations of team meetings, and the other one is almost always consumed by parent conferences or other meetings. On average, I have one bell (50 minutes) a week that I can actually use to plan.

During my half hour lunch, I open my classroom to students who need help with their work, or who are just seeking a calmer and quieter option than the cafeteria. I eat and work. Sometimes I forget to eat.

I have meetings after school every day with the exception of Fridays, and the third Thursday of the month. These meetings run for 60-90 minutes. Sometimes I have back-to-back after-school meetings.

All of the remaining requirements of teaching must occur outside of the time already listed above. These requirements include:

Designing curriculum

Writing lesson plans

Creating materials

Preparing the classroom

Grading student work

Entering grades

Discipline logging

Making parent phone calls

Completing paperwork (SLOs, IEPs, ETRs, 504s, WEPs, 90 Day Plans, ... )

Copying

Stapling

Hole punching ...

My friends in business can't understand. They ask me why I don't just delegate some of this work. "Delegate?!" I laugh. "To whom??" Teachers are at the bottom of food chain; most of us have no one to whom to delegate. (I am fortunate to have a paraprofessional on my team; however she is shared by seven teachers, so her time is spread very thin.)

There are additional stressors beyond those of limited time as well. Some commonly cited external factors are:[5]

Lack of resources

Low pay

Test score pressure

Changing assessments and expectations

Lack of parental involvement

Ever-increasing paperwork requirements

It's not a mystery why fewer and fewer college graduates are choosing to become teachers. Those who do choose to enter the field of education join dedicated veteran teachers in seeing teaching as more than just a job. For most, teaching is a calling or a purpose.

Anything that is seen not just as a profession, but as a vocation, a mission, a passion, and a purpose requires an internal fire to fuel it. And all fires run the risk of being extinguished.

There is precious little fire-feeding oxygen left in American education, and this is showing up in extraordinarily high rates of burnout and teacher turnover.

So what can we do about it?

When I turned to the internet for answers, I was startled by what I found. There was certainly no dearth of advice, but all of it placed the responsibility for solving burnout on the struggling teacher herself, - "Teacher, heal thyself!"
"5 Ways to Prevent Teacher Burnout" "6 Signs of, and Solutions for, Teacher Burnout" "7 Self-Care Strategies" "10 Steps to Avoiding Teacher Burnout"
And my personal favorite ...

" 25 Tips to Reduce Teacher Burnout"

Because that's just what a stressed-out and overwhelmed teacher needs - 25 more things to add to her to-do list. Number 2 on that list, by the way, is "Smile."

The message that these types of articles are sending is that burnout is a failure of the teacher to properly take care of herself.

I would be remiss if I failed to note that each of the suggestions on all of those lists are good ways to encourage people to take care of themselves, and they place the locus of control with the teacher, which is empowering. My issue, however, is two-fold: these articles attempt to treat the symptoms and not the problem, and they ask the teacher whose internal fire is dying to re-kindle her own flame, when she is likely the person least able to do this.

Let's start with the problem. I am often told that I "shouldn't work so hard." That's a nice platitude, but I find it profoundly frustrating because when I ask which part of my job requirements I should fail to complete, or complete with marginal quality, in order to save myself some time, I never get an answer.

I often say that the greatest challenge of teaching should be educating the students in our classrooms. That's a hard job all by itself for a wide-variety of reasons. When it is made harder by policies, inefficiencies, and bureaucracy, we have done everyone involved a grave disservice. I have previously written about the seemingly insurmountable challenges placed on teachers by educational legislation here and here.

A friend of mine who has studied organizational management had this to say regarding teacher burnout, "I think with what we are asking of teachers the question is, 'How could teachers not be burned out, and how can all of us (administrators, community members, school boards) help to combat this?'"

And that's just it. If education is important to our society, then teachers must be deemed important as well, and all of us must help to solve the societal problem of teacher burnout. Our children need good teachers, and good teachers work very hard. Keeping them in the profession is a shared responsibility.

Some action steps:

Vote for school levies, even if you don't have a child in school - resources, especially as related to staffing (the greatest single expense), are key.

Speak out against the school reform madness - especially if you are a parent in an affluent school district.

