Hi All,
The stressors in my life are similar to those of the nursing instructor used as an example. I go from being a parent to an instructor back to a parent and husband as well as try to be a friend. My stressors come from trying to balance my time as a parent, teacher, husband and friend.
My list is as follows:
Grading assignments.
Getting my son ready for school.
Preparing for classes.
Picking my son up from school.
Deciding what we will make for dinner or go out.
Picking my son up from the grandparents.
Staying in contact with friends.
Straightening up the house.
Cleaning the house.
Helping pick up after my son.
Making time to go to the gym.
Getting ready for church on time.
Helping my parents and my elderly neighbor.
Regards,
Brian
For me, it is organizational and I will employ the strategies herein to document my stress list and better organize the information I work with to be more productive with a goal being to reduce stress.
There are a variety of major stressors in my life. The main one would be family. I am currently fostering my husband's nephew. This has been an added stress - much of my down time is now taken away. Another stressor is the actual grading of assignments. I get caught up and grade within my 72 hour turn around time but then it seems like another assignment needs to be graded as soon as I am done.
Stressors in my current teaching invironment involve standards and organizational factors. In many instances I, as an adjunct instructor, am powerless to enforce or protect academic integrity. There are vast inconsistencies with the way policies are inforced.
Stressors in standards catagory include:
Recommended minimum of 120 word feedback to each assignment no matter how small the assignment. With 38 students in a class this equates to writing a term paper every three days.
Organizational stressors:
School advisors consistently overriding instructors judgement calls.
The list of stressor is probably pretty common:
Logistical factors-The servers and internet have to be working.
Student needs: They call and email and sometimes forget that I have a life too.
College requirements: The 72 hour requirement to grade all assignments.
Stress is part of the job at times, it builds a little character. Dealing with it and over coming the effects makes you a better professor.
This is true Ronald. Learning to deal with stress does make you stronger and often more organized.
Hi Dr. Read
Some areas in my life that are stressful is working 3 jobs at once. I normally teach on a brick campus full-time and teach hybrid at a community college and then teach online courses at night with chats, etc.
Sometimes if my online courses have a lot of students I can get stressed out on Monday when I have to grade so much by Wed night
Thanks
Alana
That sounds tough. Where it is possible, you might consider taking on a student assistant to help with grading. Often times, students will help in exchange for an experience they can put on their resume and a letter of recommendation.
Hi Melissa
I never use students for grading (I really think we should grade our own work)
Thanks
Alana
I feel stress in my career as well as personal life. I tend to let these two things run together. As I have stated before I have a very busy schedule. My personal life stressors are that along with teaching, I am currently a PhD student and this does not let me enough time to truly spend with my family, or for just some relaxation. Although I tend to handle the stress in a constructive way, for the most part at times I truly do feel burnt out. The demands of the schools for which a teach also is a stressors as it seems the demands are constantly changing. One time the requirement for discussion board post may be 20 a week and the next week the school will change the requirement to 30 posts per week. With trying to manage my time as well as my workload this can be major stressors, which push me to the burnt out point.
The low pay of adjuncts is a stressor
This sounds quite stressful David. But looking on your list, I see that some stressors here are temporary. Ph.D. programs for example can be tough. But once you get through, life tends to get much better.
I can relate to the example of the nursing instructor highlighted in this module. I have two young children (ages 5 and 6) and wear the 'mom' hat. I teach online with 3 different institutions so I also wear the 'professor' hat. It is a balancing act, going between my children and my job, but I thoroughly enjoy the challenge.
Oh dear, I cannot even begin to describe all of the stressors in my life. I know, only too well, the repercussions of living with too much stress.
I have ulcers, gastritis and acid reflux that are all relatively new and related to the high stress in my life.
My biggest problem with stress is that I worry about everything. Most of the things I worry about are out of my control and I know this, but can't help but worry about them anyway.
I do really need to find a way to better deal with the stress in my life.
Fortunately, my work environment is great! In general, people are friendly and helpful! I do have some issues with things, but there is always someone to help me out.
A little worry can be helpful because it keeps us mindful of the tasks we need to complete. But too much worry can cause additional stress and can be harmful to our mental health.
Tina, I find your list familiar. Have you found any ways to help?
I find it difficult to balance the responsibilities in my daily life. I often find that work takes precedence. I really enjoy teaching and the interaction that I have with my students but it is very time consuming. I have an 8 month old and lucky enough to be able to have my mother babysit him. It requires an extra drive to and from her home in addition to the commute to work. I find myself driving for about 2 1/2 hours a day, before working a full time and often more. I also teach a class at night once a week therefore on that day, work consumes my entire day. During the weekend, I grade assignments and complete neglected household chores. i also try to fit in quality time with my son whenever possible, he makes everything worth while!
I read once in the life and times of a 109 year old woman (some magazine someplace) that she would ask herself if the issue she had stress about, "would matter or impact anything or anyone five years from now", if it didn't meet those criteria, she didn't give it a second thought. Thus, the reason she had survived so many years.
Ron
Here is my list:
Learning and apply new standards at my school.
Keeping up with “housekeeping” (such as updating announcements, ensuring grades are posted properly) tasks of an online school.
Responding to discussion thread posts properly with the correct type of comment, question, or example.
Grading and providing feedback.
Preparing online chat lectures.
Generally, the pace of of teaching online courses can feel overwhelimg. I loose track of time and seem to be on the computer a good portion of each day. Sometimes I even set an alarm clock to remind me to go to the gym or take a break.
