Sunday, March 3, 2013

Thoughts on a School day

Most teachers I know don't eat during the day.

They are so busy putting their students first, that they don't even drink an adequate amount of water during the teaching day, thereby ending the day and week feeling fatigued and tapped out. It's no wonder so many teachers retire with the highest incidence of post-career mortality. They have nothing else to live for.

It's very noble that one should place others before themselves, but nutrition is ultimately a very important element of holistic balance we ought not try to live without. How do we as teachers, keep our day fresh and filled with nutrition, while running a strongly organized classroom?

There is a healthy eating program that mostly gets circulated throughout the elementary school system. I was lucky enough to have this program offered to my students at the last  middle school I attended. It was just wonderful because we all sat together and either ate fruit, or tasted the outcome of a recipe we all made together, and we discussed the nutritional goodness of the food we were eating. The students were always interested that I maintained a vegetarian lifestyle for 12 years. "Really Ms. Dunn, no carne asada? No pork chops or bacon?" those were the first questions from their lips. This would inspire a deeper conversation about health, not just the food we ate. This always made me feel that as a teacher, I was contributing to more than just their academic health, but their health as a whole.

Being the example of health is important. It is not enough to merely be book smart. It is more often that we pull ourselves out of balance because we feel our teaching curriculum and professional development classes and such should go first...but....if we are not well enough to complete the tasks required to be successful in each, how will we be able to continue educating these kids? We have to look at this piece and approach with patience and constancy.

5 comments:

  1. Connie YOU are such a wonderful example and role model to those students and You know the value of taking care of yourself and I am sure your peers also benefit from knowing you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AWwww thank you Denise! I work towards this. I am grateful you already see.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ruth Givens,March 7 20013.

    The teacher's nutrition:

    Connie, it is so interesting to note how things change over time.From the 1950's to 1980's,administrations did not allow teachers to skip lunch.You completed your educational and professional duties after lunch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow Ruth. I wonder what it would have been like to have been in an administration that had your best interests at heart. I think that sounds wonderful, and it would be nice to go back to this.

      Delete
  4. Hi Connie, it is great that you communicated and demonstrated the importance of healthy eating to your students. That truly is educating the whole child. I teach in a middle school where administration does not prioritize teachers lunches. It does not matter how many periods or classes a teacher teaches, he or she will get one planning period and that period may be first period. It is difficult to incorporate eating healthy or otherwise during the school day. It's good to know that someone understands what some teachers go through. I'm in total agreement with you regarding Ruth's comment...it really would be good to see the administration make lunch a priority for teachers again....soon. Great blog topic! Pam :)

    ReplyDelete