Don't participate in teacher or school bashing, or allow others to do the same - the vast majority of parents are happy with their child's teacher and school. The narrative that America has a preponderance of bad teachers and bad schools is simply not upheld by data.

Demand that your local school board set decent wages for teachers, and that they provide appropriate cost of living increases.

Support your child's teacher - give the benefit of the doubt, encourage your child to develop independence, and nurture his or her self-advocacy skills before getting involved in potential school conflicts (see The Gift of Failure)

Acknowledge teachers for the positive work that they do - better yet share these acknowledgments with administrators. Parents with complaints readily share their concerns with administration; positive comments should be shared as well.

Don't tell a teacher to "take time for herself - sleep, exercise, meditate, invite a friend for lunch, smile" unless you're willing to help take something off her plate that allows her to do that.

If you know a teacher, ask how you can help - anyone can cut, collate, staple, hole punch.

Say thank you - again and again and again. This is why we do what we do.

I remain hopeful that those things can make a difference, but I don't have much faith that the epidemic of teacher burnout will change soon. The anti-education "school reform" movement is powerful. It will take time to weaken its death grip on the throat of public schools.

But in the interim, all is not lost. Who better to support burning out teachers than those who know the industry the best - teachers. We are all on fire, but we burn with different levels of brightness at different times. We can each use our spark to help kindle the dwindling embers of another's fire. A wise teacher I know said, "When we become a true community of educators in our building and in larger society, I find that I am not the island."

Catherine McTamaney writes about this same thing in her book, A Delicate Task. "Teaching is hard. [We] are asked to give up so much of ourselves, to make ourselves humble and lowly before the child, to be servants, to be scientists, to be saints ... but there are others on the path with us. We can lean on each other. We can walk in each other's footsteps. Sometimes we're at the front of the path. Sometimes we're following another traveler. Sometimes we're resting ... Sometimes we're so far ahead or behind that we can't even see each other anymore. But we're not alone. We are each other's navigational stars."[6]

To be "each other's navigational stars," we have to be connected to one another, and we have to pay attention to one another. While I believe that all teachers can help each other to combat burnout, my interpretation is that this work should fall most heavily on veteran teachers, mentor teachers, building leadership, and administration.

In supporting each other, we must not simply be content to provide inspiration. We must work to create environments that make teaching easier without sacrificing the best interests of our students. Here are some of the in-building supports that teachers say help them to be more resilient.

Leadership that is supportive and non-punitive

Having someone willing to slow down and listen when they have a concern

The provision of more time to allow for planning and collaboration

Work that is equitably shared by everyone

Meeting time spent to facilitate efficiency and effectiveness in the classroom, not to create additional work

Good communication

Consistent expectations

Follow-through: being able to trust that what was agreed upon will occur

Celebration of successes

Acknowledgment of good work

In my role as team leader, I've recently initiated a process to try and help with some of this. For each of the last two quarters, I've met one-on-one with every member of my team. To prepare for our meetings I've asked them to consider their responses to four questions.

What are three things you want to brag about from this quarter?

What is your current burning issue?

How can I help?

What I can do to be more effective in my role as team leader?

We've had some rich conversations, and I've gotten to know each of them better, but my great hope is that I've helped them to see the value in what they do, and to examine how they can keep improving.

The hardest question is always "What are three things you want to brag about?" At just about every conference, I hear, "I can't think of three." My response? "Yes, you can. Think harder." And they do.

Asking them to identify a burning issue is the same thing as saying, "What do you most want to improve?" - except somehow it feels more approachable.

" How can I help? " is my favorite of the four questions. I've learned that it is much more powerful than its more common counterpart, "Let me know if I can help." The latter provides an option to decline by omission; the former does not. If I ask about a burning issue and then don't seek ways to help, I am essentially saying, "I see you struggling. Best of luck to you!"

The final question is purely selfish. I simply want to know how to get better at what I do.

I have only just begun this process, so I cannot say how effective it will prove to be in the long run, but I've gotten short-term positive feedback. Recently, I offered the opportunity to correspond via email if scheduling meetings took too much precious time. In response to this, one of my colleagues said, "Oh no. I wouldn't want to give up the deliciousness of that meeting with you." While I can't say whether or not our meeting was "delicious," we did have a powerful dialogue.

