Why are you tired after teaching?

by Derek Featherstone

Yes, you're tired at the end of a day of teaching. Is it for the right reasons?

If you're a teacher and you're facilitating longer half- and full-day workshops, you're usually pretty tired by the end of the day. Your participants likely are too.

I felt it earlier this week. I delivered a full-day training, and I know that both the participants and I were tired when the end of the day rolled around. You could tell, and I could feel it. It was a head-exploding kind of day. Great, right? Not really.

What did I really want?

I wanted to be tired from trying to keep up with them. From excitement. I wanted them to be tired because the day was filled with hard work and hard thinking. The truth is, I did most of the work. I carried the ball most of the day. It wasn't the way I wanted it to end up, but that's how it played out.

That won't happen next time for me. And it shouldn't happen for you, either.

Preventive measures

How can you avoid this in your teaching? It's all about who is carrying the ball, who is doing the work, and what kind of work they're doing.

Envision the day. When planning your course, finish these statements: "At the end of the day, I'll be tired because _______. The participants will be tired because ______."

That should at least create the right mindset.

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