When Does Teacher Burnout Begin?

This is a question I’ve asked myself repeatedly. As a teacher mentor it was my job to take a new teacher and teach him or her everything he didn’t learn in teacher school and that was usually a lot. I’ve tried for years to perfect my teacher burnout radar so I can step in and offer more help before I lose them completely. Unfortunately, the warning signs are sometimes hard to spot but there are a few things that always make my radar go Beep! Beep! Beep!

• If a teacher says she has all of the problem children
o Well this is just never true, but if the teacher in question thinks it is there is a problem. Usually this means she needs to be taught classroom management skills or I will lose her.

• If a teacher says she is grading papers all weekend
o No one is going to last long if they are working all week and then bringing home more stuff and working for free. Yes, I said for free. Any time a teacher is devoting outside of her school hours she does for free and this eventually causes resentment. When I hear about this free work I know it is time to step in and help rework the way she is grading. If she can’t do it during work hours something needs to change. No free time is a sure way to burn out.

• If students love or hate a teacher
o I’ve noticed that if there are excessive amounts of either emotion with a brand new teacher then it is because they are becoming too personally involved with the students. This is bad on so many levels and usually leads to the teacher feeling overwhelmed because she is focusing on a personal connection instead of teaching. Yes, I know personal connections are necessary but you’ll have to trust me when I say there needs to be a line between personal and professional.

• A lot of parent conferences
o It doesn’t matter if they’ve been requested by the parent or the teacher. If a teacher is in a conference every week then something is wrong. This is almost always a communication problem. There are many reasons for this one and it usually takes a little digging to get to the bottom of it.

At one point or another I’ve been through all of these phases which is one of the reasons they ring bells for me. How do you know if you, or a colleague, is in danger of burning out?

If you feel you are burning out and want to continue teaching, tell me what your specific concerns are and I’ll try to help!

Photo Credit:  Brian - Progressive Spin’s, from Flickr, Creative Commons License