I experience stress in my job as a career college instructor in reguards to student needs. Many of my students need serious remedial help in my subject, but have yet to grasp that they are responsible for their own learning. These students act like they must have in high school, waiting for me to tell them exactly what to do, or expecting their excuses to be sufficient reasons for not doing the work expected. Some of them have yet to learn how to respect the learning environment, which is frustrating for me and the other students, since I have to take time out of teaching to redirect them. I try to handle these issues quickly and professionally, but they tend to wear me down after a while.
The stuff that stresses me out is the work I am assigned that has nothing to do with the job I was hired to do, it is just handed to me or I in some ways took on the responsibility because no one else would.
A particular area of stress in the career is when I am required to sit in on a new class that I have not had the opportunity to prepare for. The stressors are from all three directions, in which class preparedness is done in a rapid fashion, the students needing the information pertaining to the subject matter and the college requirements.
Yes, setting expectations is a critical step in ensuring that students know what you want from them and helping them understand what you have to offer.
Varied class sizes are tough Donald. As instructors and administrators, we often have to find creative ways to make our schools scalable. One solution that I've used with success is purchasing chairs and desks that are easy to move between classroom locations. This way, I can put all of the desks and chairs in one room for big classes and then divide them up for a few smaller ones.
Flucuating class sizes. This is a student needs and logistical stress area. Not enough equipment to perform required tasks for each student with the large class and not killing the budget and buying the equipment when the class size is only that large occassionally.
Balancing my work with family and household responsibilities is a source of stress for me. In addition to the requirements of my college that I pursue additional professional educational requirements. In the midst of all of it, I realize that I never spend any time relaxing and that in itself is stressful for me. Attempting to motivate students that are not interested regardless of my varied attempts is stressful to me because I want them to be successful. I am getting better at setting boundaries so that I am not so frustrated.
I walk or exercise for 15 minutes on a daily basis, and this helps reduce my stress level!
Having someone to talk to who you know really cares is the one way I feel will resuce stress
Not knowing the expectations will surely cause stress. This is why I feel that the very first thing is to make your students comfortable and give them the expectations.
Yes, the Energizer Bunny can only go for so long. Even it eventually burns out. Recognizing what makes you productive is great. If you work well under pressure and you know that about yourself, go with it. But breaks are good and when well deserved, even better.
I function on deadlines and crossing off thing on my to-do list. I have a lot of stress in my life, because it's what keeps me going. I work very well under pressure. I realize though that I really have to manage this stress because it's not good for me in the long-run (in terms of my health). I need to schedule much-deserved breaks instead of just "going and going" like the Energizer Bunny.
My major stressors come from my job, my roommate, my family, my personal needs, and my professional associations. I have to find the balance of everything. I have to spend enough time at my job to get my job done. At the same time, I have to find time to spend with my family. My roommate works overnights. When she has days off, we like to spend some time together. That isn't alway possible. To top it all off, I have to find time to fullfill my obligation to the state organization that I belong to.
That sounds like a very difficult situation Kim. I can't imagine what it must be like to manage 50 instructors. You might try organizing them into a hierarchy - by experience and tenure. So those who have been with you for a while and who know how you like things can lead those who are newer.
Insufficient resources are a primary stressor in my work life. I am trying to manage nearly 50 instructors, many of whom are adjuncts. The new ones need much guidance, but while I am working with them, no one is working on the reports and other paperwork that is required of my position. Anytime an instructor has a student concern ("stressor"), they come to me for help, which they should. But the drawback again is that no one is working on the administrative duties of my job in the meantime. Less paperwork would reduce the stress of my job.
Our college has many requirements that other local colleges do not, and many of my instructors are taken back by the requirements at our institution. This makes it hard for me to entice them to work here when we require so much more than others and don't compete on the payscale. I have headaches and backaches constantly because of the stress, and at least one colleague was driven to take up smoking because of the stress. I find that I don't have time to exercise because of the amount of work, and I know that is contributing to the stress.
I feel it alway the best to verbalize you stress.
I have a lot of different stresses in my life; balancing two jobs, two small kids, etc. The key to managing the stress is finding the right balance between everything.
This is true Tom. We've really got to address causes of stress and attack them head on - even if they are small. Otherwise they can accumulate and this can make life very hard.
Those are all tough challenges Edward but all very common for instructors. As for your issues with not having enough time and getting overloaded with work, sometimes setting expectations really helps.
As far as my job goes there are many stressors.We are constantly given more things to do but we only have a finite amount of time to complete them in.We place a high priority on student retention.Most of our students have lots of integrity but a small percentage are problems and you have to deal with them for a prolonged period of time.
