Time to Go: 5 Signs You're Ready to Leave the Classroom

When I was a relatively new teacher, it didn’t take long for me to realize that it might be difficult to stay in the classroom for 30 years. Being a teacher is not only a highly complex job; it also comes with high expectations that can be impossible to fulfill all the time. Even before the pandemic launched education into a state of instability that we are still working on resolving, teacher attrition rates were high. For many educators, staying in the profession for the span of an entire career may be just the right thing to do; however, for others, there is no shame to be felt in throwing in the towel, especially if signs indicate that it’s time to go.

You no longer enjoy working with students.

One day, a veteran colleague came into the office after class looking discouraged. When I asked him what was wrong, he said, “Teaching would be perfect if not for the kids.” I didn’t say anything at the time, but I thought about what he said a lot in the months and years that followed. The conclusion I ultimately drew was that if my colleague genuinely felt this way on a consistent basis, he should probably stop working with kids. The big difference between teaching and other jobs in the education field is that only one usually involves a lot of face time with kids. For most teachers, time spent with students is a significant pro of the job. When it starts to feel like a burden, it may be time to reevaluate things. 

Your temper has an increasingly short fuse.

More and more, the little things might start to push you over the edge. One teacher recently shared with me her frustration that students always leave the classroom a mess with papers on the floor and materials left out for her to put away. “One day,” she told me, “I almost picked up a book and threw it.” We all feel angry sometimes, but if moments of rage become increasingly frequent or result in actions that cross important boundaries and create unsafe spaces for kids, a change is overdue. 

You find yourself making jokes or barbs at the expense of kids.

I was eating lunch at my desk one day when a student came to see me for help. “I got my homework back today,” the student told me, “and the teacher made some comment about how it was nice to finally see me trying to get it right. It wasn’t fair. I always try, but maybe she just can’t tell. Anyway, she didn’t have to be mean about it.” 

Kids can be frustrating, and it often feels as though they are doing badly either on purpose or to be spiteful. Sometimes that may be the case, but it is more likely that students who struggle are dealing with all kinds of challenges that exist beyond the scope of the classroom. There is never any excuse for tearing a kid down, either under the guise of dark humor or through explicit cruelty. If we find ourselves engaging in this type of behavior and feeling as though our actions are justified, we may have lost important perspective about how to lift kids up and help them grow. 

You dread going to work every day.

Nobody enjoys getting up early and moving through traffic or similar obstacles to get to work. However, once we arrive, we should feel generally satisfied to be doing our work. If all we feel is a sense of pervasive dread at the thought of teaching every day, that’s a fairly good indicator that it’s not really the right job anymore. Again, job dissatisfaction or burnout is often a temporary state of being, so deciding to quit right away is not a wise move. However, if negative feelings persist and do not ease over time, it might be good to start looking at making a switch.

You no longer believe that kids can grow and learn.

On the first day of school, one of my children came home and reported that the teacher kept saying that in his class, “Things are going to get scary” because the work would be too difficult to complete. When I tried to suggest that the teacher might have been joking, my child didn’t feel any better. In the days and weeks that followed, I heard about similar moments of sarcasm or direct criticism as the teacher continued to express a lack of belief in what students could do. The bottom line is that to be effective teachers, we need to hold the deep-seated belief that kids can experience growth. Otherwise, our deficit mindset only winds up doing harm that is potentially irreparable.

It is hard to suggest in a time of such broad teacher shortages that even more professionals might be better off out of the classroom, and such a suggestion is certainly not to be made lightly. However, in schools, the buck stops with children. It is unfair to expect perfection, but any classroom teacher should be there to support kids, do their best, and try to leave kids better off than they were before the school year started. If it is no longer possible for whatever reason to serve students to the best of our abilities on a consistent basis, it may be time to step aside for the benefit of everyone involved and consider a new pathway.

Written by Miriam Plotinsky, Education World Contributing Writer

Miriam Plotinsky is an instructional specialist with Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, where she has taught and led for more than 20 years. She is the author of several education books with W.W. Norton and ASCD. She is also a National Board-Certified Teacher with additional certification in administration and supervision. She can be reached at www.miriamplotinsky.com or via Twitter: @MirPloMCPS

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