January 31, 2025 • 19 mins
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Burnout is a challenge many educators face, but how do you recognize it and navigate through it? In our latest episode of The Teaching Table podcast, we talk with Dr. Aisha O'Mally, a professor at the School of Management, about her experience with burnout. She shares how the demands of teaching and workload took a toll on her well-being and how she found ways to regain balance and reconnect with her passion for education. Tune in to hear her insights and reflections on maintaining well-being in academia.
Join us as we explore the powerful role of self-reflection, empathy, and open communication in overcoming burnout. Dr. O'Mally reveals the game-changing strategies that helped her reconnect with her students and foster an engaging classroom atmosphere. From fostering meaningful dialogues on crucial topics like diversity and integrity to gradually building a supportive learning environment, we uncover actionable insights that are not just about surviving but thriving in the teaching profession. Tune in for a wealth of inspiration and practical advice that aims to help educators manage their workload effectively while preparing students for the broader challenges of life.
This is part one of a two-part series.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Maggie Grady (00:03):
Welcome to the CATT Teaching Table podcast,
where we dive into the art andscience of teaching, learning
and technology.
Hosted by the University atBuffalo's Office of Curriculum,
Assessment and TeachingTransformation, otherwise known
as CATT, and supported Genteels'Excellence in Teaching Fund,
this podcast is dedicated tohighlighting the journeys toward
educational excellence.
(00:27):
I'm Maggie Grady, a learningdesigner here in CATT, and today
we're tackling a topic that isclose to home for many educators
avoiding teacher burnout.
Joining us today is Dr AishaO'Malley, a professor at the
School of Management, who notonly experienced burnout herself
at the five or six year mark, Ishould say, for her example and
talk about her teaching journeybut also successfully
(00:49):
reinvented her teaching strategyby diving into the world of
artificial intelligence, whichwe're all super fascinated by in
today's world.
So thank you, Dr.
O'Mally, for joining us todayand sharing your journey, your
insights, your strategies thathelped you avoid the burnout and
reignite your passion forteaching.
Dr. Aisha O'Mally (01:08):
I am so happy to be here, Maggie.
I love you, I love what youguys are doing, so thank you for
inviting me to participate inthis pretty cool podcast.
Maggie Grady (01:18):
So, as an educator and someone whose job is to
help teachers, that's me, Iwanted to understand more about
what burnout really is.
So what I learned was thatburnout is more than just a
feeling of being tired after along week.
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion
caused by prolonged stress, andit's especially prevalent in
(01:41):
professions that involve highlevels of interpersonal
interaction, like teaching.
So burnout can sneak up on you,turning something that you once
loved into a source of dread.
When we all have that, we knowthat it's time to reevaluate.
So it's a serious issue thatcan affect your health, your
teaching and your overallwell-being.
So this is all the things thatI learned, and a lot of it is
(02:03):
like yeah, that's kind ofeveryday life, so can you share
what it looked like for you andwhat led to it in your
experiences?
Dr. Aisha O'Mally (02:12):
So I teach our business communication
courses and I've been teachingthem since 2017.
While I was dissertating, Itaught six sections and then I
was hired full time and I teachthat and I'm contracted to teach
four of those classes fall andspring and so I was doing that
(02:34):
for about a good five years andthen, you know, with anything
you get a little bored.
You're like I want somethingnew and so I started taking on
new classes, right, whichrequired new prep.
And so by year six, I hadstarted taking on new courses on
top of my four sections persemester.
(02:55):
But I was excited, right,because I was teaching two new
classes that I was passionateabout, that I wanted to get you
know, revel and dig into with mystudents, and so I took it on
(03:17):
with gusto.
And then by week nine, I wasexhausted.
Because, while my CL2 classescan run pretty smoothly, because
I've taught that for five years, the new preps I was creating
on the fly and kind of adjustingon the fly as well, and so it
(03:37):
required a lot of cognitive work, right, creative work and
sitting in front of largerclassrooms with more eyes on me
with I felt like moreexpectation, and it just started
feeling daunting.
