Student Burnout

As I’ve grown accustomed to the achievement centre and how it works, there are still endless situations that throw me through a loop and keep me on my toes. As we got closer to the midterm mark, I’ve noticed how students react differently to the stress and the work they need to do. Some students take the challenge head on and work harder to bring up their marks in class. Although there are some students, who I usually work with in the achievement centre, are more resistant to doing their work. They complain often, trying to cop out of being productive. I have also noticed that students are a lot more tired and less motivated than they were before at the beginning of the semester.

Being in the immersion program and in all academic classes throughout my entire high school experience, I am no stranger to burn out. This usually happens when students are overworked, or they are simply thinking or focusing too hard in school. All of that tired energy is eventually crescendoed into a lack of motivation, the constant feeling of tiredness, and sluggishness as a whole. Around midterm especially, school feels long and never ending.

Some challenges I’ve faced lately were attempting to get students motivated and ready to learn again. Not only that, but some students tend to act up in class which gets a little out of hand. I didn’t really know how to handle them at first, since it felt that anything I did or say didn’t really hit home for any of the students. However, I did find other ways to tackle these issues. For the kids that act up, I mostly let miss do all the talking since it isn’t my job in the course to discipline students. It isn’t my place to say so. As for motivating students, I do so in an indirect manner more than anything. I walk around the classroom more often, checking on the work they’ve done and reminding them that they should answer some questions. Even so, I sit down with them, help them out if I see that they’re stuck on a particular one.

My interactions with the students surprised me for the past three weeks. I’ve gotten a lot of personal questions, like what I want to take in university, what I do aside from teaching lessons in mentorship. They always want to know more about me, which honestly pleasantly surprised me. Aside from the fact that they’re supposed to be doing their work, of course. I make sure to have these side conversations while I’m teaching, helping them, or at the end of class. Not only that, but I’ve usually said hello to them outside of the classroom, sometimes even having some more small talk with them as if they were genuinely my friends.

As for my relationship with my mentorship teachers, I’ve loosened up a lot around them a lot. We both have a mutual respect for each other and whatever they need done, I have no problem doing at all. We exchange a fair amount of jokes and stories that truly make me feel like they’re my coworkers, which is a weird feeling to have because they’re still evaluating me on what I do in class. I’ve noticed the way they always ask our students how they’re doing in class or if one person seems more tired than usual, their concern is genuine. That aspect of both Mr. Morris and Mrs. Fernando is a trait I respect so much. They care about their students and their well being and honestly, that makes them feel like real people who want you to succeed in class because they believe in you. I think that’s what separates them from every other teacher out there, and I am so immensely grateful that I was put in their class for mentorship.

As mentioned before, student burnout is very much a real thing that people should be more aware of. Rest and relaxation is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted. Motivation and striving to be better are key for keeping your head above water throughout high school. I hope to pass down these personal observations to the students in the achievement centre as well.

Down below are the meme and motivational quote of the week!