Episode #6 Season 2: Prioritizing Sleep and Positive Communication in the Classroom

After years of sacrificing sleep for the sake of exercise, I've come to realize the profound impact sleep deprivation has had on my well-being and performance as an educator. Join me, Lori Maxfield, on Wellness for Educators as I share personal reflections from my 37-year teaching journey and explore the essential role sleep plays in mental and physical health, brain function, and social interactions. You’ll hear practical tips for overcoming common causes of insomnia, like stress and anxiety, to improve not just your sleep, but your effectiveness in the classroom.

Yet, sleep is just one part of the wellness puzzle. This episode also highlights the power of positive communication in classrooms. Through activities like the "put-down funeral," we help students release negativity and foster an environment of encouragement. I’ll share heartwarming stories, including nominating a friend, Fred, to a Wall of Fame, inspiring others to pursue their dreams. As educators, our self-care is crucial—not just for us, but for the generations we inspire. Join me for a message of positivity, kindness, and a gentle reminder of your heroic role in shaping the future.

Thanks for listening!

Transcript

Importance of Prioritizing Sleep for Educators

Speaker 1 0:19

This is Wellness for Educators, episode 6. You need to be well to teach well. That is the motto. Seeking a healthy balance. You matter, and so does your health. There is life beyond the classroom. This is Wellness, wednesday, october 30th 2024. Wellness for Educators. Lori Maxfield, your host.

Speaker 1 0:46

At this point, you're probably about a quarter of the way through the school year. Hopefully, you're feeling comfortable with your routine and you've established a good rapport with your students, parents and co-workers. That being said, when you begin to feel comfortable, that being said, when you begin to feel comfortable, sometimes it can present some problems. It is next to impossible to be in a classroom and not be faced with challenges. It is just part of the job. Actually, challenges come with all jobs. Your health matters and that is why taking care of your own wellness is so important.

Speaker 1 1:23

When I was teaching, I prioritized health and wellness. If I were given a choice to put a list of what were my top five health priorities, it would have looked like this Number one exercise. Number two eating well. Number one exercise Number two eating well. Number three hydration. Number four having a good work-family balance. And number five sleep Well. I did not have that quite right. What I should have listed as number one should have been sleep, and this should be your number one priority as well.

Speaker 1 2:12

After 37 years of teaching, I would say 90% of the time I was sleep deprived. I placed exercise at the top of my wellness list and because of that I tried to attend 5.30 am exercise classes at least three times a week, and probably during the last 10 years of my career I may have attended classes five times a week. I would wake each morning at 4.45. If I was able, I would get to sleep by 9.30 or 10. The most sleep I was able to get in one night was probably six to seven hours, but if I were to be honest with you, most of the time I probably got about five hours. This was not good. The optimum number of hours of sleep needed each night is between seven and nine hours. As a retired person, you would think oh, you have no worries, but that's not the case. I actually wrote this podcast at 2 am because I couldn't sleep.

Speaker 1 3:16

If you can't sleep, sometimes it's best to just get up rather than looking at your clock over and over, tossing and turning, thinking about how you're not sleeping. If you get up and just do something productive, it might actually help you sleep better. You might just get up and unload your dishwasher or maybe grade a few papers, or, if you're reading a good book, read an extra chapter and then go back to sleep and you'll be amazed. I think you have a better chance of sleeping than tossing and turning.

Speaker 1 3:56

Sleep is so important for so many reasons. These are a few of the things that I've discovered. It impacts your mental health. Sleep helps improve your mood. It reduces stress. It regulates your emotions, and poor sleep patterns actually are linked to depression. It helps your physical health. Sleep helps maintain a healthy weight, regulate your blood sugar, improve heart health. If you're sleep deprived, it can increase your risk of obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Speaker 1 4:35

Sleep impacts your brain function. Sleep helps you to think more clearly, form memories, concentrate. If you're not sleeping, it negatively affects your ability to reason, solve problems and pay attention to detail. Also, as a teacher, if you are sleep deprived, you're probably less patient, and we all know teachers need patience. Sleep impacts your immune system. Sleep helps strengthen your immune system, making you less likely to get sick. It impacts social interactions. Sleep helps you get along better with people and interact socially. Sometimes, if you haven't gotten enough sleep, you're a little bit grabby. That impacts your home. It impacts your marriage. It impacts your co-workers. Safety Sleep helps you avoid injuries. If you're not sleeping and you have to drive to work, it could cause you to be a drowsy driver. When you sleep, it repairs your body. Your brain removes toxins and your bodily body actually repairs itself. Sleep actually helps strengthen your muscles. This is a quote by E Joseph Kossman. The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night's sleep.

