6 Phases of Teaching

A friend of mine shared this with me, and I laughed out loud at this one. I don’t know who to credit with creating this, but I thought I’d share it any way.

Phase 1: You are listening to jazz — Your first day at work is great. Your fellow teachers are wonderful, your classroom is cute, you love your students, and your principal is the best!

Phase 2:You are listening to pop music — After a while you are so busy that you are not sure if you’re coming or going anymore.

Phase 3: You are listening to heavy metal — This is what you feel like after ONE month.

Phase 4: You are listening to hip hop — You become bloated due to stress, you’re gaining weight due to lack of exercise because you are so tired and have so much school work to do when you get home, you feel sluggish and suffer from constipation. Your fellow teachers are too cheerful for your liking and the walls of your classroom are closing in. You have started thinking ‘WHATEVER’ about your principal.

Phase 5: You are listening to GANGSTA RAP — After more time passes, your eyes start to twitch, you forget what a ‘good hair day’ feels like as you just fall out of bed and load up on caffeine.

Phase 6: You are listening to the voices in your head — You have locked your classroom door to keep people out, You wonder, “WHY am I even here in the first place?” and “WHY did I become a teacher!”

53 thoughts on “6 Phases of Teaching

  1. mrschili

    Heh.

    Since I don’t teach in public schools (I teach college level English, for those of you who may not know), I’m kind of still in the jazz phase. During the weeks that papers come in, though, I’m DEFINITELY listening to gangsta rap.

    Reply
  2. gina

    This is so right on time! Thanks to whoever created it. I will be forwarding it to other teacher friends!! God bless!!!!!

    Reply
  3. Leanna

    I’m in hip-hop mode in January when it is dark and cold out. 🙂 This is surprisingly accurate in many ways. 🙂 I love the heavy metal cats.

    Reply
  4. Mel (Yogicknitter)

    This has cracked me up. I actually think it is a cycle that you continue to have through out your teaching career. I can identify with all of those phases several times over the last 16 years or so.

    Reply
  5. Donald

    I’m on my 34th year, and found this to be very funny yet TRUE!
    Shared with all my co-workers. Some of then can not STOP LAUGHING!! Thanks for making my dayl
    God bless ;o)

    Reply
  6. Ouattara

    I have been teaching for some year and I can already notice for some reasons I am already experiencing the 6 phases teaching. Thanks for the advice and hope to overcome now.

    Reply
  7. celmore

    I’m still giggling. We’re two days away from parent teacher conferences, so I sent it to everyone in our building. This will forever be a favorite!

    Reply
  8. Christi

    This is hilarious…in Pre-k where I teach, this is just a DAY in the life! By two o’clock, I’m in the final stages :)…

    Reply
    1. Vet30yr

      I may not be listening to country radio..most likely Mozart or Beethoven..but the sentiments are right on the mark! Stage 7 is the beginning of maturity and wisdom. Unfortunately, this stage comes, for many of us, as “hindsight”.

      Reply
  9. drpezz Post author

    I was never raised on country music, so Phase 7 with country music would be a delirium from which I would need to be saved. 🙂

    Love the video, too.

    Reply
  10. Tired1

    After the week that I’ve had, I think I went through all six (+1) in the course of five days!
    This was a riot, but so true.

    Reply
  11. NANCY

    You don’t just have to be a teacher to appreciate. I work in a cafeteria and have a boss that at the end of a day, you will have gone thru all 6.

    Reply
  12. Rebecca

    Too funny–I hope it opens at work. When I was reading the blog’s, I noticed that you all used complete sentences with few spelling errors. This realization made me laugh even more. You really are teachers.

    Reply
    1. Stillteaching

      Just to prove I’m a teacher, you do not use an apostrophe to create a plural noun (blog’s). The apostrophe -s indicates a possessive noun for ownership. A word never uses an apaostrophe to make a noun plural. Have a great day.

      Reply
  13. Kim B

    OMG This is totally hilarious — that someone could capture the reality of teaching so precisely! I’m a first year teacher with a K-1 Combo and without a doubt I have been in each one of these stages. Thanks for expressing it such a humorous way. It always helps to laugh!

    Reply
  14. Karyl Ketchum

    After 30 years of middle school teaching, I can really relate to Phase 6: Listening to voices in my head……and locking my door to keep my “fans” away…..how true!!!!I still wonder how my brain works at all in this system, but I still enjoy everyday. 🙂

    Karyl

    Reply
  15. Ms Daniels

    This is hilarious. Right now I am definetly in the Hip Hop phase. I’m eager to see what it’ll be like for Gansta Rap.

    Reply
  16. Pingback: An Old Favorite: The 6 Phases of Teaching « The Doc Is In

  17. Pingback: An Old Favorite: The 6 Phases of Teaching « The Doc Is In

  18. Dianne

    This has to be one of the funniest thngs I have seen in a long, long time. Thank you so much to the person who created and posted it. You’re the best!

    Reply
  19. LING

    I don.t know whether i can get any help from here.I am a student in SA.I have been to this country about ten months now. Before i was in China and i taught Physical and i finished my university studys.At moment,i really worry about my study,I still want to be a teacher in SA,the problem is,i am not same as local people ,their english is better than me ,should i study language education or maths and science. and which phase i should choose,fundation,intermediate or what??? and do i need take another four years to get a BE DEGREE? Who can help me? MY EMAIL ADDRESS: lingling.zhang841@gmail.com

    Reply
  20. Jo

    Just finished STAR testing with fifth graders and am too tired to even know what phase I’m in. Most days I listen to KLOVE on the way to work to get my heart in the right place for teaching.

    Reply
  21. Cox

    This is so funny that is ridiculous. The animations are the best! Very expressive cats make everybody laugh. I’m in between hip hop and gansta rap stages due to the PAPERS TO CORRECT!!! What a nightmare. KKK.

    Reply
  22. Addison

    So, after teaching English Lauguage Arts in Phase 7 (make that grade 7) for ten years, I discovered I could make twice the bucks in half the hours “correcting” marketing “compositions” from the Engineering Departments of several well-known electronic equipment suppliers in the Boston area. Now I’m comfortably retired (since 1995) and living with my wife and 4 cats.

    Reply
  23. Mary Ann

    Since I am retired and only sub, I am back at stage one. I don’t have to plan, grade, check homework, or test unless I want to!! Maybe I am back at stage 1???

    Reply
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  26. Anonymous

    I started laughing as soon as I saw the first picture. I knew what was coming. Only a teacher would get this.

    Reply

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