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May
30
Finding a balance between work and play is crucial.
Filed Under Dealing With Stress, The way I see it
Finding a balance between work and play is crucial. We all know that a balance between the two is necessary for our mental and physical well being, and yet we often struggle unsuccessfully to achieve it. When I say we, I mean teachers as well as students. How much time is there for play for teachers or students around report card time or during the last month of school?
During the last few weeks of school, our grade eight students do exit interviews. The students show us their portfolios that showcase their work and talk about their experiences during the past year. Yesterday, as part of the exit interview I asked a student
“If you could change one thing about school what would that be?”, I asked Ada (not her real name)
“Homework”, she said. “I wouldn’t let all the teachers give us all that work to do just before report cards. I know that teachers need marks for report cards, but it’s too much when they all give us all that work at the same time. It’s not that I don’t want to do homework, it’s just that it’s too much work at one time. That’s what I’d want to change.”
I hear where she’s coming from. I’m sure you do too. We’ve all felt the same way when the demands of work or school take over our lives. It’s definitely not good when all we’re doing is working. You know what they say about all work and no play.
I love this little video because it makes this point in a humorous way.
Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at aniBoom
Just taking the time from work to watch this video and having a chuckle about it is a step in the right direction.
What do you do to try to achieve and maintain that balance between work and play that is so crucial to our physical and mental well being?
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Dislcaimer
These are my personal views and not those of my employer.-

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. Archives
Edublog Awards
Toronto Reading Council
Hi Elona,
I haven’t been doing enough of this lately. I’m trying to keep all of my school work at school, so that I’m not correcting, moderating blog comments, prepping, etc…at home – but it ends up being more the exception than the rule when that happens. It is a definite goal of mine for next year
I know that I can do my job best by taking care of myself, and that I can take care of myself best by allowing for a balance between work and other activities, but teaching is such an important part of me that it is not always easy to separate it from the rest of my life.
Good post, Elona!
Tracy
ps – I’d love to hear your thoughts on my latest post, diagnosis=accommodations