I was like the week would be solong for me, and so on the
(03:58):
weekends I couldn't catch up onsleep.
I couldn't, I couldn't.
I didn't feel rejuvenated afterthe weekend because I was also
using the weekend to work, tolike grade and to prep for the
new week coming in and makingadjustments based on what was
happening in the prior week.
And so I found that not onlywas I exhausted, but because I
(04:21):
was so exhausted mentally andphysically, it was hard for me
to connect with my students.
Right?
Now, they're exhausted for awhole nother reason, right, but
they're also exhausted, and soit was just me.
I just need to get through thisnext class, I just need to get
through this next class.
And by week nine I had hit awall and I didn't have time to
(04:42):
regroup and reassess.
After week nine I was like,okay, I got six more weeks, we
just got to make it to six moreweeks.
And so each week it was justlike okay, we got through that,
all right.
Next week and I just felt likeI was getting even more tired.
I felt even more pressure fromwanting to be a good professor
(05:04):
and realizing that I wasn'tbeing a good professor in my
mind and then thinking andwatching my students not
connecting and I'm just like godand like you said, this is a
chore.
It is no longer a love, it is achore.
And so the lack of connectionwith my students, the lack of
(05:25):
enough sleep, I wasn't eatingwell, I wasn't working out like
I normally do to relieve thatstress.
So, because I didn't haveenough time to relieve that
stress, it was building up so byweek 15, I was done.
I was so done.
And I mean I barely got throughweek 15 and I was just like,
(05:46):
listen, turn what you need toturn in, I don't care, we will,
I will deal with it, I willmanage it, but we are done here,
right, and I hated the way thatI ended that semester.
I just felt like, wow, that'snot what I'm about and that's
that's not who I want tocontinue to be.
But I really didn't get a chanceto dig in to change how I
(06:12):
handled burnout until the summer, because we get four weeks off.
People are like, oh, you getfour weeks off, all you're doing
is just, you know, sitting athome and watching Netflix and
popping popcorn.
And no, I'm prepping for thespring semester and I had a new
prep for the spring semester,right, and so, and coming off of
a very hard semester, I onlygave myself probably like a week
(06:35):
, maybe a week and a half, toreally decompress.
But I didn't give myself enoughtime to reevaluate, right.
It was just like, ok, let'sjust get our senses back.
Let's just get back to a good,normal place.
And then it was like, all right, we got three more weeks to
like, let's get this started, Ineed to make sure my weeks are
(06:56):
together.
So it just.
I just never had enough time tocatch up and it went from one
semester into the next, and thenext semester was another new
prep.
And this new prep I was notready for.
I thought it was and I wasn't.
And so when classes hit and itwas a really new class for me, I
(07:17):
was again in that cycle ofcreating week to week and
adjusting week to week, and thenseeing the disappointment that
on my students faces, like whatare you talking about?
Like this isn't, and then notbeing able to have the energy to
energize them about what I wastalking about.
So for me.
Burnout was just exhaustion,was mentally not being able to
(07:41):
be creative, not being able toconnect with my students and not
seeing myself in that positiveway that I used to see myself as
someone who can make an impact,someone who is here for the
students.
I'm here to support youwhatever you need, and I didn't
have it in me to do that.
Maggie Grady (08:03):
So one of the things that I found super
impressive about you is thatyour passion for teaching.
And then you were telling methis story and I'm thinking
there has to be so many othereducators out there that are
feeling this exact same thing,so let's tell the story.
So how did you overcome it?
What helped you with gettingthat sense of you know I am a
(08:25):
good educator because you are.
It's just you just didn't havethe time to do whatever.
So how did you overcome that?
Dr. Aisha O'Mally (08:32):
I had to stop and really self-evaluate and
reflect on the type of professorI wanted to be.
I am passionate about teachingand I want to be good at it.
Right, and so it was okay.
What's going to make me abetter professor?
What is going to make mementally stable?
(08:54):
What is going to relieve someof this stress, and what type of
support do I need?
