Feeling demotivated

cmegzc

I'm looking for advice from people who may have been in similar situations as me.

I'm relatively an NQT (not straight out of college but not too many years teaching either). I know subbing is a part of the game for teachers until you work up enough experience (also talking mat covers etc rather than just casual) but I'm feeling very demotivated and unhappy right now teaching. I'm due to finish up cover in a few weeks and I know I was lucky to have that I'm just not feeling like I know if teaching is really me or not. Has anyone else felt this way? It's not just the subbing I'm just not feeling like myself anymore and I'm not 100% happy is it too early in my career to give up on it? How do others get over this? How do you motivate yourself to fall back in love with your subjects/with teaching?

Any advice much appreciated. Thanks

happywithlife

cmegzc wrote: »

I'm looking for advice from people who may have been in similar situations as me.

I'm relatively an NQT (not straight out of college but not too many years teaching either). I know subbing is a part of the game for teachers until you work up enough experience (also talking mat covers etc rather than just casual) but I'm feeling very demotivated and unhappy right now teaching. I'm due to finish up cover in a few weeks and I know I was lucky to have that I'm just not feeling like I know if teaching is really me or not. Has anyone else felt this way? It's not just the subbing I'm just not feeling like myself anymore and I'm not 100% happy is it too early in my career to give up on it? How do others get over this? How do you motivate yourself to fall back in love with your subjects/with teaching?

Any advice much appreciated. Thanks

You need to be ever conscious of your mental health when subbing as it's so demoralising. I suggest making use of carecall just to offload/ vent if nothing else
Chin up and keep plugging away. Hopefully something will come your way soon. I do find winter months better for picking up sub work- between seasonal flu etc and teachers aren't so panicked about the immediacy of exams so more willing to take their sick leave than if they were knee deep in orals etc

aunt aggie

I know how you feel. I'm more than a few years out and still at the subbing stage. I have never had my own hours in Ireland and this year has been the worst. I've been mislead and misinformed by more than one school because they have difficulty finding subs!! It's down to the fact that working in this system is unforgiving on your mental health and your ability to have a life, and no one is willing to keep it up for long.

I have found that my attitude to teaching can depend a lot on the school I'm teaching in. I have happily walked out school gates knowing I deserve to be treated better or knowing that a school can be run better, and it's for the best. I try to keep my head up and have generally been pretty lucky at getting medium to long term sub work but it's the uncertainty that gets me. Can't plan holidays or trips away in Summer cause an interview might pop up that week.

I can't tell you what to do, but I'm going to keep at it for another few years at least. In the past, I've given grinds, marked mocks, marked the state exams as it helps to have a few extra earners in case the sub work isn't there. Not fun though.

AJG

I was recently called by a school regarding subbing. I haven't been actively looking for sub-work (I haven't done so in years) and have more or less transitioned away from formal teaching. I think they must have been desperate and found a C.V. I had posted out years ago in a filing cabinet somewhere. The call from the principal caught me off guard but I agreed to meet here. I actually tensed up after I got the call from her and got almost what I would call genuine anxiety from the thoughts of heading back to the classroom after so long. When I made it down to the school I actually told her I was sorry but no thanks (not for the two weeks she was looking for cover anyway). I thanked her for finally allowing me to draw a line under that part of my career but that coming in for two weeks of crowd control wasn't my thing anymore.

So while that may be little consolation to your current plight I do empathise. It may be worth having an honest conversation with yourself and listing the pros/cons of the situation.

evolving_doors

AJG wrote: »

I was recently called by a school regarding subbing. I haven't been actively looking for sub-work (I haven't done so in years) and have more or less transitioned away from formal teaching. I think they must have been desperate and found a C.V. I had posted out years ago in a filing cabinet somewhere. The call from the principal caught me off guard but I agreed to meet here. I actually tensed up after I got the call from her and got almost what I would call genuine anxiety from the thoughts of heading back to the classroom after so long. When I made it down to the school I actually told her I was sorry but no thanks (not for the two weeks she was looking for cover anyway). I thanked her for finally allowing me to draw a line under that part of my career but that coming in for two weeks of crowd control wasn't my thing anymore.

So while that may be little consolation to your current plight I do empathise. It may be worth having an honest conversation with yourself and listing the pros/cons of the situation.

Hope you're getting on ok 'in the real world' AJG, just thinking about Aunt Aggie's point above, do you think things might have been different if you got a different type of school (not that we ever have the luxury of choosing anyway!)?

EDDARD STARK

cmegzc wrote: »

I'm looking for advice from people who may have been in similar situations as me.

