When You've Lost the Joy

Remember the lightbulb moments? The energy of a good class? If those feel like distant memories, you're not broken. You might just be depleted.

Warning signs

• • Counting hours until break
• • Student questions feel like interruptions
• • Going through motions, not actually teaching
• • Can't remember the last time you enjoyed a lesson
• • Fantasizing about completely different careers

The real question

Do you hate teaching, or do you hate what teaching has become?

Many teachers who think they've fallen out of love with teaching have actually fallen out of love with the paperwork and politics. The actual teaching—when they get to do it—still matters to them.

Finding out

1. Identify what's draining you. For most teachers, it's the workload—especially grading.

2. Eliminate or reduce that thing. Use tools, say no, get help.

3. Give it an honest test. If you cut your workload by 10 hours and still hate it, that's your answer. If you start enjoying it again, you know it was the conditions, not the job.

Permission to leave

If teaching isn't right anymore, that's okay. Staying in a job that's destroying you isn't noble. But make sure you've experienced teaching without the crushing workload first.