A Day in the Life of a Music Teacher
Wake up with music in your head. Leave home without eating breakfast. Help students before school, teach six classes of band or choir/music history/guitar/general music, hold sectionals after school, run rehearsal from 4:30 to 6:45 p.m., lead a parent meeting from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Arrive at home after 9:30 p.m., hungry and exhausted. Does this sound familiar?

Perhaps you've already worked three 12-hour days this year, or you regularly work long hours each week. Have you ever heard one of your students say, "Mr./Ms. ____, will you sign this permission slip for me? I see you more than I see my parents!"

"But it's the life of a music teacher!" we say. "This is what we signed up for!" Is this what we envisioned in our college music education classes? Is this what we wanted our lives to be like?

Now think to yourself: "For how long do I plan to teach, for five years or for 35 years?" Look at your teaching career and decide if you're running a sprint or a marathon. According to Ingersoll (2002), 32 percent of educators change careers in the first three years, and 50 percent change in the first five. If you're in it for the marathon, the biggest challenge may very well be avoiding teacher burnout.

What is teacher burnout? Symptoms of job burnout include a decline in job satisfaction, increased job frustration and a persistent feeling of emotional exhaustion related to stressful job conditions (Downey, Whitney, and Wefald, 2008). In the lives of teachers, burnout may manifest itself through exhaustion, dullness in lesson plans or curriculum, not interacting with students, work consuming the entire life or waking up dreading the day. Unfortunately, teachers do not usually recognize these symptoms (though their students do) and have to be told that something isn't quite right or that they don't seem happy (Stern and Cox, 1993).

What causes teacher burnout? Work and non-work factors contribute to burnout. The most common work factor is overload—simply having too much to do on a daily basis, occurring over an extended period of time. For example, 14 consecutive days of a stressful and busy schedule can contribute to overload. Non-work factors, such as relationships, can elevate stress. We all know where stress comes from in our jobs (and there is plenty of it), so the way to avoid burnout is to reduce stress and to develop strategies for coping. "Individuals who are unable to balance their work and non-work commitments are more likely to experience job burnout" (Parrillo, 2008). To avoid teacher burnout, we must create and maintain balance in our lives. We begin, as we do with most lifestyle changes, by taking small steps in the direction of our goal.

Step One: Create Boundaries

Through social media and technology, we are constantly connected and available. We check email or Facebook from our phones, and we carry a cell phone everywhere. Parents, teachers, administrators and students can reach us at any time through calls, emails, texts and social media. Somewhere the line must be drawn—and you must draw it.

Be less available. There are very few true emergencies relating to music education, so avoid answering parents' phone calls or emails from home, and if work email comes to your phone ... turn it off. Let the caller leave a message, let the text go unanswered. This is time away from work, so spend time relaxing with your family, friends or pets. If parents and students know we are willing to communicate from home, they will demand it. It's our choice.

Work hard, play hard. This phrase is one of the most important things I learned from Dr. Clifford Madsen while at Florida State University. When you're at work, be 100 percent there. Be diligent and accomplish tasks so that when it's time to play, you aren't thinking about the work you should have done. You can relax fully during your playtime because you chose to work fully during your work time. Bringing work home only invades your playtime.

Make a to-do list. One way to be more effective at work is by establishing a prioritized to-do list. Indicate the top five things to accomplish each day, and stay focused on those five. Don't move on to #2 until #1 is complete. A list can help you maintain focus. If a daily list is overwhelming, then try making a weekly list instead.

Step Two: Avoid Overcommitting

Just say no. Beware of the temptation to commit to the school play, another weekend car wash, becoming a school committee representative, a 12-hour Saturday rehearsal or an extra week of band camp. As we commit to more and more activities, our students risk becoming overcommitted, too. We should be conscious of their time as well as our own as we model balance for them. If we are unable to achieve balance, we are setting ourselves up for burnout, so we must eliminate some commitments in our schedules in order to survive. "Eliminate or be eliminated" (Hamann and Gordon, 2000).

The 24-hour rule. Before taking on a new commitment, take 24 hours to figure out the effect of this new activity on your schedule and personal time. If you find open hours in your schedule, then commit. If there aren't available hours, graciously decline with no guilt and no excuses. The fact that you are capable of completing a task does not mean you are the best or the only person for the job.

Combine events. Host a photo viewing, a solo and ensemble music sale and a parent meeting all on the same night. These events could have been held individually, but you save two more nights of work by holding them together. Schedule a parent meeting just prior to a concert instead of on a different night. The parents will probably be grateful, too.

Create a rest day. Choose one day each week to keep open for you. Don't schedule rehearsals, meetings, concerts or any work-related activities on that night. Leave as soon as your school allows, and do something else you enjoy. Go to the gym, take a cooking class, see a movie, play golf, spend time with your loved ones or go home to relax.