So what I decided to do was Igot a coach who works in higher
education, right, so she knowsthe cycle of higher ed.
Because I needed to step out ofmyself, because we are so much
in our own heads and our ownworst enemy, right, we are so
(09:18):
judgmental of ourselves.
And that's exactly what burnoutwas.
And she allowed me toincorporate some self-reflection
pieces.
And I am an I am a consummatecommunicator, so I don't write,
I don't.
I've always tried to journal,but I'm not.
I don't like the art of writing, um, like handwriting, and but
(09:40):
I, I talk through, that's how Ithink is talking.
And so she gave me the space tobe reflective using my voice
and thinking.
So the coach was tremendous inme taking a step out of myself
and having someone neutralsaying you know, you're not,
you're not so bad.
(10:01):
Right, it's okay what you'regoing through and you're not the
only one right, because, ofcourse, when we're in that
stressful mindset, we thinkwe're the only ones right and we
generally don't ask for helpbecause we're just trying to
survive, right.
So the coach was super helpful.
Then I also said to myself whatwill make me a better professor
(10:21):
?
Professional development.
So I signed up for an AI NYUcourse at their professional
services portion of theiruniversity, where they offer
this AI and communication course.
I really want to know moreabout AI because you know that
is like the buzzword.
Everybody is talking about AIand I knew I didn't know enough
(10:42):
and I thought that maybe if Ilearned more about it it might
help me in my classroom.
I didn't know how, I just knewI needed to dive in and in July
I went to that AI andcommunication.
It was in person, it's intensive, it's a two weeks, but I was so
excited.
I was excited to be a studentagain and what I did was I put
(11:07):
myself in my students shoes.
I had my laptop, I had my phoneand I knew it was so
challenging to get them awayfrom that when I'm in the
classroom to pay attention.
I said, let me see how, howdifficult is this, right?
And so what I asked them to dois I asked them to put it on
(11:32):
mute and put it in their bookbag, not to keep it on
themselves, because even that'sdistracting.
So I did that and let me tellyou, it was amazing
Being a student, I learned somuch.
I was able to focus because Iwas not being distracted by my
phone, because we are addictedto these screens.
I wanted to see can I sit andfocus?
Because it was from not, it wasprofessor, right?
in the morning to three.
(11:53):
It's a long day and it was soreinvigorating.
I was around professionals fromso many different industries,
different countries.
It was just reinvigorating andthat gave me the juice to really
say you know what.
(12:47):
You got going to be better, wecan be better and I can utilize
AI to be a better professor.
Right Certification allowed meto look at my students again in
the way of, yeah, I don't havekids, they are my kids.
You know I don't take on theirparental role, but yeah, I'm
here to guide you.
who do you I want to be?
And that again reinvigorated me.
It was like, oh, yeah, I can dothis.
I'm built for this right, so itjust takes some time you got to
take the time to sit down andreflect, to reflect on what went
wrong, but not beratingyourself, but from a learner
perspective and then say, ok,now, what can we do to make it
better?
Right, right.
And then, once you ?
can figure out, what can I do tomake it again then it's that
(13:10):
you asked me how did I, what didI change?
I realized that I wanted toteach, not just content, I
wanted to teach the student, thewhole student.
I want my students to be betterthan when they came in,
reflect, so when you, if you canbe here and develop some
self-awareness, some emotionalintelligence, but also learn the
(13:32):
content that you need to learn,I know they will be better
students.
I'm having real conversationswith them and I'm being very
transparent with them, everydecision that I make, the way I
build the syllabus, the methodto my madness.
Why am I asking you to revisethis?
Is because it's a learningopportunity for you.
I'm teaching them also how todo college, and that's what I
(13:55):
think I forgot.
Right, we assume they know.
How do they know, how do theyknow High school is completely
different, right, so it was.
Again, I'm teaching to the fullstudent.
I'm understanding that theyneed more knowledge about
self-confidence, emotionalintelligence, how to be a better
human being.
So it's not just the content,because I'm more than that.
