Overview:
The teacher reflects teacher fatigue while regaining purpose by creating engaging and meaningful literature lessons for students.
I suddenly know why teachers say they are “tired” or “teachers are tired” after all the events, expectations, and activities going to the copy room where I’m sure a few of us are thinking “what am I doing here?” Although we may know that we are there to make copies, and on a big note, to inspire the young minds of the future in the area of our favorite subject (call it a love/hate relationship if you like), that does not change the fact that a lot of events, expectations, and certain tasks make us question everything. Everything. Indeed.
Add “I’ve been told about everything” to that list of “tired teachers” and “burnout.” I refuse to add the words “teacher burnout” to that list. We won’t go there… we will focus on what we need your revival for the next day and burnout is the whole season of blowing away the smoke of a burnt candle. We don’t want smoke here.
So “it’s all talked about”… just when you want to go home and sleep with your husband. It’s when you want to drown the world all night with worship music that caresses your ears instead. It’s up to you and your husband to cook comfort food and decide to turn off phone calls and texts at night because you can’t because of your sanity. When you write, it’s in two-word messages, sometimes more but never more than let’s-have-a-full-conversation.
I just don’t like that it makes me feel limited some days. On a lighter note, I think about how my words touch the minds of my readers and bring them laughter. I know they see my care in my new studies which you can tell is my cup of tea. It’s a sunny day and it’s a rainbow at the end of the tunnel when you meet the level. Thank you Jesus it was up to par.
I had a nice long conversation with my mother-in-law at the kitchen table one night as my husband played his favorite songs on the piano while my father/father-in-law listened to the music on the couch.
He encouraged me to talk about literature, genres that I developed a great love for in college, short stories that I loved to analyze and talk about a lot to the point where they were broken down and taught in a way that made it fun and exciting. I knew that was what my students needed, that fun and exciting way of books the way I was taught. Not everyone reads chapters of books, and what do you do when you’re trying to teach a room of empty people a chapter of a book they didn’t go home to read? They have days to study in the classroom, but it becomes a hot mess express if they don’t finish and don’t continue to read it at home instead they tell you that they don’t just get you to fill in all the blanks and spoon feed them. Then another part of that hot mess express is that the class does not feel like a class led by the teacher because every day they come in to read that book, there is no communication. It feels like babysitting. Yes, don’t get me wrong, students should be free to do their work individually, in pairs, or in a group (ENG LOVE!), but that comes after leading the lesson and good modeling – which teaching short stories in a special way allows.
When I think about that night at the dinner table with my mother-in-law, it made me want to become the language arts teacher I always dreamed of…. Take out elementary since I’m in middle school with my Grade 5-9 certificate. It’s a room where there are good conversations about books and problem solving. I see dozens of sticky notes, students writing their ideas in pencil with great enthusiasm. All good. I didn’t say everything at the time.
Just like I don’t talk about everything when I talk to my husband about a clever book idea or a movie we just watched. Just like I wasn’t told everything when I wrote about my teacher’s next article, poem, or book. Some kind of relationship builds. Hmm.
But I’ll stop now while I’m ahead. “Relationship” sounds like I’m getting into my teacher’s brain outside of teaching hours… no wonder it’s all about these days…
