Logistically, I work 1.5 hrs from my front door, work two professions and have a newly moved in dementia parent-in-law living with us. One of those professions requires on-call status 24/7 and the other has standards my supervisor seems unaware of that would directly affect my licensure. And I raised my hand at the wrong time and ended up on a national committee that requires travel intermittently. Student needs are a walk in the park by comparison, though my current class seems to think a fist-fight could resolve all their problems and I'm attempting to train them as professionals. College requirements are rarely an issue but this last class gave me 3 days notice without access to course materials for a brand new class to me after telling me for a week I'd be teaching a different class. I resigned and took a clinical position effective next week. A stress-relief move that will add more stress short-term...
Hey guys, this should be that bad. Lets look at it by a point of view. As a former combat leader in the infantry, I was put in situations of life or death. Can't get more stressful than that, okay. Now anything after getting shot at can not be that stressful and can be easly managed.
health is a major one, we have one of the worst medical system in the world...
my dentist is another one, now that i have to pay him $ 6000 because the insurance doesn't cover..
politics and religions, people mediocrity and incompetence.
at work mostly requirements can be an additional stress factor to an already very heavy curriculum.
That sounds really tough Kori. Some moments in life are really stressful. The stress is temporary - lasting a few months and then subsiding. It's hard to see how things will get better when you are in the thick of it. Stay strong.
My biggest source of stress is personal. I'm going thru a divorce, have to work 3 jobs all summer to make ends meet, go to my full time job which I no longer like, to name a few. it is very hard to consentrate on schoolwork with my mine on other things. I try very hard to focus on school when it is time to teach or do grading. Some days are easier than others.
Adult learners can be hard to work with Sheila. They often have complicated schedules and complex lives. We often have to spend more time as instructors helping them overcome many obstacles to learning. This can be stressful!
The causes of stress for me in my job center around the needs of the students.
Adult students have many demands placed upon theird time and sometimes school is a low priority. This causes difficulty for me as a teacher because work is missed and needs to be made up or tests are missed and need to be reschedule. In turn this puts stress upon my time and affects my feeling of well being. In conclusion the high rate of absences for some students causes me stress on the job.
Sounds like you are dealing with a lot of stress but that you are also dealing well with it too Kenneth. Getting outside and listening to music is a great coping strategy. Exercise is great too!
Sounds like a really challenging situation Heidi. It is hard to wear many hats - particularly when we have to switch from one task to the next so quickly. It's also hard to come home and not bring it all home to our families.
I am a single mom working at a career college. In addition to teaching responsibilities I am also one of the Student Success Coordinators. It can be very stressful wearing many different hats in a day. I need to make sure I am setting good boundaries in all areas to make sure my stress is decreased as much as it can be. When I am home my first priority is my children. I try not to bring in work problems into my home life. Some days it is easier than others.
WOW!! Sometime I feel like I'm going to explode. Whe I feel like that either at work of at home,, walking, jogging,, just getting outside with my headset of soothing music is a must. I've had a hard time sleeping through the night lately. But if I get out and exercise or have a good workout, it really helps me,,,because I'm physically tired. This helps shut down my brain too.
During my 25 years military career, there was always some sort of stress, and we learned how to deal with it. Know as a civilian educator, I find more stress from my govermnent boss. The lack of people skills, management skills, personality skills are all lacking in my present job.
I work from home. A major stressor in my life is my family's expectations that just because I am at home, it means that I am "available." I still have to work, even though I teach online :). This causes a lot of stress in my family. They don't respect my work time or space at all.
I also have a lot of stress from the cirriculum, which I did not create, but must teach. Sometimes I don't agree with some of the content, but I still need to teach it. I find some of it confusing, and it causes stress for both me and the students.
Sounds like you have a lot of stress but that you are managing it well Robert. Yes, helping students with their stress is stressful in itself. We've got to be sure we're in a good place ourselves in order to help them.
Under the career stressors category I can identify student needs from their personal lives spills over into the classroom function. Examples are missing exams or tests, having excessive misses, needing extra help (and the fear of failing). These "student neeeds" end up putting stress on my job in terms of keeping them up with the class material. I consider that a logistical factor I have to keep in mind with my job. I also find that the student needs will run up against the college requirements category as well. Can they still stay in my class, or do I drop them? Are they needing correcting for class room behavior? Do they need to go to the financial aid rep.? It's not just about the teaching.
The other category is life. I work at a part-time job on the weekend and am trying to support my wife's partnership in a new business. She also has a teaching job. This leaves us with very little time for any vacation together. And we feel the financial stress of keeping all the bills paid (hence, the multiple jobs!). Maintence of our existing home w/animals is another stress category because of limits on our time. In short, too many activities and not enough time or money!
Most of my stress comes from work. As a teacher at a small, for profit college, many of my bosses have little to no clue what it means to be a college level teacher and all the work that is involved in our job. Most of them beleive we only work when we are in the classroom; therfore, we should have loads of time to do administrative work. Of course this is not true. There preperation work, grading, advising and tutoring of our students, etc... that goes along with what we do in the classroom. It can be an exhausting job at times, mentally. Administrators need to realize this so we can be afforded the opportunity to do what we have to do in order to continuie being the fine teachers that we are.
Currently, the major stressors I'm experiencing in my life are:
FULL-TIME JOB REQUIREMENTS
-meeting deadlines
-assisting numerous co-workers with projects, while still being able to meet my personal deadlines
COLLEGE INSTRUCTOR REQUIREMENTS
-updating a packet and final exam based on the new textbook received this term
-teaching 3 classes at the same time next term
-creating lesson plans for the 2 new classes on my schedule for next term
COLLEGE STUDENT REQUIREMENTS
-finalizing 2 final papers
-completing graduation paperwork
-searching for new job opportunities after I receive my new degree in July
ORGANIZATIONAL
-putting the finishing touches on my friend's bridal shower this weekend
-purchasing items/packing for the bachlorette party the upcoming weekend
PERSONAL
-meeting with mortgage consultants to qualify for purchasing my first home
-finding a home I can actually afford
-attempting to get my finances in order
As you can see, I have a lot of stressors in my life right now. It actually did make me feel better putting these down on "paper" rather than having them float through my brain.
So great to hear James and what a difference that must make for you! When our leadership are approachable and easy to talk to, we get to communicate what we need and get the feedback we are looking for.
I couldn't agree more. The head of our CJ program is the type of individual that you are able to approach, talk with, and get great input from, no matter what the problem.
There are many different issues that provide stressors in my career. They come in many different forms.
Logistical Factors - there are many different
Student Needs - student needs are important at almost any cost. The events of students that cause stress can typically be avoided with proper planning on both the part of the student and the instructor. Organization and execution of plans make life easier on both parties.
College Requirements - it is somewhat impossible to understand why my organization tends to have and urgent need for every request. Unfortunately, it seems the expectation is that instructors have just one job 4 hours per week. Wow!!! that would make it really hard to survive, but with the amount of detail required often within 24 hours, it seems quite an unreasonable expectation.
This causes unnecessary stress.