(14:18):
The time that I took over thesummer to reflect the coach that
I got, the supervisor that Ihave that is open, the choices
that I made to be morethoughtful and reflective really
allowed me to reinvigorate thepassion for teaching.
Maggie Grady (14:39):
Yeah, I do love all of those things that you
mentioned.
I love that you turned yournegative experience into a
positive and it sounds like, onthe other side of it, you've
come out, emerged, refreshed andfulfilled.
I do.
to But
Dr. Aisha O'Mally (14:55):
I'm starting to feel fulfilled again.
Yeah, I am bringing back thatlove for teaching, which I
thought I didn't know how I wasgoing to get it back.
Yeah, but, but.
I did, I didn't know how I wasgoing to get it back, but I did
and I'm grateful for it.
Maggie Grady (15:04):
Yeah, good, Okay, so let's go on a little bit
changed your approach to work.
Did it change you with yourpreparation?
Do you think that it juststepped back and kind of you
know, take it apart and fix it?
How did you?
.
Dr. Aisha O'Mally (15:24):
Yeah, semester, had to take it apart
and fix it.
How did you Wednesday YeahFriday I had to.
I had to take it apart, right,because I had to see.
At first, I had to see whatwasn't working for me and then
what wasn't working for thestudents, and what I realized
was the biggest thing was thelecture.
And so, um, it was realizing,how can I find okay different
ways for them to learn otherthan me talking at them?
I was like overloading myclasses with content and not
(15:46):
thinking about the objective,which was to make my students
better.
I had to, like I said, see whatwasn't working, take a step
back and then also, why wasn'tit working?
Right?
And asking ourselves the toughquestions, right, and I have to
say, I got lazy right, I did, Igot lazy, I started well, I got
lazy, I did, I got lazy, Istarted well.
All I need to do is tell themabout this and they'll get it.
(16:08):
No, and I should have knownbetter.
But again, maybe it wasn't lazy, maybe that wasn't the word,
but again I was tired.
And so we think we have to fillthe class period with content
and covering everything, but wedon't.
Okay! semester.
I didn't touch the syllabusuntil Friday.
(16:29):
I teach Monday, wednesday,friday.
I didn't touch it till Friday.
I wanted to get to know mystudents first, and so I started
with introducing myself.
And then we did a game twotruths and a lie and we ran
through the class and I, and wehad a good time, right.
And then the second day Ifocused on OK, some of some of
(16:50):
my expectations and what I thinkthe class would be, what the
schedule would be.
But I really didn't get intothat and I got.
I did another activity onWednesday I had them hand write
a elevator pitch.
Maggie Grady (17:02):
OK.
(Microsoft)
Dr. Aisha O'Mally (17:02):
Right, I gave him a short little slide on
what to do.
They wrote it.
And then on Friday I told himto whip out their laptops and
we're going to throw that andwe're going to create a prompt
and co-pilot.
I said the prompt is I want youto say can you revise my
elevator be just, morepersuasive?
(17:23):
And I said conversation.
(18:05):
It see the suggestions, areyou going to use everything?
And I was.
It was.
I was so like happy, likeimmediately happy.
They were like oh no, oh no.
And I was like .
.
.
great And why not?
And they're like well, itdoesn't sound like me, like it
is it sounds good dictating itdoesn't sound.
I'm like exactly so.
Then, after that, then I wentinto the syllabus and then I
only covered the parts of thesyllabus that were to guide them
, right, so I didn't talk aboutI mean, I talked about diversity
in the classroom, what'sacceptable and what's not,
integrity in the classroom.
I did talk about plagiarism,but I did.
I just it was more like a.
it was just like I'm going totell you these are the things I
have in the syllabus that areimportant because and just
covering it in a way that ismore around a conversation than
is dictatorship right, Dictatingto them.
And so the next week then I wasable to set even more
(18:28):
expectations.
