Work streess appears to be the most difficult to handle. I feel if I become more organized, then some of those stressors will be elemenated.
I can identify the following stressors:
Time Management
Students Special Needs
Grading Assigments
Michael, Interesting perspective. Some instructors would agree that they have the hardest time managing work stress. Others feel that their home life is what's out of control. Regardless and to your point, the more organized we become, the more likely associated stress can be reduced.
Dr. Melissa Read
A general area of stess has been the uncertainty of our campus closing as well as if we were going to "teach out" our program. With that stress, I have the additional stress of looking for another job, maintaining and balancing my personal life and family and trying to stay positive for my students.
I am teaching a class this mod on Stress Management. So I feel it is a great class to use the techniques at work and especially at home to stay healthy (in my mind as well as my body.)
Everyone has stress..
and yes, many deal with it very differently,
Some stress just does not have to be on your shoulders, and that is when I will have a problem with what is being dealt out. Either from my own peers, or maybe even from one of my students.
Most stress can be dealt with in an adult like way and categorized on levels, and I handle them that way also.
It is almost like the straw that broke the camels back, but hopefully without the snap that finished the camel.
most things big or small can be an opportunity to show a better way to handle a situation than just complain or worse, you never really know who may be watching or worse (maybe) looking up to you for the way you handle yourself
My biggest stressor is the students I teach because I am trying to help but they have no concept of the time it takes to complete their tasks to pass. The student is now in a jam and my eval is dependent on their success.
The number one cause of stress in my life is an administration that is incompetent. Do you remember that Super Bowl commercial a couple years back( monster.com maybe), where the guy was trying to work with a bunch of chimpanzees? That's how I feel dealing with the overpaid executives running my school. The CEO of my school admits that he was a financial exec at various company's until five years ago when he was asked by the board of directors to run a career school they had acquired. Never taught a day in his life and doesn't know a trade. Today he's on the board of the same national accreditation organization that oversees our school and others. (My understandiing of how this accredidation stuff works is that it doesnt matter whether what youre teaching has any educational value or even makes sense as long as everyone is teaching EXACTLY the same thing from 8:12 to 9:17 on day 4). My program chair and the "curriculum specialist" at our school who has a doctorate in education rewrote our entire curriculum and sadly it reflects a lack of even a basic understanding of our field, not to mention breaks every basic rule of effective teaching. To paraphrase Bob Barker, " I can't believe he's a professional teacher, I think he should be working at the snack bar." So many instructors have quit, causing me to spend a third of the year working a double shift. We're put in an impossible lose-lose position: either do things our own way and look over our shoulder, or do things by the book and feed students bogus information in a PowerPoint presentation with literally(I'm not exaggerating) 200 words on a slide. Anyway, that's what stresses me out.
Matthew, That can be so frustrating. It's hard when working with students who lack motivation and drive to be successful. This is particularly true when our success is dependent on theirs. While we can give them helpful tips on time management, we cannot manage their time for them.
Dr. Melissa Read
Usually my stressers are work and family. I find my students to be a big one. sometimes i just feel like i am wasting my time trying to get these students to listen to me.
Often my stressors come from student needs. THey often need much more assistance with various issues than I am able to provide. This may range from an inability to grasp the concepts to homelessness.
My stress often comes from the student needs. THey may need assistance in the areas of inability to grasp a concept or homelessness. There is often a feeling of wanting to do more but simply not being able to.
Jesse, That sounds tough - especially homelessness. I recommend thinking carefully about the kind of support you are capable of providing and identifying others who may be able to help with the rest. For example, many institutions have great student counseling services that you can refer to when students are experiencing serious crisis. The people representing these services may be better trained and prepared to help students manage through complex life scenarios.
Dr. Melissa Read
Time management
regular exercise
make up test and going over course material that students missed
eating a proper meal
micromanagement by upper level individuals
nonparticipation by students
lack of preparation time before the quarter begins
The list could go on and on, but, those 3 are the biggest stressors that are constant for me.
What about confrontations with students? I have often had to face student accusations in regards to lost assingments, unfair grading criteria, and inadequate teaching. I find most accusations stressful although I realize that these students are venting their frustrations because they are usually from the students who are not wanting to work in my class and, as records show, all other classes.
Elaine, This can be so frustrating. Sorry to hear you've had so much experience in this area! My recommendation is to be clear at the start of each semester about your expectations and grading criteria. This will set the tone for what you expect from your students up front and minimize accusations of unfairness.
Dr. Melissa Read
The major causes of stress in my life are multifaceted. I have a 45 minute commute one-way to work. If I hit rush hour that commute goes to 1.5 hours easily. Organizationally, we are often playing shuffle at the last minute to make sure that we have a classroom that will meet the needs of the class. In addition, I am working on my MSN. To meet the needs of family, work, and school are a challenge at times.
Being an instructor at a career school I would say most of my stress happens outside of work as I have a small business to run. So as I tell my students "leave your baggage at the door". It works for me, I find that when I arrive at work I can forget about what's happeniing on the outside
at least for a while.
Each and everyone have different stressors in life. We have to learn how to deal with them. Once inside the classroom personal stressors should be put aside so as not to interrupt in the teaching and learning process.
