Teacher stress is an ongoing issue at MV, and Mrs. Tiffany Gentles, childcare, will define stress for teachers.

Some people here at MV might think being a teacher is not stressful at all, while others believe teachers are overloaded with classroom stress.

 “The most stressful part of teaching the PreK class at MV is trying to accommodate so many different needs from the wide variety of ages in the students that enter the classroom,”  Mrs. Gentles said. 

At MV, Mrs. Gentles serves as the  TLC preschool teacher. Mrs. Gentles stated,  “This is my fifth year here at the MV TLC Preschool.” 

In five years Mrs. Gentles said, “I hope to be where I am. I love that I get to work with small children and older students.” 

If Mrs. Gentles could change one thing about being a teacher,  it would be “making it mandatory that every classroom needs a coffee maker. Kidding but really not. To be honest, I think teachers need more time to focus on things that matter. Things that will impact a student’s life in a positive way to set them up for a successful future and less time on things that have no bearing on who they are as a person or how they are as a student,” Mrs. Gentles stated. 

Sometimes in the TLC preschool here at MV parents can tend to be a bit of a handful.

“I think every school employee has gotten stressed out by a parent at some point and vice versa.” 

“ The one that comes to mind is a parent who was always late. I had to call and remind them to pick up their child and they never apologized or said one word to me the multiple times it happened,”  Mrs. Gentles added.

“Thankfully, I have had amazing parents at our preschool and have had very few, minor times that I have been stressed,” Mrs. Gentles said. 

Many teachers here at MV manage their stress differently, while others control their stress just the same.

“I thankfully work with amazing teachers that we can vent to and all have understanding on where you are coming from.”  “Some just listen and say, that sucks, I can not believe that,”  without trying to fix the problem. So my stress is managed by having people who listen,” 

Mrs. Gentles mentioned.

  Many things at MV make teaching fun.

 “THE STUDENTS make it fun! Every day is a new experience and situation. In our unique class, the high school students get to help plan activities for the preschool students. Not only do I have fun, but I enjoy seeing them be able to create and teach others,” Mrs. Gentles stated.

Numerous teachers at MV have worked at other schools before they came to MV, and some may have not.

“ I was a paraprofessional at Rome grade school for several years. I worked in every grade from preschool through 8th grade during my time at Rome. I loved it there. The small school felt like an extra family.” Mrs. Gentles said.

Mrs. Gentles added, “I think one thing people don’t realize is the crazy amount of decisions a teacher makes. Sometimes with no warning or time to prepare. It creates a huge amount of stress and a lot of feelings of inadequacy,”