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CHAPTER 1

Surviving the Season of Sacrifice

Beginning this book probably marks the start of a new school year for you. If that’s the case, happy new year! For these first nine weeks, we’re going to explore opportunities related to our most basic physiological needs and also explore invitations that help us feel energized and truly alive as these will help set us up for success for the following weeks. Starting a new school year is filled with long days and lots of stress, whether you are a classroom teacher, instructional coach, administrator, paraprofessional, or any other position. Welcoming students and staff, adjusting to a new schedule, meeting families, and setting up your learning environment take time—hours that often come at the sacrifice of your own family, personal needs, and healthy habits. This year is going to be different, however. This year, you’re going to glide through the first nine weeks with energy and newly discovered pockets of time that you never knew you had!

Week One: Music (Days 1–5)

Quick! What’s your favorite song? What artist or genre gets you up off your feet (or at least tapping your toes)? Music is such a powerful tool to help us quickly change our moods. Research shows it “can reduce anxiety, depression, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, memory, increase some cognitive functions, enhance learning and concentration, and ward off the effects of brain aging” (Hampton, 2016).

I finally decided that it was totally and completely worth it to pay the subscription cost to the streaming music website Spotify (www.spotify.com/us) because I use it every single day. I create playlists for everything I need: to get me going in the morning, to calm me down, to focus when I’m working, to use during my workshops with educators, to get me pumped up while I’m working out, and to remind me of special times or events (such as my wedding song and those I associate with vacations or milestones). I love turning up the music loud in the morning and I love putting my earbuds in at the airport, creating a soothing soundtrack for the hustle and bustle going on around me. I am so incredibly grateful for the power of music.

This week’s invitation: Put the power of music to work for you.

• Monday: Create a go-to good-mood playlist. Use iTunes (https://apple.com/itunes), Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/music?hl=en_US), Spotify (https://spotify.com), Pandora (https://pandora.com), Amazon Music (www.amazon.com), or whatever other tool you have to create a five- or ten-song playlist that’s guaranteed to put you in a good mood.

• Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday: Now crank it up. Tap Play at different times of the day on your fabulous compilation and check in mentally to see if it impacts your mood. Does listening in the morning feel different than listening in the afternoon? Do you crave different music in the evening? Pay attention to all of these details. You might consider engaging in mindful listening, which is similar to mindful eating (page 129). To do this, close your eyes and give your full attention to the song you’re listening to. Imagine what a person with synesthesia (sensations accompanying others, such as seeing colors when listening to music) might see or feel when listening to your songs. Write your observations about your experiences in the margins here.

• Friday: Share your playlist with a colleague, friend, or family member (kind of like when we used to give someone a mixed tape if you’re of a certain age). Or, if you’re a teacher, play at least one or two songs during class with your students. Try incorporating music into your curriculum, regardless of grade or subject. You might even consider starting lunchroom karaoke! What about a student or staff (or both) dance party in the morning or to end the day? Additionally, you could invite your students to share one of their favorite (school-appropriate) songs with you or the class as a way to get to know one another at the start of the school year. Staff could do this together as a way to build school culture and community.

If you’re an administrator, play songs during passing period or before or after school through the speaker system. See how playing music at the start of class or during passing period alters the climate. If students have an assessment, perhaps you can play some music to pump them up and get them ready before they begin. Or you could play music as a way to celebrate students’ accomplishments—either the whole class’ or individual students’.

Now that you’ve experimented with your playlists the last few days, spread the joy today!

Reflect on the Week

When and how did you incorporate music into your schedule this week? Which options did you choose and why?

How did the power of music impact your week?

How did sharing your playlist impact your day (and those around you)?

Do you plan to continue making music part of your routine? Why and how?

Week Two: Nutrition and Hydration (Days 6–10)

I know, I know, it’s not always fun to consider how the food we put in our bodies impacts how we feel, but the truth of the matter is, taking control over what we eat can have a huge impact on our mood and overall well-being (Naidoo, 2018). I’ve made massive shifts in my nutrition, and the biggest—totally unexpected—payoff of doing the hard work in this area has been my happiness. By eating foods that align with my health goals, I have found that my mood has stabilized (at a good place). Because I feel good physically, my energy and stamina are at all-time highs.

