Ben

Ex-halfspaces guy | Teacher ➡️ instructional designer ➡️ project manager. Cheers. 🥃
✝️ ⚽️🏒 〽️🏈

[Ben @blharreld]

I taught middle school science for 17 years. I didn't realize I was burnt out until I'd been gone for a couple months.

Here are 5 I lived:

1. You’re mentally checked out months before the school year ends.

2. The library gets turned into an ISS room and you just shrug because nothing surprises you anymore.

3. You sit through CYA meetings where the eval was already written before the admin walked in...and it doesn't even bother you.

4. You are losing friends to teaching jobs in "better" districts (or other careers) and you are happy that they got out.

5. You don’t hate teaching or the kids… you just can’t picture doing 20+ more years of it.

Anything you'd add from your experiences?

[Ben @blharreld]

@GrindLinePod @NHLRumourReport @frank_seravalli I'd read the wording of Frank's tweet again...

[Ben @blharreld]

@ByDougMcIntyre He hit that one with Force 😏

[Ben @blharreld]

@tj_kerk @BradKrysko Agree with that. The most likely teams for me are: Utah, Anaheim, Florida, Dallas, maybe SJ if Larkin thinks they’re close bc of Celebrini

[Ben @blharreld]

@tj_kerk @BradKrysko IMO - no, but we’ll have to see how it plays out. My guess is that they’ll work together to find something that both parties can live with.

[Ben @blharreld]

@tj_kerk @BradKrysko It would if Larkin had a year or two left on his deal…he has 5. The Wings and Larkin are going to have find the middle of the Venn diagram of teams he’d be willing to go to and teams that can make a reasonable offer.

Minnesota isn’t one of those teams imo.

[Ben @blharreld]

@WingRaider @MikeLanski @NHLRumourReport Are we sure Anaheim is interested in Larkin? Verbeek was in Detroit with Larkin and the friction with the front office isn’t new.

[Ben @blharreld]

@isaiahhole @Jadaki Most recent Stormlight book was the worst by far, but the first one or two are among the best fantasy I’ve ever read.

[Ben @blharreld]

The pace of work in corporate ID/PM is steady year-round but much slower than the classroom.

There’s no giant exhale at the end of May with two months to recover.

I was worried that I would miss that summer reset badly but the stress is so much less that I haven’t.

I actually prefer the consistent rhythm — no more crashing hard in June and scrambling in August. Just steady work with actual vacation time I can plan around.

Teachers thinking about leaving: how do you feel about giving up the traditional school calendar?

[Ben @blharreld]

Was able to work in a Bob Ross ice breaker activity too. So that was a bonus.

Being able to spend a bit of money to make activities go well is another difference between the corporate world and the classroom.

[Ben @blharreld]

Going to a storytelling workshop last week for my education team role made one thing crystal clear:

The best instructional design (and PM work) isn’t about fancy tools. It’s about telling a story in a clear, compelling way.

Spent years doing exactly that with middle schoolers who didn’t want to be there. Turns out the same skill works even better with adults that are motivated to learn.

Teachers moving into ID — how much do you lean on storytelling in your work?

[Ben @blharreld]

Here's a career path almost nobody talks about: Teacher → Instructional Designer → Project Manager.

ID was the perfect bridge — it let me use my lesson planning skills for adults who are motivated (usually) learners.

Six months later I was running real projects as a PM. Same skills (deadlines, stakeholders, clear communication), but better pay and way less drama.

If you’re a teacher in (or considering) instructional design right now — this is a career path to consider.

[Ben @blharreld]

Similarities between Instructional Design and Teaching (my experience)

• Details matter: The difference between a science lab or corporate interactive learning module that you have put time into and proofread 17 times is glaringly obvious

• Learning Objectives: This isn't my favorite thing, but higher ups in both fields want them...get used to using that list of Bloom's verbs

• Humor works: If you can make people chuckle (or feel any emotion really) the learning you create will stand out

There's more, but I'll stop here. Other suggestions?

[Ben @blharreld]

@PhillyCSteak1 Good admins are hard to come by. I lost count but I had 10-12 different head principals over the course of the 17 years I was at my school.

[Ben @blharreld]

I taught middle school science for 17 years. I didn't realize I was burnt out until I'd been gone for a couple months.

Here are 5 I lived:

1. You’re mentally checked out months before the school year ends.

2. The library gets turned into an ISS room and you just shrug because nothing surprises you anymore.

3. You sit through CYA meetings where the eval was already written before the admin walked in...and it doesn't even bother you.

4. You are losing friends to teaching jobs in "better" districts (or other careers) and you are happy that they got out.

5. You don’t hate teaching or the kids… you just can’t picture doing 20+ more years of it.

Anything you'd add from your experiences?

[Ben @blharreld]

@sickofthegrift You’re at exactly the point I was when I moved on. I subbed for 2 years then taught science for 17. Good luck to you.

[Ben @blharreld]

@jenteach13 I dreaded the spot sub call or slip in the mailbox. $20 wasn't worth the loss of 45-50 minutes peace/planning time.

[Ben @blharreld]

So I landed a remote Instructional Design job in Feb of 2022. My favorite non-work things about the change:

1. Two seasons: mesh shorts and sweat pants

2. Taking my kids to school in the morning

3. Going to parent-teacher conferences/school events for my own children

4. Lunch dates with my wife/lunch with kids during the summer

5. More energy and patience at home with everyone

Others?

[Ben @blharreld]

@manolis_312 Ugh

[Ben @blharreld]

@2017Room204 😂

[Ben @blharreld]

@davidweir54 That's true. Schools may want to plan a sort of rotation for teachers so things don't get stale.

[Ben @blharreld]

@DavWarren3 Lots of stuff to do/fix during that 2 months lol