teaching
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Ready…Set…Ugh.
Today is the first day of the new school year. I am absolutely, unequivocally uninterested in being here. I feel no excitement about meeting my classes, no anticipation of good things that may unfold. Granted, I also feel no dread. I’m simply unable to connect with the reality of it all. The arrival of the Continue reading
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Up and At ‘Em
It’s almost that time again. I hope you’ve all had a great summer. Mine has been thrilling, terrifying and exhausting, all on a small domestic scale. You will hear about some of it in the coming weeks. The upshot: school begins on Monday, and I am neither refreshed nor enthusiastic, but I am nothing if Continue reading
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Too Many Books
The Husband and I are moving soon. The other night, we invited a mover over to give us a quote. He looked around and said, “It’s going to cost you a fortune. You have too many books.” I know what some of you are thinking. Never! Sacrilege! No such thing! These were not my responses. Continue reading
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What’s In a Name?
What do your students call you? Would you rather they called you something else? A couple of years ago, a reader named “Viceroy” left this baffling comment on a post that had nothing to do with his observation. I notice that your students, who appear to be 17 & 18 years old, are required to Continue reading
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Demoralization vs. Burnout
Are you burnt out? Or are you demoralized? A recent article (passed on to me by a colleague) fits nicely with my series on teacher burnout that wrapped up last week: sometimes what we call burnout is actually demoralization. The difference is in the cause. I have been lucky enough to work mostly in contexts Continue reading
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Bad Teacher
Is it possible for a bad person to be a good teacher? The Husband and I have been on an adventure. We have been looking for a condo for the last couple of months – mortgage pre-approvals! Real estate agents! Notaries and house inspectors! We feel like grownups – and two weeks ago, we found Continue reading
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How I Saved My Teaching Career: Step 7: Write a Blog
This is the final post in a series on how to overcome burnout and love teaching again. See the end of this post for previous entries. In the summer of 2007, my burnout reached its peak. I’d taken some steps to deal with it (and you can check out the links below to read Continue reading
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How I Saved My Teaching Career: Step 6: Meditate
This is the seventh post in a series on how to overcome burnout and love teaching again. See the end of this post for previous entries. I have a confession to make. I’m a bad meditator. Meditation is incredibly boring. Everything in me resists doing it, and I can avoid it for months. If Continue reading
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How I Saved My Teaching Career: Step 5: Get More Training
This is the sixth post in a series on how to overcome burnout and love teaching again. See the end of this post for previous entries. One advantage of being a teacher is that it’s easy to keep learning, and learning, and learning. I got my education degree years ago, specializing in Teaching English Continue reading
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How I Saved My Teaching Career: Step 4: Face Your Fears
This is the fifth post in a series on how to overcome burnout and love teaching again. See the end of this post for previous entries. When I first started teaching, I was scared. Terrified, in fact. I’d taken a job as a Second Language Monitor – a sort of assistant language teacher – Continue reading
About Me
My job is to teach people to read and write; aside from that, I like to learn things.
Classroom as Microcosm 