We made it to week 5 in our Teacher Struggles Series woohoo!
So… staffing shortages. Yeah. This one’s rough, and I’m not gonna sugarcoat it. When you’re missing subs, your paraprofessional is out for the third day in a row, and the art teacher position has been vacant since September, it feels like you’re drowning. Some days you literally ARE doing three jobs at once.
But here’s the thing—you can’t just work more hours. We’re already maxed out. The real survival strategy? Leaning on your team and working smarter, not harder.
Why Your Grade-Level Team Matters More Than Ever
When admin can’t fill positions your teammates become everything. I’ve seen teachers burn out hard when they try to go it alone during shortages.
The Real Problem: We’re All Doing the Same Work Separately
The biggest issue with staff shortages isn’t just that there aren’t enough people. It’s that the people who ARE there are often duplicating effort. Like, all four 3rd grade teachers staying up until 10pm making their own math centers for the same standard. That’s exhausting and unnecessary.
Here are three practical things that actually work (Trust me I’ve seen these in action):
✏️Duty Swaps for Morning Prep Time
Look, morning duty sucks. We all know it. But what if you could occasionally NOT do morning duty and actually use that time to prep?
How it works: Get with your grade-level team (or even just one other teacher) and rotate who covers morning duty. Like, you take all the classes on Monday, your teammate takes them Tuesday, etc. The teachers not on duty get 15-20 minutes of actual prep time in their classroom with the door closed.
Real talk: This only works if everyone actually commits to it and doesn’t flake. But when it works? Game changer. You’re not frantically running copies during your planning period because you already got stuff done in the morning.
Some teams do this with recess duty too. One person watches both classes, the other gets a breather. Just switch off.
✏️ Actually Share Your Stuff
Okay so everyone talks about sharing resources but like… do we actually do it? Usually it’s more like “oh yeah, I’ll send you that” and then we forget.
Make it real simple: Create ONE Google Drive folder for your team. That’s it. Every time someone makes something decent—a lesson plan, worksheet, anchor chart template, whatever—throw it in there.
The key is the file naming. Agree on something easy like “Math-Multiplication-Week3” or “Reading-Fluency-Nov” so you can actually FIND things later. Don’t overthink it.
Also super important: only share stuff YOU made, not TPT purchases. That’s not cool to the creators😉.
This isn’t revolutionary but honestly most teams don’t do it consistently. When you do, it saves SO much time. Need a quick review activity? Check the folder before you reinvent the wheel.
✏️Let Your Students Actually Help You
This sounds basic but I’m always surprised how many teachers don’t use student jobs effectively. Your kids WANT to help. They love having jobs. Use that.
Pick 3-5 daily tasks that are taking up your time but don’t require a teaching degree
- Sharpening pencils (seriously, get a pencil sharpener helper)
- Passing out papers
- Organizing the classroom library
- Taking attendance folder to the office
- Cleaning up supplies
Make them official jobs. I’m talking name tags, maybe a job chart, the whole thing. Rotate weekly so everyone gets a turn. Trust me its a WIN WIN!
Spend like 10 minutes at the beginning teaching the procedures. Then let them do it. Will it be perfect? No. Will it save you dozens of tiny tasks throughout the day? Yes.
Some teachers even do a “classroom manager” who oversees the other helpers. Kids eat that up.
Bottom Line
This series has been about surviving the chaos of teaching right now. The reality is that things like staffing shortages aren’t going away anytime soon. But you don’t have to figure it all out alone.
These aren’t going to fix everything (I wish). But they help. And sometimes “helps a little” is enough to get you through another week.
If you’ve been following along with all 5 weeks—thank you. Seriously. Which of these resonated with you? Are you dealing with any of this right now? Drop a comment, I’d genuinely love to hear what’s working in your school.
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