Do Unto Yourselves
By Tim Edwards – Principal, Sanford Elementary School
Upon our return from Spring Break, we have 15 days until the SOL window opens and there will be 46 days left in the 2008-2009 school year. As usual the school year has flown by and we are making our final push towards June 17th.
Several weeks ago many of us had the opportunity to spend the morning with author and educator Nathan Eckland. During our time with Mr. Eckland we discussed the “Golden Rule”, but with a twist. He challenged us to “Do unto ourselves as we do to others.” Think about that for a minute. As educators we give so much of our time and energy in order to help the students we teach, and the people we work with. In our efforts as professional educators we consistently do not take the time to take care of ourselves. We compromise our own well being and often relationships and interests we have outside of our school.
There are two questions the Sanford Faculty would like to pose, and two challenges we would like to offer:
Question 1: What will you do over Spring Break to prepare for the last 46 days of school?
Question 2: What will you do over Spring Break for yourself?
Challenge 1: Enjoy the time you have left this year with your students and your colleagues.
Challenge 2: Find a way to remind yourself everyday why you choose your profession; and it is Your Profession!
Enjoy your Spring Break, spend time with your family, look up a long lost friend, get some sleep, finish that book, walk on the beach, play an extra round of golf, have dinner at your favorite restaurant, and do something for yourself. Come back on April 14th with your sleeves already rolled up and a smile on your face ready to greet your students.
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Thank you Tim for this great post. It is truly something that we all need to take time to do and really worth thinking about today. I will make sure I do my part for myself and for my students. Our time is so precious and can be easily wasted if we don’t focus and reflect. Thanks again!
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Spring Break is the perfect time for me to firm up my game-plan (lesson plans!) for the rest of the year. I’ve got the outline, but now I’ll fill in the details… As far as what I’ll be doing for me, I’ll be keeping busy. Since my husband is actually home,(instead of deployed) we’re putting in that patio and hot tub, finishing some landscaping and planning on enjoying the end results!:) Hope everyone has a relaxing and productive (in some way or another!) vacation!
April 3rd, 2009 at 11:57 am
This is hard. Some things I do to others I do not like when they are done to me: Being in too much of a hurry to listen; having too much on my mind to focus on the what the other person is saying or feeling. However, for the most part, I would like to do unto myself as I do to others. I do not take time for myself — not enough sleep, not enough time doing things that would “renew” me both physically and mentally, not enough time to myself, etc. Then it becomes a vicious circle — The worse I treat myself, the worse I treat others. My frustration tolersnce gets really low. I am spending this spring break with my very elderly parents, so I am not sure how it will go. They will treat me well and I will treat them well, but will I get time for my own renewal? To get ready to come back to the students? I don’t know.
April 16th, 2009 at 7:32 am
I have to admit that I thought little about work over spring break. Instead, I went to NY and focused on my mom, who is in treatment for lymphoma. She is nearing the end of her chemotherapy and is skinny, bald (beautifully bald!), and weak. I got to spend time with her talking, reading all of the notes that she’s been getting from family, friends, college pals, and acquaintances. I cooked (I never cook) for her and my dad, did their grocery shopping, and even bought my mom new towels for her redone bathroom.
I am trying to find more ways to have fun and spark the kids’ interest on this last section – Glory Field. I also want to find as much interesting SOL prep work to use with the kids to focus their skills and convince them that they have the skills to ace the exam.
I’m trying to use technology more – I want to use the SMART Board and the CPS before school is over. I’ve already used the SMART Board a couple of times – I want to become more comfortable with it!
Happy Spring everyone!
Jen
May 3rd, 2009 at 9:54 pm
I think this is a great challenge! As teachers we constantly are thinking of our students, never ourselves. I hope this spring break I can relax and do things for myself, so I can come back refreshed and ready to spend the rest of the school year with my kids. Hopefully this will be like a fresh start to the end of the year, so that the children can finish out the year strong. This is also a good lesson not only for the classroom but in day to day life. I am going to focus on how I treat others. If I wouldn’t want to be treated that way I’m not going to treat others that way. Hopefully I can make an impact in someone’s life.
May 4th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I think one of the most important things you can do as an educator, is to demonstrate this concept of “do onto others.” It’s probably one of the most challenging things to do as well. It requires complete awareness of what you’re doing, how you’re acting, and what you’re expecting from others. Learning how to “walk in someone else’s shoes,” takes practice. I recently heard a lecture being given by Tommy Smigiel, who won teacher of the year in 2008. He talked about all the small things he did to show his students respect. Instead of hoping for respect in return, he took satisfaction from just treating someone else kindly. He greeted each and every student of his with a smile everyday. He tried to learn what made each of his students unique, and make a point to have personal conversations with them. For instance, he would ask them “how was your game yesterday?” or “how is your art project coming?” or “did your mom have her baby yet?” Remembering specific things about each student, really made them feel important. And even though it wasn’t his goal, the respect he gave was also reciprocated.
May 4th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I think this topic is a great life lesson. As a society we are constantly on the go. Newer and better technology is always coming out and as a society we are always trying to get more things done out of our day. We focus on our students so much to ensure that they are getting the best tools needed to excel in each grade level. Even when we think a lesson plan is complete something always pop’s up that would work really well with that lesson so we spend even more time trying to incorporate it. I think if we took a step back and really looked at teachers and other professionals who love what they do and have been doing it for a very long time, we would see that they have found a balance of work and play. If we push ourselves so hard that we only focus on our students and not ourselves we will burn out. A successful teacher is capable of taking on several responsibilities while finding time for them to unwind and relax. I think if you give yourself a timeline and a specific amount of time to do an assignment such as a lesson plan you are more looking to accomplish that goal within that time frame. Thus, giving you more time for yourself.
May 4th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Thank you for posting this entry, it applies to everyone! In today’s society everyone is wrapped up in working, people are stretched thin picking up the slack for those missing we forget we need to take time for ourselves. To often we keep going and going and don’t take the time out for the small important things, we feel as thought we always will have time later. Well, we may not, I am a perfect example I continued to tell myself I had plenty of time to complete school, work a full time job, and back to move the day before Easter, and then I got sick, missed a week of work and school and it took a long time to catch up on things. And for that I miss out on other things, away from work and school because I am trying to complete and wrap up the semester, week or month. It is important to remember to take time for ourselves because we deserve it just as much as others and it will help to get us alive and ready for the challenges that meet us.