No single strategy will suffice to fix the great challenges and stressors in education. Teachers must remember, sometimes through the fog and the haze of exhaustion, that it's really all about the students. The students are the most powerful motivators and sustainers of all. I, like many teachers, keep a file full of notes like this one.

We must remind ourselves, and each other, every day if necessary, that the work we do matters.

As Carissa said, "That means you're doing your job right, you know."

Hold on to those lifelines. Write them down. Remember them, and help each other to see them. Keep those fires burning.

[1] Pillars, Wendi. "Six Signs Of-and Solutions For-Teacher Burnout." Education Week Teacher. N.p., 29 Apr. 2016. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

[2] Turner, Cory. "Teachers Are Stressed, And That Should Stress Us All." NPR. NPR, 30 Dec. 2016. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

[3] Stuart, Dave, Jr. "Not Getting Enough Sleep? Tired Teachers Aren't Usually the Best Teachers." NEA Today. National Education Association, 21 Feb. 2017. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.

[4] Westervelt, Eric. "Frustration. Burnout. Attrition. It's Time To Address The National Teacher Shortage." NPR. NPR, 15 Sept. 2016. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

[5] "Surviving Teacher Burnout." NEA Today. N.p., 01 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

[6] Edd, Catherine Mctamaney. Delicate Task: Teaching and Learning on a Montessori Path. Place of Publication Not Identified: IUniverse Com, 2012. Print. p.xv.

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Last week, my students and I were out of the building on a field experience. As our speaker wrapped up, he called on one final student who had his hand-raised. The student said, "I'd like to acknowledge you for taking the time to talk to us today and for answering all our questions."

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Feel free to watch the video and then scroll down to take the quiz.

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Teaching is a profession filled with some of the most caring and giving people in the world. Teachers willingly take on a number of roles and devote themselves wholeheartedly to our children and our future.
We owe our teachers a great deal.
The rewards of teaching are immeasurable, but often it is not without sacrifice. Teachers face increasing pressures at all levels.

Founded by Dr. Tiffany Carr, an experienced teacher and leader in education, Joy in Teaching serves as a beacon of light to teachers and administrators who seek to build resiliency and invest in teacher retention in our schools.

Joy in Teaching examines what a life in education means and offers actionable and inspirational resources, as well as a variety professional development and consulting services.

Dr. Tiffany Carr, Founder of Joy in Teaching

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Teaching is a profession filled with some of the most caring and giving people in the world. Teachers willingly take on a number of roles and devote themselves wholeheartedly to our children and our future. We owe our teachers a great deal. The rewards of teaching are immeasurable, but often it is not without sacrifice.

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Choose your #1 tip from your list and TWEET it out! Share your tip and use the hashtag #W4edburnouttips. Retweet 3 other tips that jive with you and comment on 3 tips that mirror your own beliefs.

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Based on all of our activities today and this padlet....Write a list of tips PERSONALIZED to you and your situation that will help you prevent your own burnout. Keep in mind the roles you play and the needs you see emerging in order to create more balance in your life. Jazz up your list and be prepared to share it with another learner.

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TEDxPhiladelphiaED - Adam Grant - "Always Wear Dark Suits"

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Adam Grant is a tenured Wharton management professor (PhD, University of Michigan; BA, Harvard University). He has received several dozen prestigious teaching excellence and distinguished scholarly contribution awards, studied organizations such as Google, Teach For America, and the U.S. Air Force; and was an All-American diver, advertising director, and magician.

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I'm a planner by nature. I love planning ahead, thinking through details, and fine-tuning the future. I realize not everyone shares my love of to-do lists and preparation (thank goodness), so I've put together a list of what I do each weekend, usually on Sunday, to "reset" for the week ahead.

I have to tell you...these simple things truly set me up for a successful week. My mind isn't cluttered with a million different things that I need to get done each morning before work or evening after work, which puts me at ease. There's a peace in knowing things are taken care of! So here's what I recommend:

1. Wash your sheets & make your bed

Even if you don't care to make your bed each morning, take the time to wash your sheets on the weekend and return them to your bed, fresh and clean. It's amazing how wonderful it feels to climb into a fresh, made bed on Sunday night! Plus, it's a great reminder to slough off the junk from the previous week, and start fresh in the week to come. (If you want extra delicious smelling sheets, try using this. I'm a h-u-u-u-g-e fan!)