Speaker 1 6:13

Now I think it is important to think about why we don't sleep well. I know personally. For me, when I don't sleep well, it is usually because I can't turn off the voice in my head. If you are blessed to be a parent, you know that we may worry way too much about our children, but we also may worry about the children in our classroom. They say you are only as happy as your saddest child. I totally agree with this statement. The problem is we worry too much and that can cause us to lay awake thinking Did you know that 90% of what we worry about doesn't happen? Thinking, did you know that 90% of what we worry about doesn't happen? Well, that may be true, but at times it is just hard, especially at night, when things just seem to worry us more. I must say things are better in the morning.

Speaker 1 7:18

The physical factors that may be related to insomnia are stress, anxiety, trauma or life events and possibly worries about work, relationships and or finances. The piece I want to address in this podcast is the worry about work. They say that effective communication is the backbone of a healthy relationship. When it fails, the foundation starts to crumble. Communication with parents, students, co-workers are all vital to being an effective teacher. I know I have laid awake many nights focusing on negative communication that may have occurred either in my classroom or within the school environment. So what are some steps we can take to help us battle this issue?

Speaker 1 8:04

Words Be careful with your words. Once they're said, they can only be forgiven, not forgotten. Once they're said, they can only be forgiven, not forgotten. Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. This is a quote from Mother Teresa. When I taught sixth grade at a middle school, this was something I worked tirelessly to emphasize. Kids can be mean, and it can often start with words.

The Power of Positive Communication

Speaker 1 8:36

I had an activity that I did in my class each year, and not only did it impact me? I hope to believe it impacted my students. Let me share the activity with you, but I must preface this by saying the activity may be difficult to do in the classroom today. It is not a research-based activity. At the times, teachers had more freedom with their instruction than you may have today. It's a creative activity, but maybe it will teach you a lesson and it may be something that you can apply to your classroom as well. My hope is that by hearing about this activity, you can truly understand the lesson I was teaching about the value of positive words and how harsh words can impact a child forever. Actually, just the other day, my daughter and I were talking about a situation in one of her classes when she was in elementary school, in one of her primary grades. She is 35, but she can still remember words that were spoken. As teachers, we want to be remembered for our encouraging words, not harsh words.

Speaker 1 9:48

The activity was called a put-down funeral. I would give each child a sticky note. I would ask them to write on the note something hurtful someone had said to them in the past. I did the same. Then I proceeded to dramatically put on my long black winter coat and ask them to pick up their sticky notes and get their coats. We were going to attend a funeral. Get their coats. We were going to attend a funeral.

Speaker 1 10:15

Now, I'm usually a pretty cheerful, smiley person and this was really out of character for me and the kids' faces. They didn't really know what to do. They were kind of shocked. But they got their coats, they got their sticky notes and out the door we went. We walked outside and there, placed on the sidewalk, was a coffee can filled with newspaper. I proceeded to light the newspaper on fire and I told the class that we were going to be reading our sticky notes and after we read the sticky note, we placed it in the fire. I also told them that if they did not feel comfortable reading their sticky note, it was not mandatory, they could opt to pass, but they still needed to put the sticky note in the small fire.

Speaker 1 11:10

In all the years that I did this activity it was very interesting to me that I never had a child pass. They always read their notes. It was extremely powerful, not only to hear the messages, but the children were hearing the messages of the other students and that was hurtful to hear these unkind words that kids had said to each other, or an adult could have said to them, and some of the notes were something like you are fat, you are stupid, you never do the right thing. And to hear a child read that really was powerful. After the last child finished, I proceeded to pour water over the flame and we went back inside. Once the students had hung up their coats and were seated again, I talked about what they had done and I said it was a put-down funeral and we were saying goodbye to these hurtful words. But I also said, asked them if they had remembered what they had written. Of course they remembered what they had written and I explained to them. That is the power of words. Every day. We have the power to use our words for good or to destroy.

