I teach a full day and here is my take away ...

Let me start by saying I know that I am not alone in having a schedule that caused a full teaching day (no preps).  However, I wanted to reflect on my experience. 

Every Thursday I am a student. The only breaks I have is their breaks, I eat at the same time and I am teaching the same minutes they are learning in other classes. 

I start work at 6am by hitting the pool (this I belief is a lifesaver of this day) however, there are no students exercising at this time, most (thankfully) are trying to get their recommended 9 1/4 hrs sleep. I've worked at many schools with before school activities and although I understand the need to educate and enforce sleep patterns, I also advocate for exercise. My question would be if we (we being the entire community) can get students sleeping 9 1/4 hrs sleep and also encourage exercise before school, what educational benefits would we see from our students? To research more on this I recommend John Medina's Brain Rules or Attack of the Teenage Brain. 

By 7.15am I am eating my breakfast at a Wellness Team Meeting (ironic, given that we discuss health and wellness initiatives). I do love this meeting and its creative discussions we have. I also believe we provide a service that sometimes is missed in schools. At this time most students are arriving to school.

8am the days starts. Lessons here go for 70mins, so the schedule looks like:

Block 1 - Grade 9 Health
10min break
Block 2 - Grade 9 Health
5min break
Block 3 - Grade 10 Health
35min lunch break
Block 4 - Grade 8 Health
10min break
Block 5 - Grade 10 Health

So ... the positives. 

• There actually are only 3 preps on the day. Teaching a class twice does allow for some improvement and also eases the amount of thinking I have to do. Imagine being a student and having to show up, ready to go to 5 different learning areas. They have to be more tired than I was after this day.
• The fact that I start every class with meditation. My students are used to this, it is not new. I made sure on this day that I honoured the time, mainly for myself. By block 4 I started to think how students moved to a new class and had the time or ability to switch their focus to something new. The idea of brain breaks or meditation to start classes became increasingly important today.
• On Friday I only have 2 classes :-)

Considerations for teachers (for yourself and your students)

• 10mins is not a break - our longest break after lunch is 10mins. This is not a break, it is a long transition time.  I did use this to have a bio break, refill my green tea and shut my eyes in the sun and take 10 breaths (I do highly recommend The Zen Teacher for an extensive list of helpful break / zen ideas for your school day). I know realise kids need water and toilet breaks. Sometimes I would get frustrated when kids come in from break and haven't used the toilet or filled their bottle but now I don't feel I have the grounds to. How does a kid use the toilet, fill a bottle, take a brain break, run around, play a game, catch up with a friend? They don't and if they need the next class to catch up, for me now - go for it!
• No one can be happy, awake, switched on and excited to be in your class all day. As a teacher we can't expect that kids walk from one class to next and are ready to be their best. I did not have the energy to "fake it" I needed alone time, silent moments, deep breathing moments and at times the energy from others. I need to be mindful of the emotions of the students in my room and provide these opportunities for them. 
• Time out from people. I was eating lunch and chatting with my colleagues, when I realized I had 15mins till the next class. I was enjoying myself but in that moment I realized, if I don't have a quiet moment or a time out I would be dealing with people all day. Our students (besides being in a toilet cubicle) are rarely alone. I increased the opportunity for silent time in my room.
• Homework. After a full day of learning I was ready for a break. I've never been a homework fan or set much of it. However, there are those times, I do say "finish what you couldn't complete.' I am now more aware of this phrase and the impact it could possible have. When class finished at 3.30pm I headed to a meeting which I promptly cancelled and said it needed to be moved, as I know I will never be up for a meeting after a full day. So how can expect this of my students. I'm now undertaking a book study on "Ditch That Homework" 

In summary, I will be: 

• increasing mindful practices
• taking solo time outs (that are not going to the bathroom)
• prioritising good exercise and food
• being aware that my 1 x 70min lesson that students have is 1 of 5 and when they finish school, they should finish school and explore their own interests / play.