We live in a pandemic and wellness is something that we prioritize at school, building community, supporting each other, students, teachers and staff, and the broader community. During the COVID-19 pandemic, self-care is more essential than ever to help build and maintain a healthy immune system. Research shows that exercise helps boost the brain and …
Running an organization that prioritizes self-care requires a lot. It means walking the walk, talking the talk, and not just posting how others should take care of themselves, but modeling our values in our own actions. Now if I'm being real, to be a mother, a wife, an entrepreneur, and an educator all in one …
After reading the book Beginners by Tom Vanderbilt, which was the slowchathealth book of the month for February of 2021, I started to get an itch to be a beginner again and try something new. When this microblog post opportunity presented itself, I knew it was something new that I had to try, I had …
I've noticed during recent months that co-workers, friends, and neighbors have been more intentional in checking in with each other. We might be seeing less of each other, but the times when we are together seem to be more meaningful. We are all going through the shared experience of the pandemic and although the light …
During these times of stress, the intentional act of protecting one's well-being and happiness is a must-do for educators, and something that I am prioritizing more so than ever before. The additional workload of teaching remotely, while supervising a young family with their virtual learning, has led to a realization that if am not at …
Setting professional and personal goals during the pandemic might require a different focus and frame of mind. As I try and wrap my head around a remote return to school and a switch to a block schedule, it will be necessary to formulate goals that require me to grow in order to best serve my …
There exists a fine line between well-roundedness and attempting the jack-of-all-trades distinction, only to realize stretching oneself too thin oftentimes results in dropping the ball on something important. Part of self-management means stepping back periodically and evaluating, “what are the most important things in my life right now?” An alarming trend consumes too many of …
It’s 8 am and I’m rolling out of bed, listening to the sound of my sons discussing which colour plate is the best. My husband handles goalie duty, while simultaneously making coffee and eating his breakfast standing up. My entrance on the scene is like a well-orchestrated dance where he rolls out and hands me …
Originally when I reached out to Andy about contributing to the mini-blog, I told him I was going to write about the difficulties of starting over as a “veteran” teacher in a new district. Over the past 7 years, I have lived in 3 different states (in and out of New York twice) and have …
Self-care has already been a priority in my life. Sometimes I probably cater to my self-care more than I should, but if I didn’t, I would go crazy. After being quarantined for the last 14 days and who knows how many in the future, my self-care is now even a higher priority. Here are ways …
Continue reading Maintaining Your Self-Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic
It is quite a time to be a teacher. It is quite a time to be, well, anything or anyone. Our country is upside down, institutions and organizations that we have relied upon are gone or at least shuttered for the time being. Major events that have marked the passage of time from winter to …
“Be OK with Different” has been my calming mantra for the past 5 years when, on the first day back to school in 2015, I promised myself it would be my last year in teaching. Now more than ever, being OK with different has kept me grounded while planning through adversity. While many of my …
What shared memories will you build during this time of such change to our regular lives? When we see workplaces open, schools resume and fewer people rushing to buy toilet paper, what might we hang onto and make part of the new ‘normal’? What will we be truly grateful for and what might we just …
At this moment in time, please remind yourself of your strength and positive qualities. A very simple yet fun way of doing this is to create an acronym with the letters of your first, middle, and/or last name. Done in numerous health education courses over the years, this activity allows us to pause and reflect …
We are living in difficult times. Our whole lives have seen dramatic changes around the world and yet, life goes on and we are thankful for that. Some of us might live in countries and continents that are far away from our loved ones, from our families and friends. This pandemic has reached almost the …
As you read this, someone somewhere is dealing with job loss, an unearthing shift in mandate, or the loss of a loved one. Among all of this, millions of folks directly involved in education are scrambling for some form of normalcy. As a physical and health education professional working to support teachers in Canada, this …
It’s ironic that I am writing this blog on a Saturday night while drinking a glass of white wine thinking I really should relax more. Andrew Milne has asked me to describe ways in which educators can benefit from self-care. Before I start the journey let’s start with the core purpose or the why around ‘self-care’. I …
Assessing health skills can be a challenge and todays teachers are rising to that challenge, creating authentic and meaningful opportunities for students to practice and reflect upon their health behaviors. Sarah Chap is one such teacher, and in this weeks blog post she shares her journey towards creating an assessment for the health skill of …
