Teacher burnout is an epidemic! So, how are children to love learning if teachers don't love teaching? Believe me, I get it! Teaching 30 years, I have had my share of ups and downs. When I am feeling on the edge of burnout, I try to remember all of the silly stories and crazy things my students (and parents) have done to remind me what I love about teaching. The one thing that has gotten me through, and will hopefully sustain me until retirement, is laughter. What better way to help each other than to spread the laughter. I'll go first...
Earlier this year I was approached by one of my kindergarteners in tears. I asked her what was wrong. “____ just called me a baby!” I called the other little girl over and said,” Did you just call ____a baby?” “No, no, no!” shouted the little girl. “I said ‘Hey baby!’ You know like the mom said to the dad when she calls him and wants him to come over for the night.”
“Recently, one of the little girls in my class attended a wedding,” says Mandy, a Kindergarten Teacher in Kentucky. “Slightly confused about what marriage means, she asked me, “If I kiss a boy, does that mean I’m married?” I began explaining that marriage entails more than just a kiss, and that for two people to get married, they must be older, and ready to exchange lifelong vows. Puzzled, she looked up at me and asked, “Why would I have to be older for vows? I already know my vows: A, E, I, O and U!””