Eric Baylin's
Songs to Brighten
A Teacher's Day

Losing it: When the pent up frustrations of teaching, of life, of every little thing that needs to be done on an endless to-do list suddenly erupt.

Teachers are human and we lose our cool sometimes. Occasionally losing it" is an understandably human response to the incessant flow of life pressures and the demands of the classroom. Perhaps, though, we can lose ourselves in song instead.

Even the mildest among us can lose it.
Even the even-keeled sometimes can break.
Add a few stressors, plus student transgressors,
And maybe thats all that it takes.

Sometimes the pressure mounts up from the inside,
Self-imposed high expectations to meet,
Never quite good enough, taking on too much stuff,
Thats when you may not be sweet.

Sometimes the stress is imposed from the things
Over which you have little control,
Family emergencies, plumbing leak urgency,
Those things can take a big toll.

Thats when you need to be very judicious,
Thats when you may lose your typical cool.
Losing your patience, you vent your frustration,
Your feelings are way off, its better to lay off, you might need a day off from school.

Sometimes, quite frankly, its students who push us,
When they are rude and when they give us flack.
Takes all of our control not to reverse the role,
And just to dish it right back.

When you start feeling the pressure a-mounting,
Try to step back from the urge to explode.
Nothing good comes from it, student morale plummets,
Find somewhere else to unload.

Pound on a pillow or pound on a door,
And theres one other thing not to do,
Dont dump your bad day on colleagues for sure,
Cause they might be having one too.

Losing it now and then shows that youre human,
But if its daily, that might be a clue:
Working with students might not be so prudent,
It might be right for you to think about business or banking. They pay better too.