To be honest, the last week was a week of burnout and getting through that sensation. From the start of the week (memorial day), I had a break (which was a wonderful gift-Thank you Hsiao Mei!) before having to go back to teaching. However, after the break, I found frustration in teaching my lessons, but also general irritability in my mood. This bleed into my encounters with the people around me; my friends and my family.
However, there is a way to fix this; and it is not even a mental health day. At the core of my burnout was the frustration that the kids did not seem to respond to my teaching even when they could hear. But a call with my mom really put me in their shoes. She said: “From what I hear, you are an intense teacher and I would also not like to talk in your class. They do not speak up because they do not want to get laughed at; they are middle schoolers and will get laughed at (by their classmates) for almost anything. If I was not confident in my English, I would not speak up or even answer any of your questions directed to me.”
This rocked my perspective and I was able to teach with a fresh attitude and mindset, leading to a far more relaxed and fun teaching environment.