2. Do all your laundry & choose outfits for the entire week

I've been choosing my outfit the night before for many years now...and even though it takes just a few minutes in the evening to choose an outfit, it really saves me a groggy, sleepy headache in the morning of worrying about putting together a cute, professional look. Even better than choosing an outfit each night before bed is choosing a myriad of outfit choices on the weekend, hanging them with their jewelry, and choosing one each morning of the week.

I like to pick out and hang up more than five choices on the weekend because some mornings I'm feeling one way, and others I feel differently. I still have choices...just not too many. A whole closet is overwhelming in the morning, but nine or ten outfits on hangers is totally do-able. (Any leftover outfits are just carried on to the next week!)

Another bonus? I make sure to work my entire wardrobe, instead of sticking with my few comfortable go-to outfits.

3. Pick out gym clothes (or other specific outfits) for the entire week and pack them all

Just like with my work wardrobe, I pick out my gym outfit for each day of the week and pack them all in my gym bag. You may ask why I wouldn't just leave the outfits stacked in my closet and reload my gym bag with a new one each evening? Well, because I'm lazy and this is easier. By throwing all the week's outfits into my bag, all I have to do is put the bag in my car on Monday morning and grab it when I go to the gym each evening after work. After I work out, I carry my dirty clothes into my apartment and put them in the hamper. The next day, the same thing. No guesswork. No "oh but I didn't bring any work out clothes, so I can't go to the gym today" excuses either...I know myself too well for that!

By the way, this is my gym bag ( view other colors here), that I absolutely LOVE. It has a water bottle pocket, a pocket for shoes that's only accessible from the outside (eliminating the scare of dirty gym shoes touching clean clothes), a velvet-lined jewelry pouch sewn in, a cell phone holder, a place for socks and undies, and an easy-access outside pocket to stash my keys and wallet. So in love, and it wasn't even pricey ($25). If you're interested, you can buy it on Amazon here! This is where my gym outfits live all week until they're worn!

4. Prepare breakfast and lunch for Monday (or the entire week)

I find cooking and preparing food very relaxing and peaceful, so I enjoy putting together a breakfast and lunch for the next day each evening. However, if you don't particularly enjoy packing breakfast and lunch, it would make sense for you to prepare the week's worth of meals on the weekend. Some dishes can't be prepared too far in advance, but you can make up some items, like grilled chicken or pasta, and they'll easily stay fresh all week.

For tomorrow's breakfast, I've set up the ingredients for a smoothie (which I'll blend with my favorite new kitchen tool!), and packed an oatmeal pouch in my work bag. For lunch, a container of the garbanzo bean and vegetable soup I made this afternoon. Make it easy for yourself, you'll thank me you!

5. Empty all your trashcans

Like changing your sheets, emptying your trashcans is an excellent way to do away with the past week and reset for the week ahead. Plus, clean, empty trashcans at the beginning of your week won't leave you with the added stress of needing to take out the garbage before or after work. "But that's not very stressful, Blair," you may say. True-but eliminating many little stressers adds up to a big weight off your shoulders as you begin your week! Try it, you'll see! 🙂

6. Wipe down your bathroom & kitchen, and tidy up the rest of your home

No one wants to spend their entire weekend cleaning, but who says you have to? Take five minutes and wipe down your counters in the bathroom(s) and kitchen (preferably with this perfectly delicious smelling spray), return items to their proper homes, wash towels and dish cloths, and run the dishwasher before you go to bed on Sunday night. I don't care who you are-there's something wonderful about waking up to a clean home.

Don't forget to tidy up the rest of your home as well. Return shoes to their respective closets, file or recycle paperwork, hang your purse on the rack..."reset" your home.

7. Check your calendar & create a fresh to-do list

One of the last things I do before I get my Sunday night Zzz's is check my calendar (I use this large one, it's great!) for the week and craft a relevant to-do list. This typically includes anything from items to purchase at the grocery store, to people I should call and catch up with, to bills that need to be paid, to blog posts I'd like to write, to things I want to do, to goals for the next seven days. Writing down what I need to get done clears my head of the madness and truly helps me to refocus for the week ahead.

