Stress

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Home : 2003 : March : 1

Stress
By JudyW

Hi Dave and All,

Like you and many others I worry about the pressure put on our children as well as that placed on teachers. It seems to me that with the addition of high-stakes testing to our school program everyone,
both teachers and students, is dealing with increased stress levels. At my school many children seem to shut down when they get to the 7th grade. Many spend an extra year in junior high but do manage to finish high school. Is it possible that these students experience a form of student burn-out?
Like you, I often feel that I am physically and emotionally not able to do everything

shoved my way. I've been comforting myself with little pep-talks about not being superwoman. I know several young teachers that have "packed it in" after teaching only a couple of years. My daughter, a first year teacher, looked at her first pay check and remarked that she made more in a month from tips waiting tables while she was in school.

We seem to have many problems in education but guess I stay because of the satisfaction I feel when my students become successful adults--and most of them do. I also miss that fun stuff--art projects, creative writing, play day--which we no longer have time for.

JudyW