lateley we have been asked to perrfoom classes for the general public y
that are given to us by coerporate.
we do not get the information until the day beforw. we have been asked to give uor own time for free for different events that have brought in no students. I was written up for getting one complaint fron over 400 students bt no good job from the 399 happy ones.I have written notes to the compnany faxciity manageger written at 8:oopm when I was ther, that the printer had gone down. I got a nasty letter back at 1:00am not to contact him his time.we work in a culinary scool and the President does not wash his hands after using the restroom. This was noticed by many. W still do not know whart we get paid after asking for 3 years now. We are not allowed to speak to each other in more than groups of 2 any more.I take certain prescribed drugs t help with my stres tat I have been told by my supervisor I shouldn't take, She is not a physycian.I was taken to the hospital rcentlydue probably to my sress issues and the President did not even see to my health before being taken away. We always get you can do better but never get you did a job well done.These are only my work stresses. I should tell you about my personal someday but that would take another page.
Nice tactic Terry and I can relate. These days, career schools are constantly changing. Factors like the economy, new performance metrics and a host of other things contribute to driving change. The best instructors are the ones who have good coping mechanisms to deal with these changes daily.
Wow, you've really got a lot of stress that you're dealing with Ward. Over the years, I have heard many instructors talk about experiencing these kinds of stressors individually. It's rare to meet someone who experiences so many of them at once! I can't imagine what the stress landscape looks like for you when you combine personal stressors to this list too. Sounds like a real challenge. Hang in there. Try some light breathing exercises at your desk when things get tough.
In my situation I often get stressed due to my lack of teaching experience. I am well experienced in my field but sometimes doubt my teaching abilities. Also my field is kind of a specialty at this school so I am not there as often as other staff and sometimes don't find out new policies or information as soon as I'd like to.
I stress when students don't understand what we just wnet over because they didn't listen or when you only get reconized when the one time you messed up over the billon of good things you have done are over looked
I generally experience stress on multiple levels:
School:
~I teach 5 courses
~I have to document all student absences
~Attend weekly meetings and serve on committees
~Complete administrative paper work
Students:
~I am the school's counselor and I must be available to students as needed
~Followup with students who are absent from class
~Followup with online students who are not logging in to their class
Personal:
~Maintain family time
~Find time from interacting with friends
~Find time to engage in community activities
~Find time for personal outlets (i.e., exercise)
Wow, that's quite a list Earl. I think it's interesting how you divide up Scott and Student stress. That's a lot of stress coming from work. Looks like Personal stress is a little less of a challenge for you. That's great to see.
General Stress Areas in my life:
I currently teach in two different college settings. One a career college; the other a community college geared toward students who are going to continue their education at a higher institution (4-year college).
I am department chair for the career college and adjunct faculty; at the other I am adjunct faculty.
One facility I am currently teaching 5 classes two days a week; the other I am teaching 3 classes two days a week (total of 15 hours).
As department chair, I am responsible for holding department meetings, overseeing faculty members to be sure they follow regulations as they pertain to upholding school policies, classroom procedures, etc. I also serve on several other committees within the school.
In addition to this I live by myself on a farm and am responsible for several horses, dogs, and cats.
I am married by husband lives in another county by his choice; am also responsible for his health care, etc.
My health is good, even though I had open heart surgery a couple of years ago -- not related to stress.
Through the years I have managed to control my stress factors by realizing I cannot do everything for everyone all the time. I have had to place things in order and have learned to take care of what is needed and to let other things "slide" until I can get to them.
Also, my students have access to me 24/7 via my mobile phone. I like to have them feel they have my assistance when they need it; not when I have time to give it to them.
Throughout my 47 years of teaching I have learned to be adaptable; there are battles you can fight and win and then there are those that you just have to surrender and fight another day.
You must realize there is just so much you can control in your life and other things you must learn to let go and address them when you can.
Like dust in the house, they will be there when I get to them.
Hopefully, this will help some incoming instructors cope with the stress of teaching. I have certainly enjoyed my career as an instructor.
I feel like a lot of my stress comes from the multiple hats we are asked to wear. Teaching has a high level of time commitment and when the number of courses increase that means there is less time to work on the administrative portion of my position. Sometimes the time outside of class is not factored in to the amount of time required for teaching and this can cause a lot of stress for many people.
My stress list:
Professional stress
• At my university massive amounts of emails are forwarded to us on a daily basis where we are responsible to memorize its content
• Constantly rules, policies and procedures changes it seems daily
• Poor communication channels between us and our superiors ( e.g.: I have sent 3 emails to my superior within the last 2 weeks with no response!!! Yet we are required to respond to student within 24 hours. ) FRUSTRATION!!!!
• Every session ( 5.5 weeks) we are assigned to new contact people who are liaisons ( too much changing of the guards)
• We are required (mandated) to attend so many meetings (at least 60 minutes each) as well as CE courses where we are unpaid
• Extremely full courses (typically 30 plus students)
Personal stress
• Single parent of teens
• Youngest is homeschooled and oldest is full time college student 100% dependent on me
• 5 deaths in family within 18 months
• Upcoming surgery ( I do not qualify for FMLA since I am adjunct yet I have been teaching there for 5 plus years)
Christine--yes--I agree with you--my issue is that there are so many things I want to do and I tend to over commit than I feel bad-- in fact, I just did this today--I made arrangement with my gym to do some of their HR work in exchange for free membership--afterwards, I thought: “Oh my goodness, when will I have time for this now?†I get too involved with things for people rather than keeping it simple --LOL. I volunteer as a court appointed child advocate as well as work in my church--I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR ALL OF THIS--oh well--It is a learning process for me and I am beginning to say no now that is has begun to impact my health and space as well as my role as a mother which for me is my most important role until they become self-sufficient adults---I can’t wait for that day--LOL! .
I think if we find ways to reduce stress, we can be effective Nursing instructors.
I totally agree sometimes I need to delegate certain tasks or just say no.
Yes, delegation is a wonderful way to manage too many tasks in your queue Marcus. Saying no - where appropriate - also works. While we can't say no to everything, pushing back every once in a while is a healthy approach.
Stresses in my work enviroment comes from many sources,it comes from students that don't show up on time and then leave early and then do poorly on exams , then turn around and blame the course material.
stress also comes from co-workers that are less than professional, professionals that claim to have work experience but then prove later that they have experience in some other field but nothing in common with the subject they are trying to teach, all in all, a person should do their best to deal with these types of stress, but I have found that my best defense is to do my best to leave these types of issues at work and try to forget them as I walk out the door and to then return to them as I walk back in, but i have to admit i sometimes will discuss them with my wife.
Too many projects, things on a to do list, other employees, and new curriculums are all stress items. Learning how to deal with these items as well as put them into managable pieces are how I try to lessen the stress.
Stressors can be energy consuming...I always look at the bright side.
Meeting the demands and expectations of students, administrators and fellow workers as well as meeting my own personal and professionial standards can be stressful.
Managing time and attempting to find balance between work and recreation with so many things vying for attention can be stressful.
We have had 4-5 Presidents in the last 6-7 months. One of these short term presidents read a prepared statements at our meetings and then left. He was never around to get to know us or answer our questions. Another President stated that she was looking out for her own best interests. (It felt as though we were being used & lied to). The latest President was made aware how we felt about the treatment of his precedsors, he claims to be different, we'll see.
We are also going to teach new syllabus in a few weeks. Many of the instructors do not have time to review & prepare properly due to current schedules.
Added stressors would be family issues and trying to balance those with work.
