Trying to Find Balance

I’m hoping to teach for a long time. Not only am I still under 30, I have student loans, dreams of owning a home, and I enjoy it. The jobs seem to be there right now and probably will be for a while. I’ve met people who are burned out and hanging on until they can retire. I’ve also met teachers who retire only to take an LD contract 3 years in a row, constantly saying “this is my last year”. I’m interested in holding back burnout and cynicism for as long as possible, maybe forever if I can. Over the last couple of years I’ve talked to as many teachers as I can about how they manage it. 

I think there’s an Idea that once you’re a teacher you’re always a teacher. Wake up a teacher, drive home a teacher, brush your teeth a teacher. In some ways this might be true, and even positive. The people I’ve met who stay in the profession have boundaries and other stuff going on. A lot of these boundaries are simple rules and planning that helps reinforce a balance. I’ve met as couple teachers who have a set home time. Usually 4ish and the goal is to have everything ready for the next day. This advice always comes with two caveats. The first is that I’m new, and because I’m new, and everything I teach I’m teaching for the first time ever, I’m going to be slower because I’m learning. The other caveat is that report cards are due twice a year and you’re going to have to make time to do them. For me this is the dream. Existing in a set schedule most of the time and being able to fit my endless set of interests into my week is a part of a lifestyle that I’m determined to build. I understand that teaching is a choice that creates a lifestyle, but that lifestyle shouldn’t just be teaching and I don’t think it’s healthy long term. The other part of teaching is planning. Teachers make an incredible amount of decisions in a day and often suffer from something known as choice burn out. I’ve met teachers who married teachers and they have to plan dates and evenings and meals ahead of time if they want romantic evenings to be possible mid week. All of it’s doable, you just have to plan ahead a little bit because your brain might not let you the night of. 

 The other big piece is to try to avoid bringing work home. It’s not always possible (see report cards) but it makes a difference to long term balance. Educators need time to take care of themselves and decompress. The job can be hard and having other stuff happening in life is important. Also, it is a job. That means no matter how good I want to be at it or how much I care it is still always an exchange of labour for money. I want time to actually enjoy that second part. Leave on time and try not to bring work home are both really common suggestions I’ve heard teachers who’ve been at this a minute repeat. It’s good advice for balance that is clearly working for people. It’ll be harder to accomplish as a new teacher but it’s a reasonable and valuable goal. Also working for this balance means I can be refreshed and centered enough the next day to do a better job for my students.