As an educator for the last two decades, I believe I have fallen into the dreadful cycle of counting down the days until my next long weekend/school break and sometimes (most often actually) dreading my last 24 hours of freedom and wondering how the time passed by so quickly. Then after pondering why my last few hours of a much needed long weekend have passed by so quickly, that sneaky little afterthought begins to take over my conscious: the dreaded "G" word takes hold of my wondering mind-GUILT.
Let be the first to tell you: DO NOT LET THAT SNEAK IN! You deserve a break, a long weekend, a bit of reprieve....
Teacher overload is more common than you think or you give yourself credit for. Our chosen path is tedious, vigorous, and frankly, tirelessly laborious. Think about this:
1) Educators are with their students eight plus hours a day (sometimes ten plus hours a day if you're in early childhood education).
2) Most classrooms are full or over capacity.
3) Unfortunately, a lot of school systems cannot afford to pay teachers for all of the paraprofessional support they need (this means that in a highly desired inclusive classroom teachers do not get the support they need to appropriately teach to every student).
4) If you are employed by a private early childhood center or operate your own, in- home facility you may not receive the paid holiday/vacation days that a public school system provides.
The list continues... but dwelling on the items is not my point. My point is, to remind you: You deserve a break, a moment to rest your mind and body and a hiatus from your classroom routine...in other words; TAKE A FEW MOMENTS OF SOLSTICE FOR YOURSELF!
See the following articles on "Teacher Burnout" and what you can do to ensure you don't allow yourself to reach that boiling point and, how you can prevent teacher burnout in your facility.
https://www.wgu.edu/heyteach/teacher-burnout-causes-symptoms-and-prevention
https://www.weareteachers.com/prevent-teacher-burnout/
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