The Teacher Burnout Podcast

Teacher Burnout Podcast- Laken Allen Guest
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Teacher Burnout Podcast, where we explore the challenges of burnout for teachers and share practical strategies to support teacher well being. I'm your host, Barb Flowers. If you're a teacher looking for ways to prevent burnout or an educational leader searching for strategies to support your team, this podcast is for you.
Let's dive in.
Welcome everyone to the teacher burnout podcast. I'm so excited to be here today. I'm here with a teacher, Laken Allen, who's going to talk to us about her journey in teaching and how she has encountered burnout, but has stayed positive
so Lakin, if you want to go ahead and just tell us about yourself and your career in education. I am Lakin Allen. This is my 14th year of teaching. I've been in title one schools and high income schools that were the only schools in the county that didn't [00:01:00] have title one funding.
I've been in a charter school before and oh, my God what grades have you taught? I've taught third for about 11 years. I taught, 4th for 3 years and then a little bit of in and out of 5th. This year I teach 4th and 5th reading and social studies and I'm at a virtual academy.
So that's been a little bit different as well. For How do you like being in a virtual Academy? Is it harder to build relationships with kids and get them engaged? I love the virtual Academy, there's obviously a lot of people have this misconception of COVID virtual and our virtual Academy, which is kind of a struggle because a lot of parents and kids come in thinking, okay, I'm just gonna do it like I did in COVID.
I don't have to be on camera and I don't have to speak. I could just do my work and I'll be counting present, but I really love it because I can [00:02:00] teach , I can't control them at home, but I can notice when they have a haircut and, we have like a 15 minute conversation at the. On Mondays of class and do our SEL lessons.
So I really do get to know them. They come in a few times of year for like lab days where we get to like spend time together as well, but we still have our struggles. Like I can't make them do their work. You know, I have to watch the way I speak because everybody's listening, but I really love it a lot more because I can teach, , I feel like a lot of what now is, is.
behavior challenges, like kids have changed over the past 15 years. And so have parents. Yeah. In your teaching career, , have you ever encountered moments of high stress or burnout? Yes. And then how did you, navigate those challenges or manage to avoid them in the future? [00:03:00] So my first experience with burnout was Rob would like, like any other teacher is your first year of teaching, I didn't know what I was doing.
I was really in a low poverty school. I felt like I had just been what did, what did I do? And that actually naturally worked itself out. , I don't know if I would be teaching had I stayed there, but they had to cut some teachers and they moved me to a different school and that changed my whole perspective.
So many people complain at all of these other schools, but you go to a different school and you're like, whoa, I should be appreciative of where I am. , yeah, it made me really appreciate and I think that's where it changed my mindset in my first year. I'm just appreciating.
Hey, this was way harder than I expected. I was a first year teacher. I didn't know. Just changing my perspective and saying, Hey, I should appreciate where I am, other schools have all these other struggles. So that was my first thing. [00:04:00] And then I was pretty much fine through everywhere else until, I think it's been like five or six years ago.
I started off great, but then I realized. , the burnout came from, administration lack of organization. And I don't want to put it on anybody else, but I feel like that that's what it was. I was getting paid more, a significant amount more, and that did not make it better like you think it would.
But the lack of administrative support, the lack of. Organization, the lack of curriculum, all of that contributed to my burnout, being fussed at, and, extra duties, we were in kindergarten through 12th grade school, extra duties, like, making sure high schoolers are on dress code, but you're not a high school teacher, , Silly stuff that shouldn't have even been an issue.
So that [00:05:00] contributed to, I don't want to do this. . And I think you describe things that are super common, If you feel like you are in an environment that is not supporting you and you have administrators not supporting you and the lack of curriculum. I mean, when I look back at my teaching, I think that's what stressed me out the most was when I had a lack of curriculum.
So I think those are all common things that cause burnout. And I even went back , because I had a curriculum at my previous school and I even went back and bought a full set of basils for my kids so that I would have. a curriculum. I taught that curriculum for seven years. I knew it in and out.
I didn't need a , teacher manual. I bought the basils for my kids so that I would have a curriculum they always say, I don't think people realize how much teachers spend money. . But in order to, I guess, increase. My ability to teach decrease my stress and anxiety, make it easier to lesson plan.
I felt like I needed to [00:06:00] spend the money on the basils. The kids would do better. I would do better. And I'm just like, okay, whatever. , and then ultimately saying, is the money worth it? Being at the school and
no, , and I was just like, okay, I'm going to go apply some other places and see what I can do. Because I mean, there has to be some other place. That's going to have better administration. , to me, administration is it , that's the number 1 administration. If you have administration that is, you know, They don't have to be your friend.
, I don't want it. I just want my administrative to, to be administrative, , tell me what I need to do. Tell me what I'm struggling, what you see me struggling with. Give me some constructive criticism and give me at least most of what I need. , I feel like that's not much to expect. So I had to switch schools in order to get out of that situation.
And.
Keep from quitting. I love that though, [00:07:00] because I hear a lot of teachers, you know, who are burnt out and they're unhappy and they don't know what to do. And I think that what you just said is so important. It really is about the culture. Like you said, the administrators.
They set the tone and the culture for the school, whether they're giving you feedback, whether they're helping you grow, whether it's a positive culture, negative culture, whatever that is, , it, it does matter. Administration matters and your colleagues matter, all of that. And so if you're unhappy where you are as a teacher and you're feeling burnt out, I think that's a great strategy to apply at other districts, find a district that might just be a better fit for you.
