[MUSIC] Welcome back to Teach English Now. In these last few lessons, we are going to change our focus away from the learner and toward one very important person. A person that, to be honest, we really should talk about more. You. Before we talk about you, let's have a small discussion about the teaching profession in general. Over the last 20 years or so, I keep seeing a very disturbing problem. Good teachers, great teachers, keep leaving our profession. The truth is our profession, when done well, is an exhausting one. Teachers in general are tired. But teachers who understand the importance of acquisition in language learning and the need for students to be able to communicate in English must be engaging, create stimulating activities, and constantly meet the changing demands of unique learners. You become an actor, a coach, a psychologist, a guide. I'm tired just thinking about it. The concept I'm referring to is called Teacher Burnout. Teacher burnout means that a teachers like a candle, try to give and give until they themselves have nothing left. And over the last 20 years I have seen a lot of teachers last anywhere from three to five to ten years, and the quit. Become car salesmen. Construction workers. Actors. Anything besides a teacher. Why would that be? Well of course in education there are always concerns about salary, lack of support and so forth. But I would suggest that one of the biggest problems comes from the profession itself. Teaching English is so involved, it has so many moving pieces and it can be difficult to learn how to do well. As I focus on helping students communicate in English, I have learned that I have to be a pronunciation expert, a reading expert, a writing expert, a grammar expert, a speaking expert and so on. In the last few years, I have been asked to teach TOEFL, TOEIC, ILS, GRE and GMAT. I've taught English to aviation pilots, nurses, elementary school students, junior high students, high school students, college students, and business professionals. How in the world can I teach to all of these different groups and be an expert on all of these different things? And each year, it seems, there are new books, new standards, new curriculum and new ways to do the same thing. This field is constantly evolving and revolving and often makes it feel like we are going on a merry-go-round. So how do we step off the merry-go-round and avoid teacher burnout? In the next few videos, we're going to talk about how we can make sure that as you strive to help your learners succeed, you still matter. We will discuss what you can do to avoid teacher burn out and what you can do to advance in this most wonderful of careers. See you there. [MUSIC]