So the building each week, I'mnot throwing everything at them
in the first class, letting themgo early, right buffalo.
edu/ catt really like let'sbuild a relationship.
ubcatt@ buffalo.
edu really just, you know,breaking it down and also just
giving myself the time to beable to do that right that wraps
up part one of avoiding facultyburnout with dr aisha o'malley
(18:50):
from uv school of management.
Maggie Grady (18:52):
Please join us next time for part two of our
conversation to learn how, witha right approach, burnout can be
managed.
And, as always, be sure toconnect with us online at
buffaloedu slash cat that'sc-a-t-t or email us at uvcat at
buffaloedu.
Welcome to the CATT Teaching Table podcast,
where we dive into the art andscience of teaching, learning
and technology.
Hosted by the University atBuffalo's Office of Curriculum,
Assessment and TeachingTransformation, otherwise known
as CATT, and supported Genteels'Excellence in Teaching Fund,
this podcast is dedicated tohighlighting the journeys toward
educational excellence.
(00:27):
I'm Maggie Grady, a learningdesigner here in CATT, and today
we're tackling a topic that isclose to home for many educators
avoiding teacher burnout.
Joining us today is Dr AishaO'Malley, a professor at the
School of Management, who notonly experienced burnout herself
at the five or six year mark, Ishould say, for her example and
talk about her teaching journeybut also successfully
(00:49):
reinvented her teaching strategyby diving into the world of
artificial intelligence, whichwe're all super fascinated by in
today's world.
So thank you, Dr.
O'Mally, for joining us todayand sharing your journey, your
insights, your strategies thathelped you avoid the burnout and
reignite your passion forteaching.
Dr. Aisha O'Mally (01:08):
I am so happy to be here, Maggie.
I love you, I love what youguys are doing, so thank you for
inviting me to participate inthis pretty cool podcast.
Maggie Grady (01:18):
So, as an educator and someone whose job is to
help teachers, that's me, Iwanted to understand more about
what burnout really is.
So what I learned was thatburnout is more than just a
feeling of being tired after along week.
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion
caused by prolonged stress, andit's especially prevalent in
(01:41):
professions that involve highlevels of interpersonal
interaction, like teaching.
So burnout can sneak up on you,turning something that you once
loved into a source of dread.
When we all have that, we knowthat it's time to reevaluate.
So it's a serious issue thatcan affect your health, your
teaching and your overallwell-being.
So this is all the things thatI learned, and a lot of it is
(02:03):
like yeah, that's kind ofeveryday life, so can you share
what it looked like for you andwhat led to it in your
experiences?
Dr. Aisha O'Mally (02:12):
So I teach our business communication
courses and I've been teachingthem since 2017.
While I was dissertating, Itaught six sections and then I
was hired full time and I teachthat and I'm contracted to teach
four of those classes fall andspring and so I was doing that
(02:34):
for about a good five years andthen, you know, with anything
you get a little bored.
You're like I want somethingnew and so I started taking on
new classes, right, whichrequired new prep.
And so by year six, I hadstarted taking on new courses on
top of my four sections persemester.
(02:55):
But I was excited, right,because I was teaching two new
classes that I was passionateabout, that I wanted to get you
know, revel and dig into with mystudents, and so I took it on
(03:17):
with gusto.
And then by week nine, I wasexhausted.
Because, while my CL2 classescan run pretty smoothly, because
I've taught that for five years, the new preps I was creating
on the fly and kind of adjustingon the fly as well, and so it
(03:37):
required a lot of cognitive work, right, creative work and
sitting in front of largerclassrooms with more eyes on me
with I felt like moreexpectation, and it just started
feeling daunting.
I was like the week would be solong for me, and so on the
(03:58):
weekends I couldn't catch up onsleep.
I couldn't, I couldn't.
I didn't feel rejuvenated afterthe weekend because I was also
using the weekend to work, tolike grade and to prep for the
new week coming in and makingadjustments based on what was
happening in the prior week.
And so I found that not onlywas I exhausted, but because I
(04:21):
was so exhausted mentally andphysically, it was hard for me
to connect with my students.
Right?