So I think That's really smart that you did that. And like you said, money usually doesn't matter. , I understand if you're making a lot more money, it's hard to take a pay cut. But at the end of the day, it is about purpose and knowing what makes you happy. And if you're in a district that has that positive culture and you're happy, I think that is the most important thing.,
dealing with overwhelm is a common challenge for many teachers. How do you approach or [00:08:00] manage feelings when you start feeling overwhelmed? So I just have to leave it just like leave it all , , if I'm at work and I feel overwhelmed, I'll be like, okay, guys, let's take a five minute break. , I'll step outside. I'll breathe, you know, breathe. , they're so silly. They can read me like a book. And a lot of the times they'll be like, okay.
Miss Allen, let's use our SEL strategies and I'm like, they are so funny, but teaching SEL to virtual kids and knowing that the kids are there and the parents are there has really helped me. Navigate being overwhelmed, like, because everyone's listening. And, I learned from them and I learned how to manage what I'm saying and I just have learned that I need to step away, take a break, don't bring [00:09:00] anything home and just do something.
That I want to do and most of the time it comes down to music here lately I just put some headphones on and just sit back and rest and Eat, I love food and I know that I feel like those are such simple things to manage being overwhelmed, but I don't know just stepping away and trying to get out of Where you are.
I think that's great because it is just simple things. It is like you said, just stepping away, but it's having that mindset. , you have to be able to tell yourself. It's okay. The list isn't going to get done today. Right? Yes, and I remember, starting virtually. And just in COVID when they were like, you have to teach these social, emotional lessons.
Like that was never a focus before to me. And I didn't want to do them. But [00:10:00] now that I had a curriculum, obviously of social, emotional lessons and going through those lessons, it's like, why didn't we do this sooner? Because I feel like. The kids need it, but for me, teaching it to the kids is , de stressing, and it's also , reminding me, okay, these emotions and these strategies are things that everyone should use.
That's a conversation I have with my school counselor a lot because we talk about, we teach kids these strategies to cope with different things and the social emotional lessons and we don't do it for adults. That's why I'm so passionate about coaching because everybody needs to practice these skills and practice working on your mindset.
We do things for our physical health, but for our mental health, like. Resetting our mindset and learning to think new thoughts is a complicated process. But if you have somebody helping you to do it, or you're doing lessons towards that, I think it is [00:11:00] really helpful.
It's an important thing that needs to happen. I think it's just really because it's been so taboo, you know, to talk about. Your emotions and your mental health and , everybody wants to just ignore it. Now I'm just like, let's just talk about it.
It is such an important conversation to have. And I think With students and I think with teachers. Currently I'm a principal and I talk with my teachers about that. I think it's super important to, have those conversations with them about their own mental health and well being because you have to have those conversations.
Somebody has got to be talking about it. What do you feel like as a teacher is the key aspect that contributes to stress and burnout for teachers?
For teachers in general, just seeing my colleagues and the staff around the school and myself, I feel like we do it ourselves. We put so much stress on ourselves. That nothing is right and then we [00:12:00] get things added on and then we have to correct and reflect and I don't know, sometimes I just feel like it's not good enough for myself.
I know that's kind of sad, right? It's perfectionist thinking, right? Cause that's what they teach you as teachers. What can you do to make it better? You're supposed to reflect, you're supposed to make it better every time. I stress myself out trying to make it better, for me, I also try to do so much.
I try to help other people because that's what makes me feel better is helping other people. With the things that they need in my school. So I take on that as well because that makes me feel good. But then it also can stress me out as well. I think sometimes that is the problem. We need to set boundaries for ourselves and we want to be helpful and we want to help other people, which is awesome and it's a good thing to do, but we also need to make sure we set those boundaries so that we're helping and taking care of [00:13:00] ourselves as well.
I think two important things there. Yeah. Well, thinking about the county as like a whole, I feel like they put so much, and I know that it's coming from the state. They push You know what the county needs to do, or maybe it's not. And then we have all these PDs and all of these things like letters, trainings, and all of the, new programs coming out and the new curriculums coming out as well.
It's like, it doesn't have any organization to it. Sometimes like, okay, we're going to roll all of these out at the same time versus. Let's just do it a little bit at a time and not just say, Oh, we're going to pay you some money to do it and you have to do it. And you have to do it within this time frame because that is not going to help me at all.
I won't learn it and I'm just getting it done. And it's going to stress your teachers out. I try to stay positive. So. There's always, you know, so much that is being rolled out. And [00:14:00] so I think it comes down to focusing on what you can control and keeping those things in mind so that you don't get overwhelmed or too stressed out.
I think that that can be really helpful. , thank you like, and so much for joining us today. It was great talking to you and I loved what you shared about, how you keep yourself, , from getting overwhelmed and how you've dealt with burnout in the past. So I appreciate you being on today.
And is there anything else you want to say or share before we sign off? , the world cannot be anything without teachers. So when we get stressed out, we just need to take a breath and just think about what we're doing and take care of ourselves.
That is so important. And I totally agree. Self care for teachers is a must.
Thank you so much for joining me today on another episode of the teacher burnout podcast. If you're interested in one on one coaching, I would love the opportunity to book a free consult where we talk about your goals and how I can help and support you grow to be the best version of yourself.
And if you love the show, if you're listening on Apple, [00:15:00] scroll down in your app and leave a review. Keep in mind, you have the power to shape your life according to the mindset you choose. I hope you have a great week and I'll see you back here next time.