I'm relatively an NQT (not straight out of college but not too many years teaching either). I know subbing is a part of the game for teachers until you work up enough experience (also talking mat covers etc rather than just casual) but I'm feeling very demotivated and unhappy right now teaching. I'm due to finish up cover in a few weeks and I know I was lucky to have that I'm just not feeling like I know if teaching is really me or not. Has anyone else felt this way? It's not just the subbing I'm just not feeling like myself anymore and I'm not 100% happy is it too early in my career to give up on it? How do others get over this? How do you motivate yourself to fall back in love with your subjects/with teaching?

Any advice much appreciated. Thanks

I know this feeling too well.Sense of purpose is essential. It's very hard to stay motivated esp when it's week in, week out. Harder still when your peers are all settling down to life.
The worst is trying to keep up with the curriculum when you're not getting the experience of teaching it.

IMO, you prob should set a deadline of when you think is fair to move on to something else. This waiting around and uncertainty is like an open wound that will kill your enthusiasm and confidence. And as you know without enthusiasm, you wont succeed at teaching.

I would look at your CV and see can you expand your skillset. extracurricular and other things like volunteering. I definitely could do with doing some of that.

Not anything too helpful I'm afraid but what you are describing is quite common I'd imagine.

AJG

Gebgbegb wrote: »

Hope you're getting on ok 'in the real world' AJG, just thinking about Aunt Aggie's point above, do you think things might have been different if you got a different type of school (not that we ever have the luxury of choosing anyway!)?

Long story short... I graduated in 2008 and got a few years subbing before transitioning from youth work to school completion to private education...

Now my current situation is probably completely unique... in the past few years I saw what was coming down the line and adjusted my situation to suit the current international tutor market... no debt, no responsibilities, be completely adaptable to client needs.

My current situation is that I provide private bespoke tuition to high net worth private clients through jobs brokered by agencies based in London.

But it's a cutthroat market... From what I can gather I may be one of the only people based in Ireland doing this and it's only based on the fact I worked in the U.K and base myself in Ireland between jobs. Well paid positions/all expenses paid but your competing with 100's of candidates.

For example I flew to Luxembourg earlier in the week to meet a client (paid by them might I add). But I know 2 other candidates are flying out to meet them from other 'elite agencies'. I'll know by the end of the month if I've been successful but it's pot luck.

I've a few jobs under my belt and referrals but like I said it's probably bringing in the same kind of wages as regular subbing in Ireland? Upshot is that I work short term positions and all expenses are picked up by the client but some of the agencies are dealing with hundreds of applications from teachers bailing out of the U.K. education system hoping to make some quick bucks.

It suits me better from a working perspective but it's a hard market to break into... I regularly fly to London to meet clients or agencies.

But in answer to the question... when I graduated in 2008 I thought I'd sub for a few years and eventually get a permanent position... seems like a pipe dream now. I just roll with whatever opportunities arise... I'm awaiting word on the Luxembourg job whilst setting up meetings with any agencies I haven't met with before in London next week.

What a world:)

darlett

cmegzc wrote: »

I'm looking for advice from people who may have been in similar situations as me.

I'm relatively an NQT (not straight out of college but not too many years teaching either). I know subbing is a part of the game for teachers until you work up enough experience (also talking mat covers etc rather than just casual) but I'm feeling very demotivated and unhappy right now teaching. I'm due to finish up cover in a few weeks and I know I was lucky to have that I'm just not feeling like I know if teaching is really me or not. Has anyone else felt this way? It's not just the subbing I'm just not feeling like myself anymore and I'm not 100% happy is it too early in my career to give up on it? How do others get over this? How do you motivate yourself to fall back in love with your subjects/with teaching?

Any advice much appreciated. Thanks

Well within reason my scenario is fairly similar. I've been subbing in a school since about April and its drawing to an end this Christmas. It's 3 hours from home so I've been renting and living on my own, and ups and downs a long the way I have enjoyed most of it. About 3-4 weeks ago, I contracted a lingering cold, voice been touch and go, and energy fairly listless. As a sub, you just don't call in sick as that's an expensive lifestyle to sit unpaid on ones bum in a rented house 3 hours from friends and family. I feel that some of my classes have taken advantage of this and become more rowdy and I've found it harder to keep control, including a couple of depressing classes where I've let it wash over me. I'm doing the course for maths which is taking lots of time and is a struggle right now soaking up any free time. Some of my classes are still going extremely enjoyably but I've lain awake a few nights last week worried about how I will get through specific classes the next day. My mojo has left me. The teaching strikes and the hate from members of the general public for NQTs like myself for the audacity of hoping for even a proper conversation about pay parity in terms of scale. Like yourself I know I was lucky to get such a long period of subbing but right now I'm so looking towards Christmas to try and escape back into industry.

Well I will say OP, I don't have the key to recovering your motivation for your subject, but more importantly keep it going, because you are not alone.