Losing Control: 27 Pots & Pans On a Stove
I often get asked how teachers do it. How do we do it all when it feels like we’re losing control? How do we have so little control of our lives and occupation, simultaneously make sure standards are met, performances are prepared for, parents are communicated to, essays are graded, stimulating lessons are created, and STILL have time and space in our hearts for connecting with little humans?
Well, my friends, let me introduce you to Devin Siebold. Teaching is a little bit (ok a lot a bit) like this:
Losing Control Lesson #1: Teachers Focus On What We CAN Control
Standardized tests. Home lives of our students. Teaching from behind a screen. All of these things are outside of our control. COVID itself (and all of the stress that comes with keeping us and our students safe) is also outside of our control. We can’t control how our state legislators vote any more than we can control the state budget towards education each year.
We’re so used to uncertainty and living without true control over our own profession. Some might even say we’re good at it. We get loud when we have to, make people listen when they refuse, but at the end of the day, we play the hand we’ve been dealt and we damn sure will make sure as little of this awful world affects the kids as we can.
During COVID, keeping a positive outlook can be a struggle during times of uncertainty and understandably so. It’s easy to feel surrounded by doom and gloom when you’re virtually sequestered or unsure about your professional work situation. We feel for you, because we’ve been there. We know the feeling all too well of wondering if our very livelihood will be shaken each year as education budgets dwindle and the financial crisis continues to ebb and flow. But go into any classroom around the country and what will you see? You certainly won’t see or feel the doom and gloom the rest of the world lives in. Because we pride ourselves on focusing on what we CAN control.
What can we control? We can control our ability to care for our students, we can control our boundaries of not overworking ourselves, we can control how we respond to a hurting child, and we CAN continue to change lives even here. We recognize that we need to be a beacon of positivity in our students’ lives as we may be the ONLY beacon of light they have.
THAT we can control.
Losing Control Lesson #2: Teachers Listen to Helpful News and Tune Out the Rest
There has always been a constant negative flood of information coming from the news and social media sites about the job teachers are doing, how we’re asking for too much (like, a working, livable wage), or that we complain far too often when we “only work 9 months out of the year.”
I know you’re as sick of those comments as I am. A teacher, as we all know, is NEVER done teaching. But we also recognize that the types of people who make those statements are ill-informed and far removed from what teachers actually do.
So now, consider the news concerning COVID and the world at large right now. There are two sides to this coin: either the country is dissolving in front of us, businesses are closing, and our national economy is falling apart, and we’re going through a national mental health crisis OR people are selfish, cases are on the rise, we aren’t doing enough, and what we can do isn’t making any difference.
Are either of these sides of the coin helpful or positive? Nope. Positivity doesn’t sell. Positivity doesn’t inspire curiosity like negativity does. It’s human psychology. We want to know what the worst-case scenario is so we can work to avoid it. But, in doing so, we expose ourselves to FAR more negativity that we need to function as well-informed beings.
So, speaking as a teacher who knows the state of education in the classroom is FAR better than the news describes, I have to assume that the world is also a much better place than I see on the news.
Are there scary and awful things happening? Of course! There have been and will be terrible things in our world until the day we die. But, we don’t have to stop and set up camp in negativity. We can turn off the negativity on TV, have genuine conversations with people we trust, see the world as far more beautiful, our lives as much more blessed, and look out for those in need of true assistance.
That’s what we do as teachers.
Losing Control Lesson #3: Teachers Seek Out Community When We Can’t Handle it Alone
Teaching is exhausting in a way very few other things in life are. It’s strenuous physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially. It takes a whole bunch out of you and then, the next day, it expects it all over again. Teachers are some of the best people at realizing the importance of community during difficult times. We do it naturally. Ask any teacher how things get completed in education and they’ll probably say, “A Committee!”
Teachers do community really well. We understand when things are too big to be handled alone. We’re masters at sharing our stories with one another, game planning an issue in a classroom, or trying to get funding for a project we’re inspired by that we can’t afford.
Teachers know that the best way to handle chaos is to surround yourself with people who can empathize with you on the bad days and celebrate with you on the days where the lesson ACTUALLY worked the way you planned it. We seek out advice from mentors and friends, and we legitimately desire a positive culture in our classrooms for our students through human connection.
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Final Thoughts When You’re Losing Control of Life
If you’re feeling isolated, reach out to your community, your neighbors, and your friends. Odds are good they feel exactly like you.
This “new normal” that we’re facing comes along with all sorts of new ways of living. Attitude can really be everything when it comes to a healthy mindset. During the COVID crisis, we are all being asked to change our behavior and how we interact with others. This can feel completely isolating.
But learn from teachers.
Learn to work hard to focus on what you can control, listen to positivity by tuning out (and turning off) the negativity, and surround yourself with a like-minded community (virtually or in person).
If teachers have learned to adapt to chaos (and have done it for decades), a little chaos won’t break you either. We’ll get through this together. We will rise.
Promise.
Want to read more about handling stress? Read my 6 tips HERE
What are you thinking about? Tell me in a comment below!
