Teaching (REALLY!) is Self-Care, Part 2
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Greetings and warm wishes for fair weather and happiness! Thank you for taking time out of your day.
Last week, I had the audacity to suggest that our teaching practice can be rich with opportunities for self care. This article is the second in a series that I hope will help your classroom spaces will be or become that for you and your students.
I am fortunate that my classroom gets a lot of natural light. This allows me to turn off and keep off my overhead fluroescent lights. To that, I add light blue LED lamps. A few years ago, I changed the lighting of my classroom and several other things that I hope make it more friendly to learning. Today, however, I'd like to highlight (!) some of my notices that have relevance to self-care.
First, there's a physical (albeit one that is seemingly invisible) transition between the loud, (necessarily) brightly-lit hallway and my classroom. On at least that level, coming to class can feel like we're (students and adults alike) entering a sacred space. Many students and colleagues alike notice and comment on that switch in a positive way.
Second, both sunlight and "cool" colors, like blue, have positive effects on our mood and health according to this 2019 article from Nature magazine. For me, I've noticed that students enter with a sense of calm. Only rarely do loud conversations continue at the same volume once people enter. There are normed expectations, of course, but the change in lighting alone affects the way students act in the space in both positive and ongoing ways.
If your classroom doesn't have sources of ambient light, you can cover your fluorescent lights with cool colored filters, and/or add floor or table lamps as accent lighting to achieve a similar effect.
Whichever method works best for you and your space, you will hopefully reap the benefits of calmer, quieter voices and readier minds. Which, of course, will allow our voices and minds to possibly relax, as well!
Self-care...during the school day...who KNEW?!
(whispered) Happy snacking,
Chef Charles
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