Why do teachers doubt if they are making an impact?
It is easy to forget the difference you are making when you are buried in the daily grind of teaching. That ongoing routine can blind you to your influence, leaving you questioning whether your work truly matters.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Holding onto positive memories and reminders of past students to combat feelings of doubt.Did this help you?
- 2focus on the small winsDid this help you?
- 3fake it till you make itDid this help you?
- 4meet the expectations of the profession and then use what time and energy I have left to actually teach the best I canDid this help you?
- 5just ignore it and push throughDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“do any of you go year after year with an aching feeling in the back of your mind that you’re just not good at your job?”source ↗
“Now I’ve been teaching a few years I realize it’s impossible to be as good as I would like to be, not because of me, because the job doesn’t allow for as good as I can be.”source ↗
“No matter how much you do you can still feel like you are terrible at your job.”source ↗
“Feeling that way now. I have ups and downs. Some days I feel like a great teacher, some days like a crappy one. As others have said, the job is endless.”source ↗
“Yep. This is year 15 and I always thought that I’d be good at it by now.”source ↗
“Cherish this memory and keep it close to your heart for those days you question whether you are making an impact or not.”source ↗
“It's easy to forget the impact we have when we're buried in daily grind.”source ↗