It’s the Yuletide season and students and teachers are in the rush; not to check a Christmas gift checklist but to pass final requirements to commemorate the end of the semester. Oftentimes, teachers are misunderstood for being strict in giving deadlines especially amidst a pandemic but we are also navigating our way to meet deadlines.
Just like students, teachers stress about deadlines. We experience the same burnout and urge to not continue. The honesty to change careers and find a magical career that is not burdensome crosses my mind more often than not. But the love for inclusive teaching and learning weighs my decision to rise up amidst the system.
Deadlines give mental distress, which is why the Department of Education launched a new hotline to aid students and teachers. However, another way to prevent mental distress is going easy on giving heavy paper works with ridiculous deadlines.
The heavy workload doubled when the new mode of distance learning was introduced. We are to attend multiple Internet literacy training and seminars, exhaust our resources to suffice our technological needs, and remodify learning modules to fit the new mode.
Non-educators often claim that the job of teachers is easy now because they are not teaching in person. This is a misconception. I would rather teach in-person. It is much better than on-screen.
Deadlines impose unnecessary frustration and procrastination. My life does not revolve around teaching. I have a family to take care of. I sometimes let out my frustration on my family. I am shameful for doing so. The pandemic made it worse since each of my family members are always home although they try to also understand where my frustration is coming from.
Educators are often deprived of weekends to do chores or destress after a long weekday of working. Procrastination for me as a teacher is avoiding schoolwork and putting my family first by doing my chores. It is a way for me to circumvent my lamentation on my unfinished workloads.
Deadlines are sometimes impractical. Although I tailor the module outputs to the capacity of the students, I have no control over the module deadline since it is the school’s decision; in the same manner that I have no control over my workload’s deadline. It is necessary to make one accountable and succeed in whatever work one has done. However, may the deadline be in sync with the teacher’s workload.
I am days away from my deadlines just like we are days away from celebrating Christmas. I hope I am done with my commitments as I celebrate a joyous Christmas with my family. (DAISY G. KITONG)
June 2, 2023
