In January of 2020, I had an amazing experience at a three-day conference. It was truly inspiring. When I came home that day, I wanted to make a Facebook post about how great it was, so I could remember and reflect on those emotions. In the post, I said, “As a teacher, I sometimes feel unimportant, replaceable, and overwhelmed. I went to an incredible conference over the last few days! I feel renewed and these speakers made me feel like I matter, and I can change lives! I am so lucky to do a job that I love every day! I hope I look back at this post a year from now and feel the same way I do today!” That was January 30, 2020. Two short months later, the world changed, and with it, how we teach changed dramatically.
When January 30, 2021, came around, the post popped back up in my memories. I can tell you that I felt nothing like I did the previous year. In one short year, I felt completely overwhelmed and overworked. In January of 2020, I felt like I could change the world! In January of 2021, the world was changing, and we weren’t ready for it. Now in January of 2022, I am still feeling some of the overwhelmed feelings and overworked, but now it just seems acceptable and commonplace. It’s a recipe for teacher burnout. In January 2020, if a student was absent, we would just send some work home with a brother or sister or just get the kids caught up when they returned. Fast forward to January 2021, January 2022, we must make sure that all our content in class is also available online for students to access in case of extended absences. We also need to implement various mitigation strategies in our classrooms, but still, keep our scores up, provide interventions, upload our data and fill in the “Covid gaps”. It seems we are even more data-driven than before Covid. The amount of stress can be overwhelming.
I long to feel the way I did on January 30, 2020. I want to feel inspired. I want to be the teacher that is filled with hope and excitement again. I don’t know when those feelings will return, or if they will. I have been teaching for 22 years now, and the last two years have been difficult. Sometimes I feel inspired to try to make a change in other ways outside of the classroom, but at the same time, I want to continue to work with my students and make changes in their lives. It’s a tough time for teachers. I know I am not the only one struggling with what to do next. How about you? What are your plans for next year?
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Sarah Kirchoff
Sarah Kirchoff is an instructional coach in Mesa Public Schools. She has over 20 years of experience in early childhood education. She began her teaching career way back in August 1999, when everyone was worried about Y2K. She did not even have computers in her classroom at that time! Since then, she has taught first grade for four years, preschool for three years, second grade for two years and kindergarten for twelve years. She has worked for three different school districts during her teaching career. During this time, she has been able to identify which grade she found to be the most enjoyable. Her greatest teaching passion is for kindergarten. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Arizona State University and a master’s degree in Elementary Education from Northern Arizona University. She was teacher of the year at her school in the 2019-2020 school year. She became a National Board Certified Teacher as an Early Childhood Generalist in December of 2020. She currently serves on numerous committees at her school including school site council, the instructional leadership team, and the culture and climate team. She is a mentor teacher at her school and has mentored numerous interns and student teaching candidates. When she is not busy with school commitments, she spends time with her family. She has a husband who is also a teacher, and four children. Two of which are students at NAU and two that are in high school. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading books and spending time with family, friends and her two dogs. Children need a teacher that is always advocating for them, socially, emotionally, and academically. Sarah wants every student she encounters to realize their potential and she is willing to help in any way she can. The impact early childhood educators have on students reaches far beyond their younger years. Sarah wants to leave a positive impact on her students so they can continue to have wonderful educational experiences beyond her classroom and school.
Comments 1
I compromised a lot this year. It had nothing to do with Covid, I was teaching two subjects I’d never taught in high school where I’d never taught. There was a lot that didn’t get done – mostly related to classroom management. And that was on me. After a smooth start things began to unravel and by the end of the year, very few of my students were actively engaged in any meaningful way. I could have taken measures to reign in the disconnection but pretty much decided not to, for no good reason. I can rationalize my choices. But mostly have to admit they were bad ones.