PVCs adversely affect human health (developmental disorders being only one example) - yet they are commonly found in many school supplies. What kind of supplies? Most commonly binders but that's not all. PVC is basically vinyl. Many polyvinyl chloride products contain phthalates - which have been limited in certain children's wares (like baby bottles) but not in school supplies.
Lessening the total toxic load in which we are all immersed (and if you are living, breathing, eating or drinking on this planet - you are immersed in the toxic sludge that is choking the life out of our life-giving Earth) is always a prudent step towards being well.
For detailed information, Please see:
http://www.environmentaldefence.ca/reports/PVC_free_2009.html
Monday, August 24, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Are We In-Tune With Ourselves?
Feeling frequently exhausted, irritated, and resentful of not having enough time to do all we want and need are signs we are out-of-tune with ourselves. These feelings are all too common an experience in teaching. Teaching shouldn’t make you unwell. Yet this seems to be considered a normal, if unfortunate, aspect of being a teacher. It can be different.
If we want things to be different we need to be willing to do things differently. Outside of acute situations (like illness, death, separations and major upheavals) most stressors are the proverbial straws that break the camel’s back (report cards, paperwork, collegial relations, student concerns, home and family issues, finances). It’s often our pattern of interaction with and response to these minor stressors that keeps us in grooves where we make the same choices again and again. We may not realize what these patterns and beliefs are or how we acquired them, but they are our personal paradigm. If our patterns and beliefs are making us unwell, we need to shift the paradigm.
Progressive spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle says our life is not our life situation. We often confuse the two. Our life is the core of who we are. It’s the unshakable rock that sits serenely, confidently knowing everything is as it should be and will be ok, while our life situation (that is the positive and negative roles we play, events, situations, acquired beliefs, goals) often showers down and obscures it. If our life is like a house, then our life situation is often like the clutter cramming our closets, drawers and basements. Clearing out the trash will help us make better use of our house. We need to discern what is trash and what is not.
To do this we need to take stock of what we do. Time management is a lot like money management. You can spend $500 when you only have $100 in the bank, but you incur debt. Likewise you can schedule more in a day than there are hours to complete it, but that too is incurring debt. You are salaried for an approximate 40 hour work week. Budget your time to work within that frame. Whatever that doesn’t fit ask yourself if it’s worth going into debt for?
Looking at our motivations helps make the shift. What am I doing? Why am I doing it? Aware of our motivations, we can make conscious choices about what we do and how we do it. We begin to master our work so it serves us and not the other way around. Our beliefs and patterns begin to change. When we consciously choose our actions, we empower ourselves to be able to respond to stressors in ways that affirm our wellbeing.
This inner space will alert us to what is out-of-tune in our lives and how to make adjustments to rectify that. Rest in this space: it's from this space the courage and conviction to create change comes.
If we want things to be different we need to be willing to do things differently. Outside of acute situations (like illness, death, separations and major upheavals) most stressors are the proverbial straws that break the camel’s back (report cards, paperwork, collegial relations, student concerns, home and family issues, finances). It’s often our pattern of interaction with and response to these minor stressors that keeps us in grooves where we make the same choices again and again. We may not realize what these patterns and beliefs are or how we acquired them, but they are our personal paradigm. If our patterns and beliefs are making us unwell, we need to shift the paradigm.
Progressive spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle says our life is not our life situation. We often confuse the two. Our life is the core of who we are. It’s the unshakable rock that sits serenely, confidently knowing everything is as it should be and will be ok, while our life situation (that is the positive and negative roles we play, events, situations, acquired beliefs, goals) often showers down and obscures it. If our life is like a house, then our life situation is often like the clutter cramming our closets, drawers and basements. Clearing out the trash will help us make better use of our house. We need to discern what is trash and what is not.
To do this we need to take stock of what we do. Time management is a lot like money management. You can spend $500 when you only have $100 in the bank, but you incur debt. Likewise you can schedule more in a day than there are hours to complete it, but that too is incurring debt. You are salaried for an approximate 40 hour work week. Budget your time to work within that frame. Whatever that doesn’t fit ask yourself if it’s worth going into debt for?
