Podcast - Teacher Podcast - Episode 42: Reflections on Leaving the Classroom One Year Later - leaving the classroom
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Episode 42: Reflections on Leaving the Classroom One Year Later

Leaving the classroom should not feel like the only solution to easing the burden we feel as teachers. In this episode, we're reflecting on what we've learned since leaving teaching.

We left the classroom a little more than a year ago and are reflecting on what we’ve learned and new perspectives we have gained as a result of our mental, physical, and emotional distance from the classroom. Whether you’re thinking about leaving the classroom yourself or wondering how it feels to have stepped away, you’ll want to give this episode a listen.

6 Things We’ve Learned Since Leaving the Classroom

It’s been a year of personal and professional growth. We’re sharing just a little of what we’ve learned, our thoughts about how to make things better for teachers still in the classroom, and what we might have done differently. Here’s what we are talking about:

  • Very few people understand what teaching is like (even people in education).
  • Every teacher deserves a break. A sabbatical is a thing for college professors, why not the rest of us? It might stop teachers from feeling like leaving the classroom is the only solution.
  • There are ways to use your skills and connect with students that don’t require you to burn yourself out in the same way you do as a classroom teacher.
  • Don’t fear parents, families, and guardians. Leverage these relationships to address problems before they get to a crisis level.
  • Stepping outside of the classroom and school bubble can help us discover new (and maybe even better) ways to prepare students for life after high school.
  • The only person pushing me to work so hard was me. Had I not convinced myself (along with encouragement from administrators and district officials) that I needed to do everything, I might not have burned out so hard, so fast.

We may not have all the answers, but that doesn’t stop us from offering our fair share of solutions to the crisis taking place in education right now. Give this episode a listen as we work to put the world to rights . . . then pass it along to your administrator, district official, or superintendent . . . or take one of our suggestions and make it your own. We just want to help solve problems; we don’t care who gets the credit!

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