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On the best days, teaching is one of the most fulfilling careers you can find. You get to inspire students, collaborate with other professionals, and impact the future of your community every day.
But as we all know, not every teaching day is as rewarding as the last. So what do you do when you start to feel the tell-tale signs of teacher burnout? Learn all about symptoms, tips for turning things around, and how teacher burnout can have a major effect on the entire educational profession.
What Is Teacher Burnout?
Teacher burnout is an extended period of anxiety, depression, and apathy that teachers experience when they no longer have the emotional and mental resources necessary for their job. Over 40% of teachers in K-12 education experience burnout, the highest rate in United States professional industries.
Although most teachers can feel burned out after a rough day or week, teacher burnout as a whole is more common at certain times of the year. In particular, first-year teachers feel especially burned out and disillusioned around winter break.
Common causes of teacher burnout
Although every teaching environment is different, the most common causes of teacher burnout are similar. Teachers who feel burned out often report the causes to be:
- Unsustainable working conditions, such as oversized classrooms or limited prep time
- Heavy workloads and expectations
- Lack of resources and support from administration
- Increasing demands from external forces, including government mandates and parent communication
- Student behavior and parent disengagement
Just one of these factors could be enough to cause teacher burnout in an educator, especially if it’s an extreme part of their job. Typically, burned-out teachers experience more than one of these causes and no longer have the mental or emotional resources to cope with them.
Effects of teacher burnout
The effects of teacher burnout extend beyond the classroom. Because feeling burned out can impact your mental health (and affect physical health), you might take more sick days to treat these conditions. If many teachers in a school are experiencing burnout, that school may struggle with chronic absenteeism, which can negatively affect student performance.
Teacher burnout is a reason more educators quitting teaching completely. Studies show a connection between teacher burnout and teacher attrition rates, which increase over time. Teacher shortages mean larger classes, higher workloads, and more responsibilities for teachers still in the classroom — which can lead to higher rates of teacher burnout for them, too.
Teacher burnout symptoms
How can you tell if you’re experiencing teacher burnout? Common teacher burnout symptoms can include:
- Dreading the work week, also known as having the Sunday scaries
- Getting far behind on your grading or planning
- Becoming easily frustrated with your students or loved ones
- Physical fatigue or extended illness, including unexplained chronic pain
- Difficulty sleeping or waking up on time
- Feeling desperate for the next day off or weekend
- Avoiding creativity or innovation in the classroom
If more than one of these symptoms resonates with you, you might be experiencing teacher burnout. So what do you do next, and how can you get your passion for education back?
Tips for Avoiding Teacher Burnout
The key to avoiding or resolving teacher burnout is to focus on yourself. That’s easier said than done in a career where you devote your time and attention to your students! But finding the right teacher mental health strategies will help you become an even better teacher, which is the best possible way to serve your students.
1. Keep yourself healthy
The first step to battling teacher burnout is taking care of your body. Find time to exercise during the day, whether it’s stopping by the gym after work or walking around the football field during lunch. Consider creative exercise options that involve your colleagues, such as adult sports leagues or asking your district to fund gym memberships.
Healthy eating is another important part of self-care. Pre-pack your favorite nutritious foods to take into the staff lounge or organize weekly salad bar potlucks with your fellow teachers.
2. Lean into your teacher community
It’s very likely that you’re not the only one dealing with teacher burnout at your school. Take a cue from the non-educational world and organize relationship-building activities, such as after-school happy hours, bowling nights, karaoke excursions, or park picnics where teachers bring their whole families.
You can bond during work hours, too! Invite teachers into your classroom during lunch or prep periods and talk about your out-of-school lives instead of work. Set up a bulletin board in the staff room for friendly competitions, such as guessing the next winner of a reality show or a major sporting event. Build a reason to go to work every morning that doesn’t include the work itself.
3. Reimagine your classroom organization
Burned-out teachers are often too stressed to change their bulletin boards, desks, and displays. Change up your classroom organization to get a new lease on the school year! Move your desks into a pattern you’ve never used before, and write inspiring quotes on the board.
Plan an artistic class project you can proudly display after students finish, or implement a new class system like table points or class money. Anything different is the goal!
Pro Tip: If you feel you don’t have the capacity to even plan something new, look to TPT Teacher-Authors for no-prep projects and resources you can use immediately.
4. Redefine your professional identity
Increasing demands and unmanageable student behavior can make great teachers feel like they’re missing the mark. Maintaining a strong professional identity reduces teacher burnout, so take time to rediscover and redefine who you really are as a teacher.
Find professional development opportunities that interest you, such as subject-specific teacher conferences or online classes. Remember why you got into teaching in the first place, and embrace your teaching philosophy instead of getting buried under administrative duties.
5. Trade short-term relief for long-term solutions
Taking another sick day or avoiding grading for a week may feel great in the moment, but it can lead to even more burnout in the future. Exchange these short-term options for long-term solutions that get to the core of your teacher burnout.
For example, consider giving up or exchanging adjunct duties that take up too much time. Plan low-prep or no-prep units that keep students engaged while preventing a grading pile-up for you (and plan as far into the future as you can). If classroom management is wearing on you, schedule time with your school administration to brainstorm solutions that make your teaching day easier.
6. Set (and keep) professional boundaries
You’ve heard the term “work-life balance” before, but as a teacher, you may not think it applies to you. After all, sometimes teachers are expected to give up their non-work time for grading, planning, meetings, collaboration, professional development, and even more.
But teachers deserve work-life balance, too! Start by setting professional boundaries. Practice saying “no” to additional responsibilities outside the classroom and collaborating with colleagues to share the planning workload. Let parents know you’ll respond to their emails or calls during work hours only. (And don’t give out your cell phone number to parents!)
7. Work smarter, not harder
The most important resource for any teacher is time. It feels like there’s never enough time in a school day or period, and certainly not enough time to prepare for the next day — let alone the next month.
When it comes to time management for teachers, it’s all about working efficiently. Manage your workload with fewer graded classwork and homework assignments, and return to a student-focused format instead of a teacher-focused format. Only assign projects and tests that you have time to grade, and try to get as much done during the workday as possible.
8. Advocate for yourself and your colleagues
If teacher burnout is a big problem at your school, take it to the next level and talk to the decision makers in your community. Speak up at school board meetings, apply for grants for additional professional development and support, or mentor new teachers who are struggling to get their footing in those first few years.
Being a teacher leader isn’t just beneficial for your colleagues, either. It’s a great way for you to take care of your own needs, redefine your professional identity, and ensure that long-term solutions are in place at your teaching site.
Create safe spaces for teachers, too
Avoid the Sunday scaries and reignite your love teaching again with additional teacher mental health resources. These self-care resources are great tools for school administrators to support their teachers, battle teacher burnout, and ensure that all students receive the education they deserve.