Speaker 1 12:48

We did another activity immediately after that, one where it was focusing on positive words. That one where it was focusing on positive words. There are 50 adjectives and I went through each name of the class and they had to pick out the adjective that described that particular child and then they distributed their adjectives to their class rates. So, for example, one child maybe, and they made a big initial and they put these positive words on the initial. So maybe they got 10 students thought that they were creative and maybe five students thought they were kind and seven students thought they were smart, and so they would have all these adjectives on their initial and then they could see all these really nice things that their classmates thought about them. And I actually had those letters, those initials laminated so it was kind of like a keepsake. But then I told the students that if somebody said something negative to you, it takes between five to 10 positive comments to even make that negative comment feel better. But as they experience with this put down funeral that the negative comments sadly may never go away, I told them our class was a put down free zone and we made posters to hang around the room. It was funny for me and actually a little bit heartwarming, because I would have students in the class that may not have experienced the put down funeral but they were in my room for math or another class and some of my homeroom students, if they ever heard a student say something unkind, they would point to those posters and they would say you cannot talk like that in here. This is a put down free zone. And the children really took this to heart, which was the purpose of the lesson, and I was really glad that they learned it.

Speaker 1 15:00

Recently I went back to my high school and I nominated my friend Fred to the Wall of Fame. This is a place where classmates are honored. These distinguished alumni have made a significant contribution to their communities. When I wrote my nomination letter for this award, I did not focus on my friend's great worldly accomplishments which there are many but I focused on Fred's ability to encourage other students in our class. This is a quote from my nomination letter.

Speaker 1 15:33

Fred had a way of bringing out the positive in others. I would call him an encourager. I remember there was a boy in our class that may not have been in the popular group, but he had a very deep voice. Fred often complimented this young man and recommended he pursue a career in communication and possibly radio. Years later we discovered this classmate had actually become a disc jockey. Honestly, I believe it was because of Fred's positive encouragement that this classmate pursued this career. This is an example of how positive words can make a lasting impact. On a side note, I also observed sadly that this same student being bullied, this young man, opted to focus on the positive words of Fred rather than the bully's negative ones. For this I am grateful.

Speaker 1 16:33

As teachers, you may get negative emails, but you also may receive really sweet notes or kind emails. But you also may receive really sweet notes or kind emails. If you receive these positive notes, I would encourage you to get a little treasure box to hold those precious jewels. As Nell shared on a previous episode, sometimes she gets her positive notes out and reads them to encourage her on a difficult day. Rereading kind messages is a great strategy to help us combat negativity and, just like with the large letters that the students had with the adjectives, these positive comments truly do help.

Speaker 1 17:16

Communicating can certainly have its challenges, with children as well as parents. In my many years of teaching, I tried not to focus on negative words, but at times this can be very difficult. My father used to say kill them with kindness, and I think that is extremely true. When faced with disruptive child or a parent of a difficult child, try to think of ways to be kind, even during these trying times. We live in a world where emails and texts are flowing constantly, but I would encourage you to make a phone call. If you try it once, you might be hooked. You see, phone calls have the advantage over emails. When the meaning and, in particular, the understanding of the message can be conveyed are really important. With a phone call, it's possible to use tone, pitch, pace, volume to reinforce the spoken content. In addition, you are able to have a conversation on the other end. On the other hand, an email can come across as harsh and messages at times can be misconstrued. I know you are busy and you have so much on your to-do list, but if you made one positive phone call a week, you might find out that the negativity may lessen and you might actually have a better rapport with your students' parents.

Promoting Wellness for Educators

Speaker 1 18:49

The greatest piece is that you may actually end up sleeping better. Recently I started the 10-3-2-1-0 sleep rule 10 hours before bed, no more caffeine. 3 hours before bed, no food or drink. 2 hours before bed, no more work. 1 hour before bed, no screen time, and 0 is the number of times you hit the snooze button. So your homework is to try the 10-3-2-1-0 sleep rule and make one positive phone call to a parent, student or co-worker. If it goes well, try to make this a routine. It may actually take less than five minutes out of your day, but may give you a few less sleepless nights.

Speaker 1 19:42

Remember I am here cheering for you. Remember the best thing for you right now is to get a good night's sleep. If you do, you can dream. Thanks to Ron Coleman for providing the music and thanks to you for being a positive influence to the future generation. You are a true hero. You need to be well, to teach well, find joy in the journey. This is Lori Maxfield and I thank you for listening to Wellness for Educators. If you have a friend who you think could benefit from this podcast, please text them the link. If you can rate and review this podcast, I would greatly appreciate it. I look forward to connecting again in a few weeks. Until that time, remember, use kind words, make that one phone call. Sweet dreams.