Finding a Support Network
This is my 23rd year as an elementary school teacher. There have been periods of burnout multiple times over those years, not surprisingly. I have addressed those issues in a couple of different ways.
At times the burnout has felt like boredom and a lack of interest in doing my job, the feeling of being in a rut. I noticed myself not working to meet my own expectations to serve my students and their families. It wasn't about not being able to do it, but just not feeling the motivation and drive. In those times I opted to make a change. I changed grade levels or schools or looked for other opportunities to challenge me and get me back to feeling the joy and love for my job. I taught undergraduate and graduate classes at nearby universities. I wrote articles and presented at conferences. At times that got me through five or six years, other times only a couple of years. I've been lucky enough to be able to make those changes within my district without trouble.
When the burnout felt more like being overwhelmed and drowning, I looked for a support network. I found parts of that network within my school buildings and within my district, but also through social media and professional organizations. In 23 years, that network has grown, and I now know there are educators down the street and around the world who will listen to and support me. I can reach out to people who have the expertise I need to deal with specific issues (recently that's included understanding the laws around homeless students in order to effectively advocate for a family), but this network also reaches out to me when I'm struggling. They lift me up.
When burnout hits, as it will for all of us at times, we have to find the coping strategies that work for us. I am confident that other people, whether they are educators or not, can play a strong role in helping us get through the challenging times.
—Jennifer Orr, 3rd grade classroom teacher, Fort Belvoir Upper School, Springfield, Virginia
When the Job Isn't a Good Fit
I was a high school principal in a low-income charter high school in Brooklyn. I had stepped up to the role when the previous principal resigned suddenly, and I was asked to take over. It was my second year as principal, and we had already suffered the loss of a student to gun violence during my first year. I had a leadership team of 10, and all but two were brand new leaders. I had a new 9th grade class that was under-enrolled, and the enrollment efforts I was furiously trying to put together for the following year were not being supported. The pressure to ensure high graduation rates was on. I also had a threat made against our school on social media and had to spend a day with the FBI and counterterrorism unit.
Why did I agree to this, I thought. But I couldn't stop. I wouldn't stop. I taught the students science who needed to pass the science state exam. I arranged for hundreds of hours of tutoring. I was exhausted. I was burned out. I had physical reactions to my burnout, which included blurry vision, scalp psoriasis, chronic dry skin, and stomachaches.
I gave my notice that I wouldn't return the following year, and almost immediately I felt a weight lifted. I could finally breathe again. I still made sure my students graduated. Every one of those seniors walked across the graduation stage. But I knew the best thing for me was to return to a role that was my passion—being a special education leader—and one that I knew I could be successful in without making myself literally sick. I don't consider myself a quitter. I consider myself an educator who had to make a decision to take care of myself.
Sometimes it's OK for the answer to be that the job isn't for you.
—Erica Smith, assistant principal of specialized services, Mastery Charter Schools, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Freedom of Setting Boundaries
Photo courtesy of Brenda Mendoza
The year 2018 was very difficult for me both professionally and personally. I was the type of educator that was always hustling, and I felt that if I wasn't producing that I wasn't being successful. The stress of trying to keep up with that lifestyle caught up with me. In my culture as a Mexican American woman, I always felt like I had to work twice as hard to be accepted. I felt like I didn't fit in as an American because of my ethnicity and didn't fit in with the Mexican culture because I wasn't "Mexican enough."
There is this stigma in the Mexican culture that as a Latina you need to be perfect. That idea is something most Mexican women grow up with, and it creates a toxic culture. I started to feel crushed under the weight of my own expectations for myself and my own misconceptions of what a Mexican woman was. The stress started to manifest itself in my health. I gained weight, I miscarried our daughter at 15 weeks, and to make matters worse, a month after losing my daughter, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I realized that I needed to focus on my self-care and creating boundaries.
I overcame my teacher burnout by setting firm boundaries. Every time I felt uncomfortable with a work request, I respectfully expressed my feelings without worrying about offending someone. I also started to narrow my focus and keep my goals tangible. I aligned my values to the values of my school and promised to only work on projects that supported those values. I started keeping a journal with all the things I was grateful for, meditating every morning, and taking time for myself. I also started public speaking about my culture and how to help professionals, students, and families that identify as Latinx.
The picture here is from after I had my thyroid removed and was cancer-free for a year. I walked to the top of Mount Holy Hill. Being Mexican, Catholicism plays a big role in my life and has helped me deal with my diagnosis.
—Brenda Mendoza, K–12 ELL specialist, West Aurora SD 129, Chicago, Illinois
Don't Fear Vulnerability
I don't want to ever go back to that place [of burnout] again and with what I know now, I'm confident I won't have to. My stress level had reached a point where I could no longer go to work. Trying to juggle the responsibilities of the leadership role I was in had become too much for me to handle. I couldn't think straight, and I couldn't relax. A visit to the doctor resulted in me being placed on anxiety medication that I still take to this day.
While the medicine helped, it definitely wasn't the main reason I recovered. I got better because I reached out to others to share what I was going through. Up until that point, I wasn't confident enough to be vulnerable. But once I began to embrace vulnerability, everything changed. I began writing about my pain and talking about my struggles, and I started to feel whole again.
Not only did sharing what I was going through help lighten my load, it also allowed me to see that I was not alone—that many other educators often feel stressed, overwhelmed, and burned out. Knowing that I was not alone and knowing that I had others to lean on was what got me to where I am today.
Am I implying that I am stress-free? Always relaxed? And have it all under control? Not at all.
What I can tell you is that when I feel as if I am about to lose it, I know what will help me feel better and I know what will get me back on track. It's sharing my struggles with others. It's putting my feelings down on paper. And it's knowing that I am part of a community. As Brené Brown said recently on 60 Minutes: "You don't have to do it alone. We were never meant to. We are neurobiologically hardwired to be in connection with other people."
—Jon Harper, vice principal, Dorchester County, Easton, Maryland
What Makes You Thrive?
I felt a sense of burnout when my job roles and responsibilities changed. I was no longer regularly included in the implementation or planning stages of instructional or social-emotional initiatives within my school community. I thrive on the interpersonal nature of brainstorming, conversations, assessing progress, and sense of purpose that emerge from being an integral part of a learning community. I realize now that if those opportunities don't present themselves to me in the workplace, I need to seek professional learning communities outside of the workplace to nourish my brain, to propel my own professional growth, and to continue to live by "my why."
Google for Education is a good example of a professional learning community that has nurtured me in this way. I highly recommend following their model of forming learning communities if you ever find yourself feeling burned out. Exploring content that makes you a better educator, sharing those ideas, and implementing strategies that lead to accelerating student learning is powerful and can definitely help to prevent a feeling of burnout.
As an aside, although we don't often think of our students being burned out, I now think this experience was a lesson for me: If students don't have an authentic voice or feel part of a learning community, they will exhibit signs of being burned out. We need to give our students the same type of opportunities in order for them to feel successful and motivated to be their best selves in their role as learners.
—Annmarie Hogan, assistant principal, P.S. 26, Staten Island, New York
Share your responses to upcoming questions at http://www.ascd.org/tellusabout.