Now, they're exhausted for awhole nother reason, right, but
they're also exhausted, and soit was just me.
I just need to get through thisnext class, I just need to get
through this next class.
And by week nine I had hit awall and I didn't have time to
(04:42):
regroup and reassess.
After week nine I was like,okay, I got six more weeks, we
just got to make it to six moreweeks.
And so each week it was justlike okay, we got through that,
all right.
Next week and I just felt likeI was getting even more tired.
I felt even more pressure fromwanting to be a good professor
(05:04):
and realizing that I wasn'tbeing a good professor in my
mind and then thinking andwatching my students not
connecting and I'm just like godand like you said, this is a
chore.
It is no longer a love, it is achore.
And so the lack of connectionwith my students, the lack of
(05:25):
enough sleep, I wasn't eatingwell, I wasn't working out like
I normally do to relieve thatstress.
So, because I didn't haveenough time to relieve that
stress, it was building up so byweek 15, I was done.
I was so done.
And I mean I barely got throughweek 15 and I was just like,
(05:46):
listen, turn what you need toturn in, I don't care, we will,
I will deal with it, I willmanage it, but we are done here,
right, and I hated the way thatI ended that semester.
I just felt like, wow, that'snot what I'm about and that's
that's not who I want tocontinue to be.
But I really didn't get a chanceto dig in to change how I
(06:12):
handled burnout until the summer, because we get four weeks off.
People are like, oh, you getfour weeks off, all you're doing
is just, you know, sitting athome and watching Netflix and
popping popcorn.
And no, I'm prepping for thespring semester and I had a new
prep for the spring semester,right, and so, and coming off of
a very hard semester, I onlygave myself probably like a week
(06:35):
, maybe a week and a half, toreally decompress.
But I didn't give myself enoughtime to reevaluate, right.
It was just like, ok, let'sjust get our senses back.
Let's just get back to a good,normal place.
And then it was like, all right, we got three more weeks to
like, let's get this started, Ineed to make sure my weeks are
(06:56):
together.
So it just.
I just never had enough time tocatch up and it went from one
semester into the next, and thenext semester was another new
prep.
And this new prep I was notready for.
I thought it was and I wasn't.
And so when classes hit and itwas a really new class for me, I
(07:17):
was again in that cycle ofcreating week to week and
adjusting week to week, and thenseeing the disappointment that
on my students faces, like whatare you talking about?
Like this isn't, and then notbeing able to have the energy to
energize them about what I wastalking about.
So for me.
Burnout was just exhaustion,was mentally not being able to
(07:41):
be creative, not being able toconnect with my students and not
seeing myself in that positiveway that I used to see myself as
someone who can make an impact,someone who is here for the
students.
I'm here to support youwhatever you need, and I didn't
have it in me to do that.
Maggie Grady (08:03):
So one of the things that I found super
impressive about you is thatyour passion for teaching.
And then you were telling methis story and I'm thinking
there has to be so many othereducators out there that are
feeling this exact same thing,so let's tell the story.
So how did you overcome it?
What helped you with gettingthat sense of you know I am a
(08:25):
good educator because you are.
It's just you just didn't havethe time to do whatever.
So how did you overcome that?
Dr. Aisha O'Mally (08:32):
I had to stop and really self-evaluate and
reflect on the type of professorI wanted to be.
I am passionate about teachingand I want to be good at it.
Right, and so it was okay.
What's going to make me abetter professor?
What is going to make mementally stable?
(08:54):
What is going to relieve someof this stress, and what type of
support do I need?
So what I decided to do was Igot a coach who works in higher
education, right, so she knowsthe cycle of higher ed.
Because I needed to step out ofmyself, because we are so much
in our own heads and our ownworst enemy, right, we are so
(09:18):
judgmental of ourselves.
And that's exactly what burnoutwas.
And she allowed me toincorporate some self-reflection
pieces.
And I am an I am a consummatecommunicator, so I don't write,
I don't.
I've always tried to journal,but I'm not.
I don't like the art of writing, um, like handwriting, and but
(09:40):
I, I talk through, that's how Ithink is talking.
And so she gave me the space tobe reflective using my voice
and thinking.
So the coach was tremendous inme taking a step out of myself
and having someone neutralsaying you know, you're not,
you're not so bad.
(10:01):
Right, it's okay what you'regoing through and you're not the
only one right, because, ofcourse, when we're in that
stressful mindset, we thinkwe're the only ones right and we
generally don't ask for helpbecause we're just trying to
survive, right.
So the coach was super helpful.
Then I also said to myself whatwill make me a better professor
(10:21):
?
Professional development.
So I signed up for an AI NYUcourse at their professional
services portion of theiruniversity, where they offer
this AI and communication course.
I really want to know moreabout AI because you know that
is like the buzzword.
Everybody is talking about AIand I knew I didn't know enough
(10:42):
and I thought that maybe if Ilearned more about it it might
help me in my classroom.
I didn't know how, I just knewI needed to dive in and in July
I went to that AI andcommunication.
It was in person, it's intensive, it's a two weeks, but I was so
excited.
I was excited to be a studentagain and what I did was I put
(11:07):
myself in my students shoes.
I had my laptop, I had my phoneand I knew it was so
challenging to get them awayfrom that when I'm in the
classroom to pay attention.
I said, let me see how, howdifficult is this, right?
And so what I asked them to dois I asked them to put it on
(11:32):
mute and put it in their bookbag, not to keep it on
themselves, because even that'sdistracting.
So I did that and let me tellyou, it was amazing
Being a student, I learned somuch.
I was able to focus because Iwas not being distracted by my
phone, because we are addictedto these screens.
I wanted to see can I sit andfocus?
Because it was from not, it wasprofessor, right?
in the morning to three.
(11:53):
It's a long day and it was soreinvigorating.
I was around professionals fromso many different industries,
different countries.
It was just reinvigorating andthat gave me the juice to really
say you know what.
(12:47):
You got going to be better, wecan be better and I can utilize
AI to be a better professor.
Right Certification allowed meto look at my students again in
the way of, yeah, I don't havekids, they are my kids.
You know I don't take on theirparental role, but yeah, I'm
here to guide you.
who do you I want to be?
And that again reinvigorated me.
It was like, oh, yeah, I can dothis.
I'm built for this right, so itjust takes some time you got to
take the time to sit down andreflect, to reflect on what went
wrong, but not beratingyourself, but from a learner
perspective and then say, ok,now, what can we do to make it
better?
Right, right.
And then, once you ?
can figure out, what can I do tomake it again then it's that
(13:10):
you asked me how did I, what didI change?
I realized that I wanted toteach, not just content, I
wanted to teach the student, thewhole student.
I want my students to be betterthan when they came in,
reflect, so when you, if you canbe here and develop some
self-awareness, some emotionalintelligence, but also learn the
(13:32):
content that you need to learn,I know they will be better
students.
I'm having real conversationswith them and I'm being very
transparent with them, everydecision that I make, the way I
build the syllabus, the methodto my madness.
Why am I asking you to revisethis?
Is because it's a learningopportunity for you.
I'm teaching them also how todo college, and that's what I
(13:55):
think I forgot.
Right, we assume they know.
How do they know, how do theyknow High school is completely
different, right, so it was.
Again, I'm teaching to the fullstudent.
I'm understanding that theyneed more knowledge about
self-confidence, emotionalintelligence, how to be a better
human being.
So it's not just the content,because I'm more than that.
(14:18):
The time that I took over thesummer to reflect the coach that
I got, the supervisor that Ihave that is open, the choices
that I made to be morethoughtful and reflective really
allowed me to reinvigorate thepassion for teaching.
Maggie Grady (14:39):
Yeah, I do love all of those things that you
mentioned.
I love that you turned yournegative experience into a
positive and it sounds like, onthe other side of it, you've
come out, emerged, refreshed andfulfilled.
I do.
to But
Dr. Aisha O'Mally (14:55):
I'm starting to feel fulfilled again.
Yeah, I am bringing back thatlove for teaching, which I
thought I didn't know how I wasgoing to get it back.
Yeah, but, but.
I did, I didn't know how I wasgoing to get it back, but I did
and I'm grateful for it.
Maggie Grady (15:04):
Yeah, good, Okay, so let's go on a little bit
changed your approach to work.
Did it change you with yourpreparation?
Do you think that it juststepped back and kind of you
know, take it apart and fix it?
How did you?
.
Dr. Aisha O'Mally (15:24):
Yeah, semester, had to take it apart
and fix it.
How did you Wednesday YeahFriday I had to.
I had to take it apart, right,because I had to see.
At first, I had to see whatwasn't working for me and then
what wasn't working for thestudents, and what I realized
was the biggest thing was thelecture.
And so, um, it was realizing,how can I find okay different
ways for them to learn otherthan me talking at them?
I was like overloading myclasses with content and not
(15:46):
thinking about the objective,which was to make my students
better.
I had to, like I said, see whatwasn't working, take a step
back and then also, why wasn'tit working?
Right?
And asking ourselves the toughquestions, right, and I have to
say, I got lazy right, I did, Igot lazy, I started well, I got
lazy, I did, I got lazy, Istarted well.
All I need to do is tell themabout this and they'll get it.
(16:08):
No, and I should have knownbetter.
But again, maybe it wasn't lazy, maybe that wasn't the word,
but again I was tired.
And so we think we have to fillthe class period with content
and covering everything, but wedon't.
Okay! semester.
I didn't touch the syllabusuntil Friday.
(16:29):
I teach Monday, wednesday,friday.
I didn't touch it till Friday.
I wanted to get to know mystudents first, and so I started
with introducing myself.
And then we did a game twotruths and a lie and we ran
through the class and I, and wehad a good time, right.
And then the second day Ifocused on OK, some of some of
(16:50):
my expectations and what I thinkthe class would be, what the
schedule would be.
But I really didn't get intothat and I got.
I did another activity onWednesday I had them hand write
a elevator pitch.
Maggie Grady (17:02):
OK.
(Microsoft)
Dr. Aisha O'Mally (17:02):
Right, I gave him a short little slide on
what to do.
They wrote it.
And then on Friday I told himto whip out their laptops and
we're going to throw that andwe're going to create a prompt
and co-pilot.
I said the prompt is I want youto say can you revise my
elevator be just, morepersuasive?
(17:23):
And I said conversation.
(18:05):
It see the suggestions, areyou going to use everything?
And I was.
It was.
I was so like happy, likeimmediately happy.
They were like oh no, oh no.
And I was like .
.
.
great And why not?
And they're like well, itdoesn't sound like me, like it
is it sounds good dictating itdoesn't sound.
I'm like exactly so.
Then, after that, then I wentinto the syllabus and then I
only covered the parts of thesyllabus that were to guide them
, right, so I didn't talk aboutI mean, I talked about diversity
in the classroom, what'sacceptable and what's not,
integrity in the classroom.
I did talk about plagiarism,but I did.
I just it was more like a.
it was just like I'm going totell you these are the things I
have in the syllabus that areimportant because and just
covering it in a way that ismore around a conversation than
is dictatorship right, Dictatingto them.
And so the next week then I wasable to set even more
(18:28):
expectations.
So the building each week, I'mnot throwing everything at them
in the first class, letting themgo early, right buffalo.
edu/ catt really like let'sbuild a relationship.
ubcatt@ buffalo.
edu really just, you know,breaking it down and also just
giving myself the time to beable to do that right that wraps
up part one of avoiding facultyburnout with dr aisha o'malley
(18:50):
from uv school of management.
Maggie Grady (18:52):
Please join us next time for part two of our
conversation to learn how, witha right approach, burnout can be
managed.
And, as always, be sure toconnect with us online at
buffaloedu slash cat that'sc-a-t-t or email us at uvcat at
buffaloedu.
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