Always on!

Do you remember the poem in the book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten?

"All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten"

by Robert Fulghum

Most of what I really need
To know about how to live
And what to do and how to be
I learned in kindergarten.
Wisdom was not at the top
Of the graduate school mountain,
But there in the sandpile at Sunday school.

These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life -

Learn some and think some
And draw and paint and sing and dance
And play and work everyday some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world,
Watch out for traffic,
Hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.

Look at the twenty-third line, TAKE A NAP. Think about that. As a teacher I really understand that. I often tell my students, future teachers, that the one thing they need to do is get away from their students when they can.

A teacher is working even when they are not in front of the class teaching. As long as the teacher is in the classroom they are responsible. The stress level of a teacher never goes down until they are completely away from the students.. I remember when I did student teaching in a 4th/5th combination class during recess and lunch I would often go out to the playground and be with the students. I thought it was important for me to know them better than I could just in the classroom. The experienced teachers would be in the break room and joke around with each other. I felt bone tired when I finished each day, and I was only 22 years old. 

I came home and collapsed every day. I couldn't imagine having to go home and cook dinner and take care of kids after the long day. And then correct homework! 

It is important for teachers, and everyone in a job, to periodically take a nap during the day. Maybe nap is the wrong word, just take a break. You don't have to lay down and get unconscious, you need to pull away from others and have a few minutes for yourself. That isn't always possible every day, but you need to take a minute to yourself whenever possible.

 I tell my students that when they teach to take advantage of the 10 minute break between classes to go down to the break room and joke around with the other teachers. I tell them to get away from their students no matter how much they think they are needed and take care of themselves. If you stay on all the time then you will burn out in your job. I don't care how much you like your job, if you are always on the job you will become exhausted and won't be good for anything.

 Even the Army knows that. A soldier is during put into battle and they are stressed for as long as they are engaging the enemy. 

The Army will pull people out and give them a rest so they can be the best possible in their job. After a little rest they are put back into the ruckus.
Teachers are the soldiers of the classroom. They need to be pulled out of the battlefields once or twice a day to be the best they can be. If you have a job you need to do the same, pull out of the firing line and have some time to yourself just to maintain your edge!