I read a blog this morning about ways teachers can avoid burn out, and it had a lot of great information. Yet, as the day went on, I couldn't help but think that there are some important ways that corporations and the IDOE could help with teacher burn out. After all, if they want to retain teachers, they're going to have to take a serious look at what they are doing too. Corporations that want to keep good people do things to keep those people. The world of education should take note.
1. Have half days once a month. We used to have these, but then they decided that students were getting robbed of an education and we were breaking the law so the great Tony Bennett made sure they did away with those. Problem? For many of us, it was a much needed break. It allowed us to work in our rooms without the students there, to plan lessons, to have a quality teacher meeting, and to have an hour lunch. An HOUR lunch.
2. Give everyone in the corporation some kind of partnership with local spas. We get stressed and we need massages, but we don't make any money, so it's pretty much a luxury. Yes, we can go to the guys in the middle of the mall who do a decent job, but there's something to be said for getting a quality massage without everyone looking at you.
3. Four day work weeks. I don't mind putting in extra time during the week if I can have three days to get my other stuff done. You know, grading, laundry, cleaning, etc. Wait, I forgot having FUN.
4. Provide teachers with time to reflect, plan, and engage with other professionals outside of the classroom.
5. Instead of giving everyone the same professional development, provide each teacher with a stipend to use towards a class, online PD, a conference, or anything else deemed worthy of teacher growth.
6. Pay attention to class size. It matters. Even if research is out on whether it makes a difference in the actual classroom, it most definitely makes a difference in grading. I have friends teaching at Penn who have 150 or more students. That's a nightmare for any teacher, but especially English teachers.
7. Improve the quality of the substitute teacher pool. I hate taking days off because everything goes wrong and my lesson plan is rarely followed. Immediate increase in stress level.
8. Sometimes students and teachers need a break from each other. We're kind of like a family in that way. We get on each others' nerves and we need space. Find a productive way to create that space.
9. Pay us a competitive wage. They expect us to further our education even though it means going further in debt. This debt then becomes a burden and is stressful, especially when people without a college degree are making more than we are. When I finish my doctorate, I should have the salary to go with it. Just sayin'.
10. Do not lean on the same people to do everything. Yes, they are good, but there are other people who can share the load. It's unfair to make your best teachers also do everything else. It prevents them from being better teachers because they're busy trying to get everything else on the list done.
11. Mental health days...that don't require lesson plans!
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