Last week we dealt with that feeling of depression that sometimes catches teachers "especially towards the end of the second term" and we stressed on the "rewards that come with teaching and the reasons which make it a great profession". Today we examine the reality of end-of-term weariness and how to cope with it.

June-July is the time when most teachers have been rushing to complete the syllabus, prepare question papers for mock exams for SC and HSC, assessment tests for other forms, school activities like sports competitions and fund-raising activities like fancy fairs, etc. When you are a young teacher, you recover by taking advantage of the school vacation to go to bed early, forget about the preparation and the marking load, do lots of activities, really leaving behind all school concerns.

So when you go back for the last term of school, you feel better and rejuvenated. The most important thing at that stage is to try and keep a balance between school life and personal life. Some teachers cannot avoid spending their time thinking, breathing, and living school. They find it very difficult to leave behind the little problems of their students. There is nothing wrong with this. But it is important as well to follow a few ground rules:

• take care of self and family first;

• take time to think;

• put a little more life into self;

• leave paperwork at school;

• make an effort to think, talk and dream about family and interests.

This added to a good diet and exercise helps you face the day-to-day stress of teaching

However, experienced teachers who have let school life invade their personal life face a different sort of stress. They start asking themselves why they chose this profession, why it is so difficult to cope with personal and school life They feel weary, cynical and wonder if they will ever regain their original dynamism.

These are early symptoms of burn-out, which affects teachers worldwide and incites some to withdraw to refuel or just quit the profession. Overwork by teachers is not conducive to good health or to creating a healthy learning community. "Teachers who experience burn-out are less sympathetic to students, less committed to their jobs, less tolerant of classroom disruption, less apt to prepare adequately for class and generally less productive." This observation appears in most studies dealing with teacher welfare and development.

Next week, Classroom will elaborate on the symptoms of burnout, its effect on teachers and ways of dealing with it.

<B>MCL</B>