At the beginning of the new school year, some of us feel refreshed and eager; others, not so much. If you’re filled with dread at the thought of vacation’s end (not the ordinary oh-I-wish-I-could-read-novels-on-the-deck-forever dread, but the more acute why-am-I-doing-this-with-my-life dread), then maybe it’s time to re-evaluate: is teaching really what you want to do?
For a while, I wasn’t sure. I started this blog as a tool to help me wrestle with this question. Seven years later, I’m still teaching, but my perspective on the profession has changed.
In 2009, Sarah Ebner, then of the Times UK’s School Gate blog, asked me to write a series of guest posts; I chose to write about my journey through burnout and out the other side. A few years later, she gave my permission to re-print those posts here on Classroom as Microcosm, and those posts are among the most shared in CaM’s seven-year history. I collected them on this page; you will also find the links below.
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Are you burnt out? Demoralized? So was I. I did some stuff. It helped. Now I love my job again. Maybe you can too!
- Introduction: The End of the Rope
- Step 1: Take Stock. Is It Worth It?
- Step 2: Take Time Off
- Step 3: Find Your Community
- Step 4: Face Your Fears
- Step 5: Get More Training
- Step 6: Meditate
- Step 7: Write a Blog
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Tomorrow: a useful analogy to help students understand essay structure.
Image by VooDoo4u2nv
Classroom as Microcosm 