Why I'm No longer teaching: An open Letter to education

“The decision to stay or leave the teaching profession is deeply personal and should be met without judgement.

1. A teacher can be amazing, love the kids, but also need to exit.

2. A teacher can dislike the system and be running on fumes but need to stay.

It can all be true.”

-Jenny Dixon, Teacher, Author of “HashtagTeacherLife” Blog (@Ms_TeachAlot on Twitter)

When I saw this tweet a few weeks ago, I immediately took a screenshot of it because it resonated with me. I finally saw a tweet that captured both sides of my current stance as an educator. I absolutely LOVE teaching (and instructional coaching), but I am also, to some extent, a victim of the very selfish education system here in America.

Over the course of my teaching career I have had the opportunity to teach seven different courses, five different grade levels, serve on countless committees, lead multiple initiatives, present to hundreds of other educators, coach multiple teachers and most importantly establish relationships with over four hundred (or close) students. I am grateful for all of these things. On the other hand, I am also exhausted by all of these things.

I came into education knowing that teaching was a “thankless job” and that you very rarely get credit when it's due, but one thing I did not expect was to burn out so fast. One could argue that I “chose” to do all of the things that I have done outside of teaching, but one could also argue that in most of those cases I had no other choice because until about two years ago, the narrative was that teachers are to be saints who are supposed to do everything they could to make sure schools succeeded by any means necessary. Like Jenny said, two things can be true. That’s certainly the case here.

There are certain things in the current state of education (salaries, leadership structures, school funding, curriculum needs, access points, teacher retention, etc..) that I am exploring in hopes to truly understand if I can better support the initiatives being started to fix it (and to start initiatives for the things that have not been started yet.).

I have also found that the things I mentioned above have taken a huge toll on my mental, physical, and emotional health. As a result of that, I made the very tough decision to take some time away from the classroom. We always preach “self-care” and “not pouring from an empty cup”, but the truth of the matter is that my cup has been dry for quite some time now. When you are moving at an exponential speed for months (years) at a time you don’t realize it, but once you finally slow down, it hits you. And I’ve been hit.

To know me is to know that I eat, sleep, and breathe education. Making this decision has probably been the toughest decision I’ve ever made, but when you start to notice significant changes in your daily life and habits, you have no choice. Even after considering these things, I’ll always think of this decision as a selfish decision, but a “deeply personal” selfish decision that was necessary so that I can live a longer life.

As I close out this “open letter” here are three things we (support staff, administrators, district staff, any stakeholder) can do to support teachers who may be struggling in this moment:

1. Lighten the load. Everything cannot be the most important thing. Prioritize which tasks, initiatives, and expectations are the most important (and the most supportive of both teachers and students) and then follow through with supporting teachers so that they can meet those expectations.

2. Support your staff. This includes everything from extra duties to covering classes. If there is any way you can prevent your staff from doing duties outside of the classroom, do it. Especially if you have a large support/administrative staff. (For context, my Principal made this happen with just him, our Dean of Culture, and our School Counselor and I LOVE them for this!) Will it possibly add more to your plate? Yes. Will it make the teacher feel more supported? Also yes!

3. Express humanity and show gratitude. We’re all aware of the jobs we signed up for and the responsibilities that come along with it, but a simple “Thank you!” or “I appreciate you!” goes a long way. Teachers want to feel like administrators and support staff understand the complexity of the work that they do and that they appreciate that the work is being done. (Whenever I observed classes, I would leave a little note on the teacher’s desk that would say “Thank you” alongside a detail about the lesson that I observed. It was a small way that I could show that I appreciated the work that went into their lessons.)

I’m sure someone was expecting me to say money. I thought about it. Here’s the thing: if you and your district can pay more or add bonuses, do it :)

One of my best friends asked me if I would ever teach again. I told her “Absolutely” with no hesitation. Teaching and learning is my passion and there’s absolutely no place like the classroom, but for now I have to do what’s best for me and take a break. In other words, I’LL BE BACK!!

In the meantime, I’ll be supporting students, families, and my fellow educators in a different capacity! If you made it to the end of this, thank you :)

Peace & Love!

Tristan