I would use all of those phrases and more to describe a "typcial" day in the classroom. To be honest, those are the things that make me love my job and those realities keep me in the field of education. However, those are things that can also make teaching so exhausting. You could be the most organized person in the world, have a never ending supply of patience, and always have a backup plan number 5 in your toolbox. However, when working with kids, ecspecially kids with special needs, it is simply impossible to ALWAYS be prepared for every little detail.
I would say that most teachers probably have high expectations for themselves, and that's what makes them good teachers. However, its often those impossible expectations that we set for ourselves that make us go crazy and cause unnecessary burnout.
I've realized that in order to give my kids what they need, I have to give myself what I need. If I don't take care of myself, I can't take care of my students. When I'm overally tired and stressed, I find myself easily frustrated and low on energy and that's just not fair to my students.
The "valleys" in teaching are inevitable. As a result, I have found some resources to help cope and some advice that inspries me to trudge on.
Check out these links:
Teacher Burnout
Warning Signs of Teacher Burnout
Someone put an article in my mailbox my first year teaching about the cycles you can expect in your first year. I remember looking at it and feeling like it was so true! The feelings, thoughts, and emotions it described were so relatable to me at the time. I found the website below that describes something similiar:
How to survive your first year of teaching
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