It Starts with Smalls Signs
Teaching is an incredibly rewarding job, but some days feel like you’re constantly juggling emotions — the students’ and your own. Over time, I’ve come to understand the importance of recognising when I’m getting close to ‘the line’ — that tipping point where I feel emotionally overloaded or reactive.
It usually starts with small signs; I find myself getting irritated more easily, avoiding conversations with students I know will be tricky, or feeling exhausted before the lunch bell even rings. That’s when I know I need to take a step back.
My mother (I come from a long line of teachers) used to tell me that if ‘you see the kids wearing horns, check in on yourself’. I didn’t understand this until all my kids were ‘intolerable and unmanageable’ and in hindsight (always in hindsight) it was me and it always was me.