8. Restock your refrigerator and pantry

A post about how I organize my refrigerator is coming soon (spoiler alert: it involves bins and a label maker!). Anyway, make sure to take a trip to the grocery store over the weekend to restock your kitchen-both the fridge and the pantry. There's nothing worse than coming home from work to find that you have absolutely nothing to eat! We both know that nothing to eat at home usually means McDonald's or another unhealthy choice to fill in the gap.

Instead, carve out time and hoof it to the grocery store. I hate grocery shopping when it's chaotic and crowded, so I like to go early or late on Saturday or Sunday. I've also been known to grab my grub late Friday night! Hey, whatever works for you!

9. Think of the little things

Pictured above is a tiny plastic case that I fill with my daily vitamins (which are B12, Biotin, Femaprin, Evening Primrose Oil, HTP-5, and daily multivitamin chews) every night and pack in my work bag for the morning. Because I eat breakfast while I answer emails at work, I like to take my vitamins with me as they should be taken on a full stomach.

The point? Think of the little details that you will probably forget in the morning. If you always forget to feed the fish, put the fish food on the counter. If you can't remember to water the plants, fill the watering can (I use my tea kettle) up the night before. If you're always forgetting an umbrella, pack it on Sunday. If you enjoy having a cup of coffee in the morning, but can never seem to get up early enough to brew one, set your automatic coffee machine the night of ( I use this one and love it).

Think through your morning. At first, it may seem tedious. But I've been doing it for so long that it's second nature. It only takes me 10 or 15 minutes to prepare for the next day, but that short amount of time gives me lots of extra time in the morning, which is priceless!

That's what I do each weekend to reset and prepare for the week ahead. It's become such a habit that I don't even think about what I'm going to do on Sundays-I already know. Each Sunday, I sleep in, head off to church, come home and prepare lunch, and spend the afternoon preparing for the week ahead. The evening is mine to catch up with friends, blog, bake, or watch a favorite movie. It's a beautiful thing!

What do you do on the weekends to prepare for the week ahead?

When I originally posted this, I accidentally pinned it using the image below, with the number 12! I can't delete it for fear or breaking lots of Pinterest links, so here it stays 🙂

*contains affiliate links

This post has been shared on Party Wave Wednesday & Thank Your Body Thursday.
This is a repost. It was originally published in September of 2013.

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9 Things You Should Do Every Weekend To RESET for a Fresh, Smooth Week - Blair Blogs

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I'm a planner by nature. I love planning ahead, thinking through details, and fine-tuning the future. I realize not everyone shares my love of to-do lists and preparation (thank goodness), so I've put together a list of what I do each weekend, usually on Sunday, to "reset" for the week ahead.

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Teacher burnout is becoming more and more common. With higher expectations, less support, and increased demands it is hard to find a balance between being an amazing teacher and an amazing wife/mother/friend/human-being.

I am no expert on this, in fact my new year's resolution was to find more balance! But, I have found a few tips that have helped me work towards that balance this year.

1. Tackle your least-favourite teacher-job on your prep. For me, it is marking. I try to mark everything I can at school either on a prep, at recess or before/after school. Getting that job done at school makes it seem less like it is 'invading' on my home life because I'm not doing it at home. I don't mind bringing home some planning, laminating to cut or other jobs because I kinda of enjoy those (at least more than marking!). So getting that done 'on the clock' makes me less frustrated with the jobs I do 'off the clock'

2. Don't bring it all home. There is nothing more daunting than the two tote bags filled with marking, prep work, paperwork, grading binders, etc found in the backseat of a teacher's car on Friday night. More often than not, I end up taking it all back to school Monday, untouched. Then I feel frustrated Monday morning walking back in with all the things I didn't do. Bring home the urgent and important things you need, and bring a manageable amount to do on a weekend. You need your 'recovery time' on weekends too!

3. Share your planning. My team usually meets Thursday or Friday after school to plan the next week out. We divide up the stuff that needs to be done so we each have less work to complete. We usually have starbucks or candy or something to make the planning more fun and we each choose the activities to create/find/prep/plan that we enjoy. This way, we each play to our strengths and save tons of time. Bonus- our classes run in three very similar ways which makes for happy parents and happy kids!

