教师们：当你感到精疲力竭时，请记住这四件事
原文链接：https://thatartteacher.com/2019/02/15/teachers-4-things-to-remember-when-you-feel-burned-out/
日期： 2019-02-15
作者： Sierra Machado
分类： 课堂管理
标签： 给教师的建议、美术教育、教育、精选文章、激励、教学、那位美术教师
又到了一年中最难熬的教学时节：室内课间活动连绵不断，考试季迫在眉睫，却看不到任何喘息之机。学生行为愈发激烈，而我们的耐心正日渐耗尽。我再强调一遍：教学真的非常艰难。
每位教师都有自己的“惊悚故事”——那些发生在校园里、让你回家后立刻更新简历的瞬间：被学生当面喝令“闭嘴”；透过教室窗户看见自己班上的孩子径直走向汽车、逃掉你的课；第一百次告诉学生：“我们不拿‘同性恋’这个词取笑同学”；听说某位学生将不再返校，因为他即将进入寄养家庭；一位学生因癌症离世；另一位学生因自杀离世；一名学业困难的学生竟在毕业前几周挥拳打向另一名同学；还要解释为什么用永久性记号笔在手上画卐字符号并不好笑……这些，全都是真实发生的生活。
尽管这一切令人不堪重负，但教学确实是世上最具回报感的职业之一。我并非在说那些陈词滥调式的教师套话——我真心相信，这是与社区、文化及未来世代互动最具影响力的方式之一。我们每天接触数百（甚至数千！）名青少年，并协助塑造他们未来的自我。我们以身作则，示范何为富有爱心且负责任的成年人。我们至关重要。
作为一名初出茅庐的教师，我曾被强烈的责任感彻底压垮。我近乎偏执地渴望做到最好：表现最佳、言行最得体、授课最出色，且每一次与每位学生互动都必须臻于完美。当然，这根本不可能实现。后来我才渐渐学会：在学校做最好的自己，同时也不忽视个人生活与自身需求。这一转变绝非一朝一夕之功！
即便已执教十年，我仍会不时陷入彻底的自我怀疑。自我施加的压力，叠加社会对教师职业的期待与苛责，常让我骤然停摆。我的教具储藏柜，早已成为我在最艰难的日子里躲开职责、重新聚焦的避风港——在重返讲台前，我需要在那里稍作休整。我曾在黑暗中独自吃午餐，做过瑜伽，打过私人电话，边吃巧克力蛋糕边流泪；甚至有一次，在新近确诊焦虑障碍期间，我在那里经历了一场彻头彻尾的惊恐发作。
每年此时，我都格外需要提醒自己：为何我依然选择教育作为终身职业？教学既广博又细腻，我必须不断告诉自己——感到困惑与疲惫，完全正常！以下是我精疲力竭时常提醒自己的四件事：
- 你每天都能重新开始
- 你自带支持系统
- 事情几乎从不针对你个人
- 你真的至关重要
你每天都能重新开始。 教学具有周期性与季节性。某个学期、甚至某堂课中令你困扰的问题，未必会成为你的宿命。你完全可以主动选择调整日常安排与期望值，持续优化课堂环境。每一天，你都能改变做事方式、对待他人的方式，或应对某种状况的方式。静下心来，反思一天或一周中最令你沮丧的部分，并思考如何调整才能让它变得更好。你拥有构建属于自己小文化的权力，因此，请尽情享受那个你尚能掌控的、微小却真实的世界吧。
你自带支持系统。 主动结识志同道合的教师朋友，在学校内部建立积极的支持网络。需要倾诉时就大胆倾诉，但务必确保自己身边围绕着积极向上的人——他们热爱教育事业，或至少能在#教师生活 这种疯狂混乱中找到幽默感。教师朋友是真实可靠的：他们关心着与你相同的学生，浸润于同一所学校的文化之中，对你工作生活的理解，远超其他任何人。
我
事情几乎从不针对你个人。 学生常把诸多挫败感与个人挣扎，一股脑发泄到教师身上。我目睹过太多情绪爆发、愤怒失控、乃至拒绝在课堂上做任何事的情形——而这些几乎全都源于家庭问题或社交困境。一旦我单独与学生谈心，他们几乎总会告诉我：真正令他们心烦的，是教室之外更重大的难题。即使学生未必总表现出来，教师往往已是孩子生活中最稳定、最富关爱的成年人之一。请继续做那个善良而坚定的成人——哪怕此刻他们正在冲着你发泄。
你真的至关重要。 听起来或许有些老套，但教师确实在改变生命。我们塑造青少年的信念、技能与自我认知。我们的言行指引着他们的未来；你很难找到一个成年人，其成长过程中不曾有一位教师助他成为今日的模样。哪怕在你最糟糕的一天、面对最棘手的班级、度过最艰难的一年（那未必是入职第一年！），你依然在学生身上产生着积极影响。
教学是最具回报感、最复杂、也最定义自我的体验。你一边持续向内审视，一边观察自己对一大群青少年所产生的影响。感到不堪重负，没关系；痛哭一场、跑步释放、暴食减压，或写博客宣泄，都没关系。请善待自己，寻找健康的方式，去应对教师每日层层累积的压力。
请铭记当初为何出发，并为自己寻一处安全港湾，安然渡过那些艰难的日子。
当你感到精疲力竭时，你会提醒自己什么？
TEACHERS: 4 Things To Remember When You Feel Burned Out
Original: https://thatartteacher.com/2019/02/15/teachers-4-things-to-remember-when-you-feel-burned-out/
Date: 2019-02-15
Author: Sierra Machado
Categories: classroom management
Tags: advice for teachers, art education, education, featured, motivation, teaching, that art teacher
It’s the time of year when teaching is so hard. Endless days of inside recess, testing season looming and no break in sight. Student behavior is getting intense and patience is wearing thin. I’m going to say it again: Teaching is SO hard.