All that said, it’s not always easy to make the choices that I want or need to make. Of course, there’s a time and a place to splurge and enjoy homemade cookies or tortilla chips and guacamole (my all-time favorite treat). I just try to limit those splurges for special occasions or situations rather than indulging regularly. On a daily basis, it’s important to keep blood sugar levels balanced. Balancing blood sugar helps you avoid “adrenal fatigue, weight gain, sleep disturbances, and cardiovascular disease” (Ryan, n.d.). By balancing your blood sugar, you can move away from energy spikes and terrible crashes brought on by the sugary treats that we sometimes rely on to get through the day. This week, choose an option (adapted from Healthline Editorial Team, n.d.) that feels like a challenge but is still within reach.

This week’s invitation: Think about nutrition and your happiness.

• Don’t skip meals: It’s so very easy to miss breakfast when you’re hustling to get out the door, or to miss lunch when you’re trying to get three things checked off your to-do list during a twenty-minute lunch break. If you choose this option, commit to not skipping any meals. Not eating meals “makes your body less able to assimilate food” and makes you more likely to overeat at the next meal (Healthline Editorial Team, n.d.). You can try prepping meals the day before or allowing a few extra minutes in the morning to eat breakfast and pack a lunch.

Try to eat without distractions, too, so you can tune in to how stopping to eat (instead of skipping a meal or eating on the run) makes you feel. You might discover that stuffing a protein bar into your mouth while you’re at the copy machine isn’t nearly as satisfying as eating with intention and savoring the food.

If you’re working with a partner or a team, consider sharing the load here. Perhaps one person can bring lunch to share on Monday and Tuesday and you can bring lunch to share on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. If your school has an active parent teacher organization (PTO), consider asking them to host a bimonthly teacher appreciation lunch with an emphasis on healthy foods.

• Keep a food journal: A food journal doesn’t have to be complicated or burdensome. Consider keeping track of everything you eat and drink and writing down how you feel before, during, and after eating or drinking each item. You can use a notebook, a notes app, or the template in figure 1.1 (pages 15–16) to journal.

Later, you can reflect on where your nutrition is coming from and how what you eat impacts how you feel. For example, after journaling you may notice that when you had a bagel on Tuesday, you were hungry an hour later, but when you had eggs on Wednesday, you weren’t hungry until lunch. Or you might discover that on Tuesday, you reached for a sweet treat at 2:30 p.m. and that this felt good in the moment, but you crashed (and felt guilty about your choice) at 4:00 p.m. With that realization, on Wednesday you may decide you want to try an apple and some almond butter at 2:30 p.m. to see if you feel less tired (and less guilty) at 4:00 p.m. Are your food choices different on the weekend versus during the week? Do those choices impact your mood at all?

• Drink more water: You’ve heard this one before. No matter how much water you currently drink, make it your mission to increase that number by at least eight ounces. Generally, adults should drink eight ounces of water eight times per day—the 8×8 rule—because water increases our energy levels and brain function and helps prevent and treat headaches (Leech, 2017), which are a nightmare when you’re trying to lead a class or staff. If you have trouble getting enough water, consider the following.

FIGURE 1.1: FOOD JOURNAL.

Visit go.SolutionTree.com/teacherefficacy for a free reproducible version of this figure.

◦ Buy yourself a new water bottle that makes you feel good! It doesn’t have to be expensive; just choose something that appeals to you so you’re more apt to reach for it.

◦ Maybe you tend to drink more when you have a straw. I do. These days, many water bottle lids have built-in straws; you can buy dishwasher-safe stainless-steel straws that you can use again and again (and that also help save the environment). According to Bethany Blakeman (2018) of New York magazine, SipWell are the best regular-sized stainless-steel straws available.

◦ To help keep track of how much water you’ve drunk, secure rubber bands around the top of your water bottle, and for every bottle that you finish, move one rubber band to the bottom of your bottle before refilling. For example, if you have a thirty-two-ounce water bottle, you can put two rubber bands around the top of your bottle (because you need to drink two of those to make your sixty-four ounces). If you have a sixteen-ounce water bottle, you can put four rubber bands around the top of your bottle.

◦ If you love water bottles (like I do) and already own several, consider designating each to a specific time of day. For example, your blue water bottle can correlate to the morning, your clear water bottle can correlate to the afternoon, and your Colorado-flag water bottle can correspond with the evening. You then know that you have to drink the total blue water bottle by 11:30 a.m., your clear water bottle by 3:00 p.m., and your Colorado-flag water bottle before bedtime, perhaps shooting to be finished by 7:00 p.m. so you don’t have to get up during the night to use the bathroom.

