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I Didn't Sign Up For This: One Classroom Teacher's Journey Through Emotional Fatigue to Personal Empowerment
LET’S TALK ABOUT THE EMOTIONS OF TEACHING…
If you have stood in your classroom and have heard your inner voice say, “I didn’t sign up for this,” you are not alone.
I Didn’t Sign Up For One Classroom Teacher’s Journey Through Emotional Fatigue to Personal Empowerment is an intimate look at how today’s teachers feel and what they can do to reclaim their confidence and joy to be the teachers they were always meant to be. Integrating self-discovery and personal experiences from nearly two decades of teaching high school English, author Diane Manser shares her realization that teaching is an emotional profession that needs to be viewed as such.
Diane offers her painful and uplifting teaching moments, sharing universal experiences that bind all teachers, in the hope that veteran and emerging teachers alike will feel validated and better prepared for a profession that demands not just strong lesson plans but also strong emotional health. Teaching—more than is recognized—is an emotional profession. Join Diane as she shares her teaching and personal journey with you and as you discover your own.
If you have stood in your classroom and have heard your inner voice say, “I didn’t sign up for this,” you are not alone.
I Didn’t Sign Up For One Classroom Teacher’s Journey Through Emotional Fatigue to Personal Empowerment is an intimate look at how today’s teachers feel and what they can do to reclaim their confidence and joy to be the teachers they were always meant to be. Integrating self-discovery and personal experiences from nearly two decades of teaching high school English, author Diane Manser shares her realization that teaching is an emotional profession that needs to be viewed as such.
Diane offers her painful and uplifting teaching moments, sharing universal experiences that bind all teachers, in the hope that veteran and emerging teachers alike will feel validated and better prepared for a profession that demands not just strong lesson plans but also strong emotional health. Teaching—more than is recognized—is an emotional profession. Join Diane as she shares her teaching and personal journey with you and as you discover your own.
432 pages, Paperback
Published May 21, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 26, 2024
I am finishing up my 24th year of teaching, and I still feel the emotions Manser writes about in this book--a day at school bringing tears, the utter demoralization of losing control of a class, the power struggles of those early years that I would handle differently if given the chance. Manser voices a rallying cry for teachers and teachers of teachers everywhere to acknowledge the vast emotionality of teaching as a profession. Teacher preparation programs do a great job of preparing us for lesson planning and content delivery, but the rest is often left up to us.
Where Manser could simply bemoan the state of teaching and complain about the hard experiences she's had to deal with, she instead parlays that into a discussion of how we can shift our mindset and do the inner reflection to control what we can and not get caught up in the things we cannot. Citing relevant research, thought leaders, and inspirational teachers, Manser weaves these into her own brave and vulnerable stories to enlighten teachers everywhere on how we can make the most of our one "wild and precious life" both inside and outside of the classroom walls. A must-read for anyone who works in the field of education or is considering doing so.
Where Manser could simply bemoan the state of teaching and complain about the hard experiences she's had to deal with, she instead parlays that into a discussion of how we can shift our mindset and do the inner reflection to control what we can and not get caught up in the things we cannot. Citing relevant research, thought leaders, and inspirational teachers, Manser weaves these into her own brave and vulnerable stories to enlighten teachers everywhere on how we can make the most of our one "wild and precious life" both inside and outside of the classroom walls. A must-read for anyone who works in the field of education or is considering doing so.
September 17, 2025
**3.5**
As a burnout teacher, I was keen to read this book. It was a good read, however I felt it was unnecessarily wordy and didn't grab me as well as I'd hoped. The premise is true - teaching is an emotional profession - and the ideas were fairly helpful, however I don't think the book digs deep enough into the issues that lead to the emotional fatigue of teachers and definitely doesn't provide enough help. Still a good read about one teacher's journey though.
As a burnout teacher, I was keen to read this book. It was a good read, however I felt it was unnecessarily wordy and didn't grab me as well as I'd hoped. The premise is true - teaching is an emotional profession - and the ideas were fairly helpful, however I don't think the book digs deep enough into the issues that lead to the emotional fatigue of teachers and definitely doesn't provide enough help. Still a good read about one teacher's journey though.
January 14, 2025
If you are a teacher and are feeling stuck in your position, pick this book up and read it cover to cover. There are so many things that resonated with me as an 8th year teacher. With how the teaching profession is losing veteran teachers left and right, this book deserves to be studied and utilized to help bridge that gap and help teachers realize their “why” again.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews