The biggest causes of stress are complains that you hear about this and that which are not important at all.
Thanks for sharing Elias. Your stressors are so common amongst instructors. Many of us struggle daily to balance our personal and professional lives. It takes practice and we're not always perfect, but we can achieve balance at times and and enjoy everything that life has to offer.
Sounds like you have a lot on your plate Joele! That's tough. These challenges definitely put us to the test and drive us to find ways of getting better with time management.
Some of my stressors are dealing with students needs as well as meeting the college requirements.
- Getting the students to realize the importance of showing up to class on time.
- Informing them the importance of taking good notes
- Have a positive feeling about what they have accomplished.
- Informing the students about maintaining the correct number of contact hours to meet the college requirements.
Complaints are truly a challange George. It's hard when we feel like we are doing our best and they come in anyway. We have to remember that there are some things we can control and other things we can't.
Personal:
Health (Severe Diabetic)
Home
Family (Mother-in-Law)
Work Related:
Advancement (Full-Time Position)
Health (Severe Diabetic)
Compensation (Benefits)
Student Needs
My Abilities (Credentials)
My Knowledge of the Subject Matter
My Skills of the Subject Matter
We have two instructors in the building capable of teaching our core classes and one is our program director which means we have alot of things placed on both of our shoulders which has also put a strain on our working relationship. It makes the working environment stressful.
a few of the stressors that I face as a clinical instructor is the balancing of multiple staff members and making sure the students are getting what they need. Being aware and savvy on finding the right instructor for the right students in/on a particular day. Being an ear for the students to bounce issues off without getting to personal and helping them redirect that energy into something productive and something they can utilize. This is one of the many stresses in a day of a clinical instructor.
The school I work at is undergoing major program changes and it is affecting the class curriculums or the lack thereof, since instructors have to build the lecture content and develop materials themselves based off of a coprporate ideal. We also don't know what the student population will be like until the days before a start so administration is stressed as well. Not knowing what to expect and starting from scratch is a huge stressor on top of the usual teaching/family conflicts.
Unfortunately the stressors in my life are logistical. In order to not allow them to have a negative impact on my life I try to create a line between them and my classroom space. While I can not control the things that I am handed to teach, I can control the environment that I spend most of my day operating in. Even just that realization that I can not control everything (and shouldn't try to) helps me relieve stress.
I'm a full-time teacher without an office. I've taken over a classroom, which has worked out pretty well for me. The only problem is that there are no Internet-ready computers, so I have to use my personal laptop. Lately there has been no wireless service in the building. IT has been very unhelpful getting this problem resolved such that the issue has been more than three weeks ongoing. Therefore, in order to get into my email or other administrative tools on campus, I must wait in line for two computers in the adjunct room, which are always busy. Often, if I have a lot of work to do, I'll just do paperwork in my room and wait until I get home that night to check email and do administrative work online.
I think a major area of stress for me now are my kids, which would be classified as life stressors. My youngest is in 4th grade and she herself is constantly stressed about grades, school projects, social anxieties, etc. This is spilling over a lot into my life. My plan of action to deal with this is to meet with her school teacher and guidance team.
A major new source of stress comes from the corporate heads of the company that owns our school. They keep us "busy" with tasks that do not impact our work in the classroom. We cannot avoid these because it means dismissal or being written up. I look forward to the next section to get an idea of how to deal with this other than looking for another job (which I am seriously considering).
That sounds like a tough sittuation Laura. Sometimes these kinds of sittuations can be worked through. Other times, change is the key.
This is a great list Crystal. Looks like you've got a lot of stress that you're dealing with. Both personal and work related stress sources can take their toll. It looks like some of this stress can be reduced or controlled. Knowledge of the subject matter is one example.
These are all great points Bernard. So many instructors experience the same kinds of stress as it relates to their students. Getting students to realize the importance of showing up to class on time is a particular challange that I hear many times over by instructors.
Katrena made a great staement!! I often try my best to eliminate stressors from my life. I try my best to keep a balancec life though things may happen out of my control. Playing multiple roles< especially as a single parent sometimes gets challenging.
Much of my stress comes from the fact that I'm relatively new to teaching, and therefore suffer from a lack of teaching experience. I often doubt my teaching ability, though I have extensive experience in my field. I believe this is a natural feeling that will lessen over time. (At least I hope it will!)
Another souce of stress for me is having to constantly take work home with me - which happens every day and every weekend, too. I know a lot of this comes from the fact that every class I teach (or have taught) is new to me, so, I'm looking for this to lessen somewhat as I become more familiar with each course.
Of course, as others have pointed out here, there's corporate-induced stress, too - but that's a fact of life, and I'm able to deal with that as it comes. But, as for the stress factors stated above, I expect them to become less stressful as I grow more comfortable with my role.
My main cause of stress is due to logistical requirements of my job and business.
1. Commute to and from two jobs traffic considerations.
2. Not enough preparation time for class
My secondary stress is due to another logistical requirement and that is organization.
1. Numerous exams, rubrics, and handouts are not neatly filed.
2. Obsolete data files still remain on my desktop creating time consumptions just looking for them.
Some causes of stress are deadlines. Meeting these deadlines would not be a problem if equipment and software would perform as they were designed to. Also, having the opportunity to be trained on a specific program prior to meeting deadlines would certainly help.
