The job that teachers complete is not one that can be taken lightly. Nowadays, educators are facing extreme stress and lack of support when completing their noble work. It’s understandable that in a 2017 survey, 61 percent of teachers reported that their job was always or often stressful. The constant feeling of stress can lead to burnout, a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion. Teachers are hard workers and are often left without the resources they need to educate their students properly.
Although some of the causes of burnout cannot be avoided, here are some ways to help manage and hopefully prevent educator burnout:
Develop a Support Group
A symptom of burnout is the feeling that anything you do goes unnoticed or unappreciated and doesn’t make a difference. Creating a work culture and group that’s designed for support will drastically improve the well-being and mental health of the teachers. Having a team of people that you know you can rely on support and acknowledgment is an effective way to curb burnout.
Plan for Grading
Teachers know just how long grading can take. While it’s easy to fall behind or feel overwhelmed by the number of assignments that need to be graded, assigning designated time will help relieve this problem. When creating your lesson plans, take note of the assignments that you’re assigning and then factor in the time for grading. Having a designated grading time will help you manage your time when other tasks come your way. It prevents you from spending too much time in one day, just grading papers.
Make Time For Yourself
In today’s society, it’s easy to begin to feel overworked, especially since the lines have blurred between working and non-working hours with the use of technology. More and more people are squeezing in additional hours of work outside of their scheduled work hours because of how easy and instant communication is today. Find an activity or new hobby that’s just for you to enjoy outside of work. Having something to look forward to that’s not related to your job can help to reduce your risk of burnout.
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