Observe the weekend. Weekends weren't created so we could have more rehearsals. Take a day off.

Step 3: Improve Your Management Skills

Many teachers carry stress because they struggle to manage their classes effectively or they haven't planned for class. There may not be a planning period at your school, perhaps you have not used planning time effectively or you haven't established procedures in the classroom to help things run more smoothly. It's nearly impossible to manage a class while trying to figure out what to teach that day ... during the class.

Plan. Each year, before school starts, I make a yearly outline for each class, setting tentative dates for tests, introduction of new concepts and large assignments. I've found these plans to be helpful in keeping my classes on track throughout the semester or year, and the yearly guidelines aid in my short-term planning. Try to outline the year, or even the quarter, to set a course and to establish goals for your classes.

Manage. Teach class procedures, from how to enter the rehearsal space to how to do a fire drill and everything in between, including expectations for students' behavior. Clearly communicate your expectations for behavior in your classroom, and follow through on consequences. The First Days of School by Dr. Harry Wong is an excellent resource for guidance on establishing procedures.

Ask for help. Invite a teacher you respect to watch your class and give feedback, or go watch that teacher's class. Your role model doesn't have to be a music teacher. Every educator deals with classroom management, so go sit in that history class and learn!

Make friends. Music teachers in your county or district are willing to help. Ask them to come listen to or work with your ensemble, and trade teaching of sectionals or rehearsals to compensate for each other's time. Other music teachers understand your struggles and can relate, so make time to discuss concert ideas and how "challenging" your _____ section is. You can also borrow music from one another. Find colleagues who are helpful and will offer suggestions, not just colleagues who complain. Seek out wiser directors who inspire, motivate and challenge you. If you realize that you're the smartest person among your friends ... begin adding to your circle of friends.

Delegate. If someone else can do it 80 percent as effectively as you can, let them (Maxwell, 2007). You do not have to make each concert program, organize every fund-raiser or file all of the music. Parents are often willing to work when asked, and if there are no parents available to help, give your students the opportunity to use a new skill set and to earn more of your trust by helping. You'll be amazed at what others can do when you give them the chance!

Step 4: Survive and Thrive

Choose to be healthier: It's hard to be at your best if your body isn't cooperating.

Drink water instead of coffee and soda. Even if you replace just one coffee or soda per day with a bottle of water, that's a great start!

Eat brightly colored foods including fresh fruits and vegetables. When you are stressed, your body consumes more nutrients, and French fries just won't do the trick. Replace one meal or snack with a healthy alternative by including fruits and veggies in your lunch or by choosing an apple or carrots for a snack instead of chips.

Exercise. Scooting around the office in a swivel chair doesn't count. Once a day, take a walk around the track, the school campus or your neighborhood, just to get outside. Walk or run after rehearsal when you are waiting for parents to pick up their children, or (gasp!) walk to the field for rehearsal instead of driving. Choose to be active.

Sleep. Studying scores, writing drill and grading papers are all important tasks, but your body needs sleep to replenish itself overnight. We need to rest before spending the day with 200 coughing/sneezing/non-hand-washing machines. Establish a goal of how much sleep you need each night, and start going to bed 30 minutes earlier to begin reaching the goal.

Step 5: Now What?

As I was staring down a large theory project in graduate school, I asked one of my professors, "Now what do I do?" and she calmly replied, "You start. Just start."

So, what do you do now? Start! Make small changes. Choose one thing from each of the first four steps and apply it to your life. Every small step you take now is a large stride for your vocation later, lengthening your career and pushing you beyond the grasp of burnout.

YOU are the good teacher who loves your students and would do anything for them. You might be the only person in their world who cares about and believes in them. Current and future students need you in for the marathon, excited about teaching music for years to come. Will you be in music education for the sprint or for the marathon, teaching for only five years or for 35? Set boundaries, stop overcommitting, manage your classes better, make healthier choices and then RUN. There are a lot of student musicians out there just waiting to run this race with you!

References

Downey, R. G., Whitney, D. E., and Wefald, A. J. (2008). Burnout. Parrillo, V. N. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Social Problems (1, 102-104.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Hamann, D. L. and Gordon, D. G. (2000). Burnout: An Occupational Hazard. Music Educators Journal, 87, 34-39.

Ingersoll, R. (2002). The Teacher Shortage: A Case of Wrong Diagnosis and Wrong Prescription. NASSP Bulletin, 86, 16-31.

Maxwell, John C. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007.

Raitano, R. E. and Klamer, B. H. (2004). Stress Management: Stressors, Diagnosis, and Preventative Measures. Management Research News, 27, 32-38.

Stern, A. and Cox, J. (1993). Burnout: The Dull Reality. Music Educators Journal, 80, 33-36 + 49.