4. Decrease your marking. Have kids take up small, practice quizzes. Eyeball it and give it a check mark and a sticker. Do oral conferences (which are FABULOUS anyways) and otehr activities that allow you to get a handle on how your kids are doing without the mounds and mounds of paper. Select only the most important pieces to actually 'mark'.

5. Have an 'emergency' sanity saver. We all get stressed at some point. Whether it was a parent email that caught you off guard, the copier being jammed just when you NEEDED 20 copies of 'this' activity for next period, or something going on at home. Especially with a challenging class, you need a 'sanity saver'. Something the students can do for 10 minutes or so while you gather your self. You can't possibly begin to teach these 20 little people if your mind is going 100mph in another direction. For me, it is the almighty "tumblebook". Online stories, with animated pictures and the words highlighted as it reads. I pop one of those puppies on the smartboard and the kids are super engaged, learning important literacy skills and fluency, I dim the lights and ah....ten minutes. Ten minutes to reply to that parent email that is on your mind, to call your admin for assistance with a behaviour/issue, 10 minutes to re-plan that activity you couldn't get the copies made fore, 10 minutes to refocus yourself on the little people in your room. Of course, you can't do it all day everyday with the demands of a classroom- but I can go home with a clear conscience after showing a 10 minute tumblebook, I can't if I've 'lost my cool' in the classroom. Other online book sites such as "storylineonline.com" are free and fun too!

6. Use the students as helpers. My students have taken on a TON of responsibility this year and they love it! They spray and wipe the desks at the end of the day, the ensure the centers are tidy and have all the materials they need, they organize the class library and set the schedule for the next day. These are all things I used to do at the end of the day- and with 20 little helpers it is done in ten minutes. Sure, it is not as 'perfect' as when I do it, but it is certainly 'good enough' and helps the students feel accountable in the classroom.

7. Remember, All jobs have crummy times. For me, it is report cards. Report cards is the time of year where I am under slept-overworked and all around a little grumpier than normal. It is easy to get into the mindset of "my job is so hard, this is pointless paperwork" etc...but then I remember that my husband has this at 'month end', others have 'tax season' or 'inventory' or other such things that are also, crummy parts of the job. Don't dwell on that. Power through and Git'er done!

8. Our job has many, many, amazing moments, enjoy them. Enjoy it. Bask in the hilariousness of the grade 3 toilet jokes, colouring on the carpet on Friday afternoon and all the 'handmade gifts' you receive. Sure, maybe I haven't covered every line of the curriculum document in full detail, but I know the names of my students' "American Girl" dolls, the dates of swimming competitions to ask about, and every pet of the third grade crew. I know that after they tell Mom and Dad any good news, I'm next in line to be told. And that is a pretty awesome feeling.

9. At some point, it is 'good enough'. Didn't laminate those task cards? Didn't use 'teacher printing' on that grading? Didn't add adorable clipart to every center bin. You know what- they will survive. If the choice is stay up till 1 am to make laminate or print it, cut it and hit the hay by 11pm...you know what you need to do. Tell the kids to handle it gently and laminate it later. Life will go on! Remember, all the blog pictures, pinterest photos and instagrams are of people tidying their room perfectly, then taking a photo. You can't do that everyday all the time.

10. Take care of your students' teacher. We all care so much about our little people, we want everything to be perfect for them. But you need to take care of yourself to take care of them. Like they say with the oxygen mask in the plane, you need to make sure you are okay so you can make sure your children are okay too. If all you do is school school school school, you probably won't come in like your normal, happy, friendly self. Make time to go for a run, have dinner with your spouse, watch TeenMom and paint your nails. Whatever it is that you enjoy, make time for it. Would you want your students to go home and work on school from 3pm unti bedtime?

I'm still trying to take all of my own advice, but hopefully some of these tips can help you balance your best teaching with your best living!

Much love,

-Tina

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Teacher burnout is becoming more and more common. With higher expectations, less support, and increased demands it is hard to find a balance between being an amazing teacher and an amazing wife/mother/friend/human-being. I am no expert on this, in fact my new year's resolution was to find more balance!

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Watch here first!