We all have horror stories. Things that happened at school that made you go home and polish your resume. Being told to “shut up”. Watching a kid from your classroom window walk to his car and cut your class. The one hundredth time you told a student “we don’t call classmates gay”. Hearing about how one of your students won’t be back because they are going into foster care. Losing a student to cancer. Losing a student to suicide. Seeing a low achieving student punch a kid in the face just weeks before graduation. Explaining why it’s not funny to draw a swastika with permanent marker on your hand. This.is.all.real.life.
As overwhelming as all of this is, teaching is truly one of the most rewarding professions out there. I’m not just saying the usual teacher fluff, I really believe it is one of the most impactful ways to interact with your community, culture and future generations. We interact with hundreds (thousands!) of young people and help guide their future selves. We model what it looks like to be a caring and responsible adult. We matter.
As a young teacher, I was completely overwhelmed with a sense of responsibility. I obsessively wanted to be my best, act my best, teach my best and give every student the best interaction every single time. Of course, this is impossible. I’ve eventually learned to be the best version of me at school while still keeping my personal life and personal needs in focus too. It didn’t happen overnight!
Even after teaching ten years I still have moments of complete doubt. The pressure I put on myself along with the pressure society puts on my profession can bring me to a screeching halt. My supply closet has come to be a place I can hide from my responsibilities and refocus before I have to step back on the stage that is my classroom during my most challenging days. I’ve sat and eaten lunch in the dark, done yoga, taken personal phone calls and cried while eating chocolate cake. I’ve even had a full blown panic attack in there when I was struggling with a newly developed anxiety disorder.
This is one of the times of year I find it important to focus on why I continue to choose education as my profession. Teaching is extensive and nuanced, and I have to remind myself is okay to feel confused and exhausted! Here are four things I try to remember when I’m feeling burned out:
- YOU CAN START OVER EVERYDAY
- YOU HAVE A BUILT IN SUPPORT SYSTEM
- IT’S ALMOST NEVER PERSONAL
- YOU REALLY DO MATTER.
YOU CAN START OVER EVERY DAY. Teaching is cyclical and seasonal. Something you struggle with one semester or even in one class does not have to be your curse. You can choose to change and adapt your routines and expectations to continuously improve your classroom environment. Every day you can adjust how you do something, treat someone or react to a situation. Sit down and reflect on the most frustrating part of your day or week and think about how you can adjust to make it better. You have the power to build your own little culture, so enjoy forming the small part of your world you actually have some control over.
YOU HAVE A BUILT IN SUPPORT SYSTEM. Find your teacher friends and build a positive support system at your school. Vent when you need to, but make sure you surround yourself with positive people who love what they do or at least find humor in the insane chaos that is #teacherlife. Teacher friends are legit, they are the people who care about the same students you do, participate in the same school culture and understand your work life more than anyone else.
I
IT’S ALMOST NEVER PERSONAL. Teachers take a lot of the brunt of our students’ frustrations and personal battles. I have witnessed so many emotional outbursts, fits of anger, refusal to do anything in class and it almost always goes back to a problem at home or a social situation. Once I get a kid one-on, they almost always tell me they were upset about a bigger issue outside of the classroom. Even if they don’t always show it, a teacher is often one of the most stable and caring adults in a kids life. Be the kind and supportive adult they need even if they are acting out towards you.
YOU REALLY DO MATTER. I know it sounds cheesy, but teachers really do change lives. We shape young peoples beliefs, skills and self-perception. Our actions guide their future and you’d be hard pressed to find a person that doesn’t have a teacher that helped make them who they are as an adult. Even on your worst day, with your worst class, during your hardest year (which isn’t always year one!) you have a positive impact on your students.
Teaching is the most rewarding, complex and self-defining experience. You constantly look inward while watching your affect on large groups of young people. It is okay to be overwhelmed. It is okay to cry it out, run it out, binge it out or blog it out. Give yourself some grace and find healthy ways to deal with the stress teachers layer on each day.
Remember why you started in the first place and find your safe haven to ride out the tough days.
What do you remind yourself when you’re feeling burned out?