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Trust you heart, even though it’s on the left side… it will direct you to the right path. After 48 Yrs as an educator, I decided to retire/transition as well.
Our sanity, health and family must be our priorities.
Believe me, you will know what do at the right time.
Take care of you and blessings to your husband.
If you are on leave, can you avoid those emails?
Agreed, delete the inbox - it's not worth it!
Sorry it has been difficult for you.
I have a colleague who went through this a few years ago. She felt like she was having a mental breakdown or some sort of mid-life crisis. She ended up taking the rest of the year off and spent a lot of time reflecting on whether or not she still had the drive, desire and passion for teaching. In the end, she did return. She decided to teach a different grade level and that made a big difference. Don't feel guilty about taking this time off. And be honest with yourself. If you're no longer feeling that passion or its simply becoming too much, maybe it's time to consider a career change. Or, you may simply find that taking time to reflect and recharge may do enough to get you back in the game for next year. Only you can make that decision, but you have to focus on taking care of yourself right now. Hang in there.
I am so sorry to hear this. We sure have been tempted and tried during this pandemic. The best advice I can give you is to hang in there. Better days are ahead.
I feel for you. So sorry you're feeling that way. It's just been so hard with the pandemic for the last 3 or so years. I don't know what to say to make the situation feel less overwhelming, but only thank you for doing a great job for all these years. I hope you enjoy your retirement
We are here for you! I’m glad you are taking time for yourself! Don’t feel bad if you have to retire early.
I’m not sure this will help but I left a public school system where I was miserable and did not feel safe in my classroom and now I teach at a private school where everyone, including the kids are happy. I took a cut in pay but it was worth my happiness, sanity and outlook on life.
Gosh. So this is a universal feeling. Hope you feel like yourself again soon. Take care of yourself, the rest of the world can wait.
Thank you, everyone. Unfortunately, the stress is far less manageable. I didn't share in the original post that my husband is fighting Metastatic Melanoma. We don't know what the future holds. School stress is so less important, but I have to make some uncomfortable decisions soon.
I had to suspend a child yesterday. For those of you not living in California, the administration isn't allowed to Suspend a child in k-2 (I believe it is in the Ed Code.) So, only a teacher can suspend. I availed myself of that right. This student has been abusive to students all year long, and it has escalated. Yesterday, it was poking students with a pencil, scratching students with an unfortunate fidget spinner with sharp corners, choking students at PE, being disrespectful to the PE coach, running around in and out of the classroom, and finally, at the end of the day, biting our Autistic student. I am SO DONE with the constant struggle with behaviors. Yesterday started with an anxiety attack, progressed to an impromptu meeting with a combative parent (admin and union representative in attendance,) after school meeting with head of Human Resources (again, with Union representation,) then onto meeting with Vice Principal on a phone call to the student who was suspended's parent, THEN back to my room to prepare for a sub. I was so exhausted and so defeated at the end of the day I just wanted to curl up in a corner and cry. Coworkers are encouraging me to take the rest of the year off. I will speak with my counselor about it on Thursday, but that is SO FAR AWAY at this point. Thank you for listening to my rant.
You can try setting up boundaries. Work remains at the workplace.