Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Day 27: My Blogging Challenge

Welcome to day 27 of my blogging challenge. In case you missed what it's all about, you can read more in Day 1.

Today's challenge: What role do weekends and holidays play in your teaching?

During my first years of teaching, I would say, "weekends, holidays - huh?" And, I still do spend a lot of time working during them. The difference is, now, I dedicate any work I do during them to learning. For instance, I will catch up on Twitter and Google +. Learning is fun and I think weekends and holidays should be a mental break from labor. Therefore, I compromise by dedicating any work I do then to learning something new. Last weekend, I taught myself how to cartoonize myself in Photoshop. The educational value was not high, but I learned something new I can utilize at a later point.

As educators, we work, work, and then, work some more. We feel guilty when we don't do work on a week night, weekend, or holiday so, we continually take work home with us. When we don't complete it, we feel bad about it.

But...we shouldn't.

Last year, I adopted a new plan to stop the guilt and start the learning. Learning is both a great use of time and a mental break.

I thought back to my days of coaching and competitive running. When I got closer to a competition, I had fewer, more intense workouts. But, I also had active rest days. That's what educators need: active rest days. For me, those days are catching up on my social media, exploring new sites, and making myself get inspired.

What about you? What are weekends and holidays for?

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