The Quiet Disappearing

Teacher Burnout

Issue 33 | THE QUIET DISAPPEARING

Teacher Burnout — Part One

She used to be the first car in the parking lot. You noticed she wasn’t anymore. You told yourself she was just tired.

Dana had been teaching in your building for eleven years. She was the kind of teacher you don’t recruit — you grow. She knew every kid. She remembered siblings. She showed up at games, covered duties without being asked, answered parent emails at 10 PM with the patience of someone who genuinely believed it mattered.

In September she submitted three absence requests for professional development she’d never shown interest in before.

You signed them. You were busy.

In October her classroom door, which used to be open until 5 PM, started closing at 3:45. Her bulletin boards — always changing, always current — stopped changing. The same anchor chart from September was still up in November. You noticed. You said nothing.

Your assistant principal mentioned it in passing: “Dana seems a little checked out lately.” You nodde…