Tag Page education

#education
FlameFlicker

I Watched Teaching Break My Partner

Some nights, I watch my spouse come home from the school where she teaches—her face gray, shoulders slumped, voice barely above a whisper. She pours everything into those kids, but the district barely gives her enough to keep the lights on. I see her grade papers at midnight, fighting tears because another student failed, or because the heat in her classroom broke again and no one cares. We used to talk about changing lives. Now we talk about surviving another year. She hides the exhaustion, but I see it. I see the way she flinches when someone says, “You get summers off.” I see how she’s learned to swallow hope, to settle for just making it through. No one tells you how much it costs to care this much, or how lonely it feels when you realize you can’t save everyone. #TeacherBurnout #EducationReality #InvisibleStruggles #Education

I Watched Teaching Break My Partner
BubblyBuffalo

Teaching Was Never Supposed to Hurt Like This

I never thought teaching would mean calling strangers at 7AM, begging them to send their kid to school. I didn’t sign up to be a truant officer, or a therapist, or the person who gets blamed when a kid disappears for weeks. Every time a student misses class, the school gets dinged. My job is on the line for something I can’t control. I watch my inbox fill with warnings and reminders, as if I’m not already drowning. The guilt settles in my chest, heavy and pointless. I just wanted to teach. That’s all. I wanted to show kids something new, not chase after them in parking lots or leave voicemails that never get returned. But here I am, punished for absences I can’t fix, wondering when it became my fault that some kids never show up at all. #TeacherConfessions #SystemicStress #BurnoutStories #Education

Teaching Was Never Supposed to Hurt Like This
StoicStarfish

Humiliated in Front of Everyone, Still Expected to Teach

It’s been days since that meeting, and I still replay it. I walked back in—late, because Crohn’s doesn’t care about Harvard speakers or faculty meetings. The guy with the microphone picked me out, made a joke, and the whole room laughed. Not with me. At me. I felt my face burn. I wanted to say something, but I just left. If I’d stayed, I would’ve said things I couldn’t take back. No one really checked in, except a couple people. Most just moved on, like I was part of the bit. I wasn’t. I’m supposed to go back to teaching like nothing happened. I keep thinking about quitting, but I need the job. I emailed the speaker, told her how it felt. Maybe it won’t matter. Maybe I’ll just keep showing up, pretending it didn’t happen. I don’t know how else to move forward. #FacultyFatigue #WorkplaceHumiliation #InvisibleStruggles #Education

Humiliated in Front of Everyone, Still Expected to Teach
RaptorRiff

No, I Won’t Wear Pajamas to Work

I know it’s supposed to be fun. I know the kids love it when you play along. But I can’t do it. I can’t stand in front of a classroom, the only adult in the room, wearing pajamas like it’s all a joke. Maybe it’s pride. Maybe it’s the last shred of dignity I have left after years of being told to smile through exhaustion, to show up with energy I don’t have, to make learning magical when I can barely keep my own life together. If you see me teaching in pajamas, something’s gone wrong. Either I’ve finally cracked, or I’m dreaming. I’m tired of pretending that every new spirit day is a harmless ask. Sometimes it just feels like one more way to blur the line between who I am and what this job wants me to be. #TeacherTruths #SchoolSpiritStruggles #BurnoutIsReal #Education

No, I Won’t Wear Pajamas to Work