It is probably not surprising that teachers are some of the most stressed out professionals out there. They are responsible for supervising large groups of children while providing them with a well-rounded education that will prepare them for future educational endeavors. On top of all the work that teachers do, they also suffer from low wages and a lack of disrespect in their career. In 2018, teachers were leaving their jobs in record numbers as a result of being overworked, under-appreciated, and have had protections stripped away from them by states. After taking a quick look at this information, it can easily be seen why those who do stay in their teaching job are extremely burnt out. Here are some ways to help teachers reduce their stress and prevent burnout.
Get Community Involvement
Many teachers are taking on so many different small tasks that add up to a lot. There are so many things that parents and community members can assist with that will help prevent teachers from being pulled in too many directions. One simple idea is to reach out to parents to help with tasks such as hanging student art in the school. This is such a small task that is also time-consuming. Another way that community members could help reduce the teacher’s workload is to have parents, high school or college students, or even senior citizens run a homework helper club after school. It could reduce the time teachers spend on after school extra help programs and allow them time to create lesson plans or grade papers. Recruiting parents, older students, or senior citizens can help to minimize the list of things that teachers have to do, which will help them reduce their stress.
Limit Homework
It may not be widely known, but homework is actually something that has a limit to how beneficial it can be. In fact, studies have found that no relationship between elementary school homework and academic achievement. As students get older, homework becomes increasingly helpful, but only up to a certain point. High schoolers see positive results from homework when it takes about 90 minutes to 2.5 hours to complete per night; after 2.5 hours, homework has a negative effect on the student. Not only is homework so time-consuming for the students, but it is also impacting teachers. Educators who have assigned homework often have to grade that work. If there is graded homework every night, a teacher can become quickly overwhelmed. Limiting the amount of homework given per night can positively impact students and teachers alike.