Teachers drown every day.
They disappear beneath the surface of overloaded classrooms, waves of paperwork, and micromanagement with hardly a splash or a sound. With every teacher that surrenders to the deep, our public education problems worsen. We are hemorrhaging the best, brightest, and most experienced teachers.
I’m a teacher, and I’m drowning. In the metaphorical sense only, thank goodness, but I imagine being overwhelmed and hopeless somewhat resembles physical drowning. All my flailing and reaching for a handhold just takes me deeper.
I am exhausted and stressed, which exacerbates my health issues. While working two side hustles on top of my teaching job, I am still not able to pay my bills. When I am awake, I am working (about 60 hours per week on teaching tasks, and another 20 to 30 on my side jobs). Having a healthy work/life balance is a pie-in-the-sky dream.
This is my thirtieth year of teaching junior high and high school in Texas. The continual buffeting through the years of the unrealistic expectations of standardized testing, federal and state regulations, and the demands within the classroom and from the community have eroded my resilience and positivity. That’s on top of the blatant disrespect and misbehavior we often deal with in the classroom, hostility and mistrust from some parents, and administrators with a “gotcha” approach.
At least I am now in a situation better than many of my peers, where some of my students are respectful and want to learn, and many parents work with us to help their children succeed. The administration in my school supports staff as best they can, trying to ease the tides of federal and state expectations and smooth the waters between parents and teachers.
I’m exhausted, folks, and I’m not alone. The teacher shortage is real and growing every day. How do I motivate students who see no value or purpose in learning? How do I help those who are 2 or 3 grade levels behind, while challenging a few high achievers, without neglecting the average students? More often than not, I teach to the lowest common denominator because they require more of me. That is the reality.
I’m tired of policing cellphones and trying to determine the fine line between teaching the correct use of technology versus using it as a crutch. Now we have AI to deal with. The widespread cheating just became exponentially easier. Yet AI can be a useful tool that students need to learn to use when appropriate. No one knows where the perimeters are anymore. It is all changing too quickly.
Teaching has never been easy, and never will. As one colleague said long ago, “It’s only easy to be a bad teacher. If you want to be a good one, it will be one of the most difficult jobs you’ll ever have.” A good teacher pushes to be great against a current of unrelenting pressures: unmotivated students, unreasonable parents, micromanaging administrators, and the rapidly changing topography of education. All that struggle comes at a high price.
For me, this all culminates in retirement from teaching at the age of 61, probably next year. Then I must find enough work that my pension plus wages will equate to a living wage. My heart will break because I still enjoy many aspects of teaching, and it is a huge part of my identity and purpose. Yet I cannot continue. All things unsustainable must come to an end.
I’m going under, and I am one of many teachers. Did anyone see us?
Note: I understand that many jobs are quite demanding–not just teaching. My sympathies to all! The demands of my life at the current time have severely limited my ability to grow my writing, but I won’t give up. Please don’t give up on me!
© 2024 Joyce Martin. All rights reserved
Note: None of my content is AI generated. Ever.
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