Why You Should Quit Teaching

I've been there. There's a pull on your heart to let the wind blow you in a different direction.. the urge to see where you land professionally. Maybe in an office. Maybe travelling the world. You feel angst at the thought of what today may bring.. what words will be pieced together in a new powerpoint presented at a faculty meeting, written by people in charge, most of whom we’ve never met up close..that old sinking feeling “You need to be better. The 100% you're inputting is not measuring up to the 200% we need. The machine that is your body, that is also the body of a mom, a daughter, a wife, a friend, needs to move faster, work harder, with more purpose and less outside distraction.” It's the same message presented in many different ways. I feel this pull often. But I stay. And most teachers do. But this is why you should quit.

1.)   If you can’t make eye contact with a student walking into your classroom who is so desperately waiting to be acknowledged and, with a smile, make them feel like you’re genuinely happy they came to school that day, you should quit.

2.)    If you can’t push aside the bureaucracy long enough to stand in the copy room with a group of teachers and discuss something other than the misgivings you’re faced with each day, you should quit.

3.)   If you no longer feel empowered and humbled by the job you've been trusted with and the beauty in the relationship you are able to create amongst a group of little humans, you should quit.

4.)   If you just can’t seem to find it inside of you to share something positive about your most difficult student during a parent conference, you should quit.

5.)   If you find yourself no longer enjoying implementing new activities or learning new strategies, you should quit.

6.)   If you aren’t physically or emotionally able to let go long enough to give a full-on, red in the face belly laugh with your students, (because let’s face it, they’re crazy little weirdos) then you should quit.

7.)   If you find no joy in helping grow these little people, if you’re not personally invested, if you can’t give them the best of you, if you can’t put aside your personal feelings about your own professional morale long enough to plant something beautiful in each child, then you should quit. 
8.) If you can't give most of yourself away each day, every fiber of energy that makes up who you are, only to receive back a notion that it's still not enough. If you stop giving any of yourself away at all, you should quit. 

Not because you’re a quitter. Not because you have a bad heart or you don’t care. Not because you haven’t spent years and years of your life beautifully honing this craft. But because, let’s get real here, you’re tired. You're broken-hearted and feeling invisible. And the goal you had in mind is unforeseeable. You forgot why you ventured on this path. The system we are working for is broken. We are tiny little specks on a machine that is much larger than we are and it’s spinning in a direction we can’t fix in one quick tug, but if there is no fight left in you.. and your daily mantra becomes “What about me?” instead of “What about them? Then my friend, you should quit.