Wait, You Want Me to Do What?

So, you have arrived, you are a teacher and it is amazing. You are going to work with kids, shaping young minds to grow and thrive. You plan to train up the next great inventor, or the future doctor who cures cancer. This is going to be awesome, right? I mean sure lesson planning takes time, but it is a joy to plan exciting and engaging lessons when you know that they will benefit your students. What could possibly kill your joy with this new endeavor? Statistically, an average of 15% of first year teachers quit after the first year, with 44% quitting within 5 years. An average of only 30% of teachers make it to retirement. Whether you actually are a new teacher, or whether you have been teaching many years, today I want to talk to you about how to keep your joy when all the “extras” seem to drain you dry.

The average teacher work week is actually 50 hours. This means the average is about 400 hours of overtime every year. This does not include that about 18% of teachers have to have a second job just to make ends meet with 1 in 4 of teachers under 30 having a second job. This means that while teaching, many have to divide their attention to include another job, while also balancing time with family and friends. This can be exhausting. It can be difficult to keep your joy when teaching doesn’t even pay the bills.

Many people do not realize that teaching is more than just imparting knowledge to young minds. As a matter of fact, teaching includes so much more. There are meetings: building, district, state, union, etc. Teachers meet with parents/guardians to partner in a student's education. There are also collaborations with doctors and psychologists to help improve student’s health and well being inside the classroom. All of these take place outside of instructional times. Many teachers spend an average of $459 a year of their own money for use in their classroom. This on a salary that is about 3.1% below the national average with some places being as low as 36.4% below the national average.

Now, you may be thinking at this point, why on earth would I want to become/stay a teacher? These statistics are pretty bleak. I am getting to the good news. The key to keeping your joy is to remember your why. I have talked about this before, but it bears repeating. Why are you a teacher? Let me give you some positives to help you remember your why. 88% of people say that teachers had a positive impact on their lives. 2 out of 3 students consider teachers a role model. 79% of students say that at least one teacher encouraged them to follow their dreams and 83% say that a teacher boosted their confidence. Now you may be wondering, like I did, how did I not know any of this? Well, 87% of adults say that they wished they had thanked their teachers for all they did for them. So, as you think about your why, remember that your students are looking to you. They may never tell you about the impact that you have on their lives, but the impact is there. Since the average teacher influences 3,000 students during the course of their career, that has a lot of impact on the world.

Carl Jung once said, “One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings.” Don’t forget all the things teachers do for students that have nothing to do with curriculum. Teachers often meet the social emotional needs of students as well. Teachers help students learn to grow and cope in a world that does not always give them the best start. “If kids come to educators and teachers from strong, healthy, functioning families, it makes our job easier. If they do not come to us from strong, healthy, functioning families, it makes our job more important,” Barbara Colorose. Teaching is so much more than just Reading, Writing, and ‘Rithmatic. Teachers shape the future by being the scaffold students need to reach the stars. I don’t know about you, but to me that thought makes the stress and strain fade behind the image of smiling young faces, who are growing and learning. If my students are any indication, the future is bright, and so full of possibilities that deserve a chance. How about you?

All statistics and quotes come from the following resources:

Game, P. (n.d.). 60 inspiring teacher quotes to reignite a love for teaching. Prodigy Education. Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/teacher-quotes/

35 teaching statistics [2022]. SeedScientific. (2022, February 7). Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://seedscientific.com/teaching-statistics/