When the general public looks at a teacher, they see cool, calm and collected. Teachers usually have a smile on their face and can multitask like no other profession. On the inside, teachers are juggling no less than 27 things at a time. When one little ball drops, it is enough to make them lose their sanity! Give yourself a point for each time your sanity has been tested by one of these daily occurrences.

  1. When the phone rings and the students all yell, “PHONE! THE PHONE IS RINGING!”  Really?
  2. Conversations with administrators that start with, “You wouldn’t mind” and end with, “would you?” 
  3. When students use a pencil that is less than one inch long when there are a jillion brand new pencils ready for the taking and then complain that their hands hurt.
  4. That nerve grating sound of students squishing empty water bottles…during a lesson.
  5. Long. Pointless. Meetings.
  6. Paperwork. ‘Nuff said.
  7. When colleagues stop you in the hall and ask what the email you sent said.  Um… READ IT!
  8. When one student starts humming but you can’t figure out who it is. 
  9. Parents who are radio silent all year, despite your request for a conference, and then pop out of the woodwork the last week of school wanting “more help.”
  10. Pouring your heart and soul into a lesson to be observed by your administrator…and they cancel.
  11. Giving the directions six times, having the students repeat those directions, and then hearing, “What do we do?”
  12. Meltdowns. Usually from other teachers.
  13. Constant demands from the powers that be. Refer to number 2.
  14. Colleagues who don’t seem to understand classroom volume control right next door.
  15. Fire drills.
  16. Fire drills scheduled for 1:15 that don’t actually happen until 1:45.
  17. Jammed. Copy. Machines. Literal sanity stealers.
  18. The never-ending saga of intermittent internet.
  19. The question, “Did I miss anything important?” when a student has been absent for 3 days.
  20. The word pivot.
  21. The word asynchronous.
  22. Also the word synchronous.
  23. Glitter.
  24. Sliding into the parking lot with 12 seconds to spare before the bell rings and someone has parked in your (reserved) spot.
  25. Full moons.
  26. When you find the PERFECT teacher planner…and they discontinue it the next year.
  27. The comment “It must be nice to get off work at 3:00!”
  28. Cell phones that ring during class…
  29. When a parent calls and interrupts your teaching and starts the conversation with, “I emailed you 15 minutes ago but you didn’t get back to me.”
  30. Pinterest. Let’s be real, it is impossible to achieve those classrooms.
  31. When SOMEONE writes on the whiteboard with a permanent marker…especially when that someone is you.
  32. The fun game of “what temperature will my classroom be today?”
  33. When half the class asks to go to the bathroom 10 minutes after lunch.
  34. When YOU have to go to the bathroom 10 minutes after lunch.
  35. Sub shortages. Guaranteed loss of sanity.
  36. Decaffeinated anything. Why is that stuff even legal?
  37. Rainy day schedules when it is barely sprinkling. Trust me, those babies are not going to melt.
37 Little Things that Make Teachers Lose Their Sanity