A New York City science teacher recently posted a comment here about the benefits of downtime, so I wanted to see who she was. On her blog she writes:
…downtime is important for students. Just as importantly, I think it extends beyond students – teachers need downtime too. Humans do.
My ‘action reasearch’ this week involved unplugging myself from the computer and doing zero school-related work for two days. That is unprecedented since the day I started teaching, and it felt absolutely great! Forty-eight hours of bliss. I spent quality time with my daughter painting and rearranging her room – she had outgrown the pink and peach flowers and went with a cool aqua/lime color scheme. I talked to my son about college experiences and my newly-engaged step-daughter about marriage. I walked hand-in-hand with my husband and marveled at the neighbors’ holiday light displays after dinner.
The bliss had to end today. Instead of getting up at 5am to nail Black-Friday deals, I got up at the same time to grade papers and do my 434 lesson plan rubrics. The good news is that after recharging my batteries the past two days, I was fairly clear-headed and way more productive than I would have been otherwise. Lesson learned – I need to make down-time a priority for myself as well as my students.
Stop Homework 