Welcome to the Educators' Cafe - Introduce Yourself Here

Hi @Millieme ,

hope you Are having a bit of a break with the kids.

No, I don’t have my own content but I help look after other people’s children including friends and relatives.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy it. I think kids are my life. I always said I’d never be a teacher, but look? Fate and destiny says otherwise.

Which state are you in @Millieme @if you feel like answering. I’m in vic and the special school system is a bit different. For some special schools the family can go directly to them. But they need all the paper work eg psychology reports, paediatric reports, ndis etc.

Otherwise, they enrol in their local school and the local school organises the required assessments eg cognitive, language etc From there, if there is a place in the special school, the local school puts it on the system and does the transfer.

The push is for inclusive settings so there are less and less spots available in special schools.

its after midnight and I’ll need to be up in a few hours to go to school.

id better knock offf

cya next time!

Hey @BPDSurvivor , happy weekend! How was your first week back?

Welcome to the Educators' Hub @MedicalMystery ! Feel free to share all things Education!

Hello there @Spirit_Healer ,

Great to hear from you. It’s been tiring this week as I don’t think I’m used to the daylight saving time yet.

I find I’m so tired when I wake up and in the evening, I’m wide awake. I’ve been sleeping at 1 or 2am each night!

This should improve by next week.

Also, I don’t have a teaching load any more.

I’m released full time and on higher duties as part of my Inclusion portfolio.

I’ll see how it goes. There’s a lot of uncertainty about next year because I’m not very fond of two of my school’s directors and I have an inkling that I might be under them next year. The latest draft for workforce planning has been released for comment….

In a way, if I stop working here, I may leave teaching altogether.

On side note, I racked up 1000+ hours of leave lol.

How’s your first week @Spirit_Healer ?

Hey @BPDSurvivor , thanks for the reply.

Our school has a new principal who is making changes without adequately consulting staff, so a lot of people are unhappy at the moment. We have a workforce planning document out for feedback at the moment, too.

The start of daylight savings has also been a challenge for me - I wasn't feeling sleepy at my usual bed time. I've been using the Headspace app to get to sleep. Have you tried it? It's usually a paid app, but Australian educators can get it for free. You just need to upload your staff ID for verification: https://www.headspace.com/educators

I use the sleep music, and if I'm still awake, sometimes I use the guided meditations for extra help. These have been very effective for me!

I've started a new medication for anxiety - the first few days I had terrible side effects, although I'm starting to feel the benefits already. I feel lighter and more optimistic. It's like a pervasive feeling of self-kindness, which makes me think that my anxiety was leading to self-criticism and judgement. I need to double the dose tomorrow, hopefully the side effects won't be as bad this time around.

Two years ago I was feeling quite disillusioned about my teaching job - so much that I applied and got into a uni course for a different career. I ended up changing schools last minute, and the change of setting made a world of difference for me. The people you work under can make so much difference! In the end, I let the uni offer lapse because I wanted to give teaching another go before I left. Now I'm happy to keep teaching for the time being. If you feel burnt out or unhappy, do consider some leave or moving schools, before you leave the profession altogether. If you're like me, it took a lot of hard work for you to establish yourself as a teacher in the first place!

That’s great to know about headspace for educators. Thanks @Spirit_Healer .

I enjoy teaching. I’m just monitoring whether and when it’s time for me to move on. It’s not because I hate it or anything.

I’ll see how things go.

Hope your new meds help.

Recently, I’ve been listening to different audio books. In the past I used the smiling mind which was great.

I have to run some professional learning sessions in two weeks’ time. I don’t really feel ready for it.

I’ll let you know how my week goes.

oh, I also have a new prin. Things have been pretty good with this new prin. I really like her. I’m sorry to hear this is not the same for your new prin. Hang in there.

Take care

Hey @moug ,

Welcome to the Educators' Hub!

Looking forward to getting to know you a bit more.

Tagging others @BPDSurvivor @Spirit_Healer @Millieme @Shaz51 @Snowie

Hello @moug ,

Fantastic to read what you have shared. I wanted to extend a warm welcome to you.

Burnout in education is real. Dealing with behaviour, dealing with large teacher:student ratios, managing the demands of families… it’s constant.

I work in early childhood education for about 13 years. I enjoyed it but there was so little room for growth and hence I also experienced burnout. No matter how much effort you put in, there was no way to move up the scale.

Due to my mental health, I stepped away from early childhood and just needed to do a few subjects at uni to go into primary education. There was a whole different feeling because I felt I was always learning. In the past, I’d always said I’d only work with the young ones. But Lo and behold, I, now a high school teacher and I train and mentor teachers.

It was easier for me to stay in education because I don’t have my own children who I have to come home to after a whole day of teaching.

If you feel burnout, maybe seeking opportunities for change can help?

Looking to hear what you think.

hello @Spirit_Healer @tyme @Millieme @Shaz51 . How is everyone going?

Welcome @moug ! Hello @BPDSurvivor !

I'm well thanks, had a productive week of classes and marking, didn't need to take work home this weekend, which is a bonus!

My mood is better after a month of new medication, I'm less anxious and more optimistic.

I experienced burnout three years ago, which landed me in hospital. What helped me was time off from work and a change of work setting. No workplace is perfect, it may take time to find a place that is suitable for you @moug .

A new student has just started in my year 10 English class. He's very high needs: ASD and ADHD, with limited awareness of the impact of his words and actions. He's quite oblivious to social cues and how he comes across to others . He's changed the whole class dynamic! My job for the next two weeks just got a whole lot harder.