What Did I Teach? (And Why Did I Quit?) [CC]

[@jennasink8743]

I relate to this SO much. The passion, the trauma, the empathy leading to burnout-I’ve been through all of it. The difference for me is that I personally can’t not teach; it’s pretty much the only thing in my life that makes me feel like I am capable and have something worthwhile to offer. The elation I feel after a successful lesson is a high like no other for me. But I can’t succeed in the school system, and so I’m having to build my own way through tutoring and online teaching, because I CANNOT go back there. Thanks for sharing your story. I know you know this, but you’re not the only one.

[@TriforceLiz]

I really identify with a lot of this. I'm so happy you found the self-energy and wisdom to step away from teaching in that capacity. It's simply not worth your physical or mental health. To a lesser extent, I also had a gift for teaching, and I completed my high school degree with the intention of going to teachers college & got all the required credits (for some reason here in Ontario Canada, you need Advanced Calculus to teach K-4?????) I completed 450 hours of teaching-based community service during that time, and I found I really connected to the JK and SK classes. This was at a time before I knew about my own disability & neurodivergency, but I saw the beginning of children being bullied and ostracized by not only their peers, but the teachers as well, which brought up a lot of trauma for me. I ended up getting so burnt out, and deciding not to pursue teaching, despite everything I had invested into it, and how much I wanted to change the system. It's truly one of the hardest jobs out there.