For those feeling a lot of stress about lesson planning and grading, my advice is to work smarter, not harder. Easier said than done, but if you put a little bit of time into thinking about the ways you can save time, you'll realize its not so impossible.

For example, I know an English teacher, and the guy is honestly a great teacher, but he truly only teaches three out of five days a week. On Monday he does SSR (silent sustained reading), and on Friday he does "20% Time," which basically means that 20% of a persons work day should be devoted to a personal project. So the teacher lets the kids spend Fridays working on a personal project (1/5 days, 20%).

So, now all he has to do is plan for Tues, Wed, Thurs. No problem. He develops a three day lesson plan that fits in with whatever unit he is currently teaching. He doesn't get burnt out, and the students don't get burnt out, so those three days are super effective days to get some real learning done.

His test scores reflect state averages or better, and the kids all like him because he gives them a little room to breathe.

Now, will this work for a math teacher? Maybe not, but that doesn't mean teacher's can't find ways to save themselves the headache of planning and grading 25 hours a day, 8 days a week.

Remember, you don't have to grade every single assignment. You don't have to treat every single day like a test day. It's okay to take some notes, watch a relevant youtube video, then finish with a few more notes.

Finally, every year after your first year will get easier.