Looking at our motivations helps make the shift. What am I doing? Why am I doing it? Aware of our motivations, we can make conscious choices about what we do and how we do it. We begin to master our work so it serves us and not the other way around. Our beliefs and patterns begin to change. When we consciously choose our actions, we empower ourselves to be able to respond to stressors in ways that affirm our wellbeing.
This inner space will alert us to what is out-of-tune in our lives and how to make adjustments to rectify that. Rest in this space: it's from this space the courage and conviction to create change comes.
Friday, August 21, 2009
What We Make
I love this clip of slam poet Taylor Mali on What Teachers Make
I think that a big part of stress for teachers comes from not being adequately valued by society. It shouldn't matter what other people think, but if you're regularly disparaged it can be a real drain. I won't go into the details of what the general public goes on about because if you are a teacher you know full well the underhanded comments that come your way.
This YouTube clip should cheer you up.
You know - I love how people say "It must be nice to have the whole summer off!" Little do they know that you aren't actually paid for those two months. And in those two months most teachers are taking various upgrading course work. Course work that we pay for out of pocket. I laughed when someone (not a teacher) asked if my district would pay for my Masters, the way their work paid for their MBA. Well we can dream.
But my favourite response to the summer-off thing is: "Yes it is. Your major was science/business/math? Schools are often looking for people with those qualifications. You should consider becoming a teacher."
The most common response from those people: SILENCE.
I think that a big part of stress for teachers comes from not being adequately valued by society. It shouldn't matter what other people think, but if you're regularly disparaged it can be a real drain. I won't go into the details of what the general public goes on about because if you are a teacher you know full well the underhanded comments that come your way.
This YouTube clip should cheer you up.
You know - I love how people say "It must be nice to have the whole summer off!" Little do they know that you aren't actually paid for those two months. And in those two months most teachers are taking various upgrading course work. Course work that we pay for out of pocket. I laughed when someone (not a teacher) asked if my district would pay for my Masters, the way their work paid for their MBA. Well we can dream.
But my favourite response to the summer-off thing is: "Yes it is. Your major was science/business/math? Schools are often looking for people with those qualifications. You should consider becoming a teacher."
The most common response from those people: SILENCE.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Master Chefs of Stone Soup
Perhaps this has been you.
Your time is split between the gym and a classroom that is used by an English class in the morning session. You could come in and prep the science, but with no break in those 3 hours (because at recess you have to supervise) you will not be able to prep the art class except in the planning corner of your mind. The class is doing paper mosaic but there’s nothing to put the glue into. You didn’t buy eggs this week so no egg cartons as glue cups.Somehow it works. After clean up it’s off to the gym.
You’d think a game of basketball might entertain kids. No you have to be a human version of the newest Nintendo game system. You must become a club med activity leader with an encyclopedic knowledge of rules of sports you’ve never played, kids games, team captain, coach, referee, first aid attendant, and personal counselor to the dramas that are bound to ensue. If you think workplace politics and drama are hot – don’t even venture into the intricacies of the human dynamics of 11 year olds! But that’s just for 45 minutes – now it’s time to do science.
Even though some wrote it down, not everyone comes prepared for today’s science experiment. You anticipate this so you’ve scavenged the neighborhood recycling boxes and found glass bottles for each of your 30 students so they can watch their balloon inflate over a bottle of baking soda and vinegar. It all comes together; learning will take place and so will fun.
As a first year teacher I would have felt energized by the effort of pulling this off, warmed and motivated by the cheers of kids during PE, their ooh and aahs as their balloons seem to magically inflate, amazed at the miracle of the delicate web of energy that I facilitated for 30 souls to have fun, walk respectfully through the halls, share limited resources and still make it work. I’d have felt that this was the best job in the world, that I was being paid to have fun. I felt I was a blazing crusader for the love of learning in managing to make something out of almost nothing. A Master Chef of stone soup.
But I’ve been doing this for 10 years in various capacities and the glow is starting to wear off. It makes me angry. We repeat the mantra that we go this extra mile “for the kids”, but the reality is the system doesn’t really care about the kids. I think that education systems can do better than assuming their teachers are the magical hero characters in a fairy tale. Imagine what we could accomplish if we were given ample time and resources to do our craft. Not to mention what it would do for our sense of professionalism. The difference between me 10 years ago and now is that now I speak up about it. I’m no longer infatuated with the job, I love and respect it enough to be able to point out its faults.
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