6 years in a remote northern community, now in urban outreach... and I’m bored out of my mind. Am I crazy to want out?
After six years of teaching in a remote, northern community, I scored a job at an outreach school in a major urban centre. At the time, I thought of it as a huge win, and in some ways, I still do. There’s no marking or planning to take home. No major behaviour issues to manage. There are no minor issues for that matter. My colleagues are universally awesome, and they have my complete respect.
The catch? The job is boring AF.
Most of my day is purely administrative. 90% of the time, I’m sitting behind a desk tracking progress. My interactions with students mostly consist of me bugging them about missing assignments, not actually teaching. When I do get to work with kids, I feel less like a teacher and more like a Service Canada rep explaining how to fill out a passport application. That’s just what module-based learning is: endless paperwork and fill-in-the-blank exercises.
When I talk to other teachers about this, they insist I’m lucky to have such an easy gig, and maybe they’re right. But I got into teaching because I genuinely love the craft and feel passionate about it. I’m really worried that if I stay here too long, my classroom management skills will wither, and I’ll forget how to design assessments that actually get kids excited.
I have a continuous contract, so I’m pretty sure I want to request a transfer to a standard classroom next year.
Is there something obvious I’m missing or underestimating here? Has anyone else been in a similar boat? Call me out if I'm being naive.