◦ Consider infusing your water with fruit, vegetables (such as cucumber), or herbs—even lavender—if you don’t particularly like the taste of plain water. There are special water bottles and pitchers that help make this easy, or you can simply do it yourself.

◦ Use an app to track how much water you’re consuming. I’m partial to Plant Nanny, found at https://apple.co/2FkAnFH, myself. Visit go.SolutionTree.com/teacherefficacy to find a list with live links to different apps.

Reflect on the Week

When and how did you incorporate healthy eating and hydration habits into your schedule this week? Which options did you choose and why?

Did you notice any changes—subtle or major—in your mood this week?

How did having an awareness of your nutrition choices help shape your week both professionally and personally?

Do you plan to continue to make a focus on nutrition and hydration part of your routine? Why and how?

Week Three: Sleep (Days 11–15)

Consider this: “for most adults, getting seven to eight hours of sleep tonight might be the most important thing we can do to improve our future physical and mental health” (World Sleep Day, n.d.). That’s from Erik St. Louis, who is co-director of the Mayo Center for Sleep Medicine. I don’t know about you, but I’m an entirely different person when I’ve had enough sleep versus when I haven’t. When I’m well rested, I can let frustrations slide off me a bit more, I am able to make food choices that match my health goals, I feel more energized even during the dreaded 3:00 p.m. slump, and I am my best self around others. Conversely, when I haven’t had enough sleep (particularly for multiple nights in a row), I’m set off by nuances, find myself drawn to carbs and sugar all day long, lack the energy and luster that I thrive on, and am somewhat unpleasant to keep company with.

Approximately one in three adults in the U.S. isn’t getting the necessary seven to eight hours of sleep (Luyster, Strollo, Zee, & Walsh, 2012). Insufficient sleep is not only an issue in the United States, it is a worldwide health epidemic (Chattu et al., 2018). When you don’t sleep those inconvenient but necessary and glorious hours, you get sick more easily, can’t think as well, forget things, gain weight, and are more prone to car and workplace accidents (Marcin, n.d.). No, thank you!

This week’s invitation: Get at least seven hours of sleep per night. Every night.

• Monday: Work to keep your bedroom quiet, cool, and dark. Use earplugs if you need to, set your thermostat to around sixty-five degrees, try a fan or noise machine, and use your curtains (or a sheet) to block out the light as much as possible (Smith, Robinson, & Segal, 2018).

• Tuesday: Experiment with an evening snack. For some people, eating before bed can cause indigestion, but for others, a quality snack can promote a good night’s sleep. Good choices for an evening snack include milk or yogurt (if your body tolerates dairy), a banana, half a turkey sandwich, or a small bowl of whole-grain, low-sugar cereal (Smith et al., 2018).

• Wednesday: Limit caffeine intake. Caffeine can cause sleep problems up to ten to twelve hours after consumption, so plan your last caffeinated beverage of the day to correlate with your anticipated bedtime (Drake, Roehrs, Shambroom, & Roth, 2013). I quit caffeine after 10:00 a.m.

• Thursday: Avoid bright screens one to two hours before your bedtime. The blue light that is emitted by your phone, tablet, computer, and TV is particularly disruptive to our ability to get a good night’s sleep (Harvard Health Publishing, 2018a). Find ways to relax that don’t involve screens—read, color, draw, or take a warm bath. Listening to an audiobook or podcast, cooking, and even singing can help, too (Hirschlag, 2017).

• Friday: Commit to waking up at the same time today as you will tomorrow. While the temptation to catch up on sleep during the weekend is appealing, the truth is that when we go to sleep and get up at the same time every day, we help set our bodies’ internal clocks and optimize our sleep (National Institute on Aging, n.d.).

Reflect on the Week

When and how did you incorporate healthy sleeping habits into your schedule this week? Which options did you choose and why?

After considering the impact that sleep has on your daily life, including the ways it influences your energy level, mood, and nutrition, did you notice any changes—subtle or major—by using the sleep options this week? (For example, do you reach for different foods when you’re tired? Does your mood feel more stable when you’re well rested?)

How did focusing on your sleep habits help shape your week?

Do you plan to continue to make sufficient and high-quality sleep part of your routine? Why and how?

Week Four: Laughter (Days 16–20)

Laughter is the best, isn’t it? Researcher and author Brené Brown (2010) says this about it: “Laughter, song, and dance create emotional and spiritual connection; they remind us of the one thing that truly matters when we are searching for comfort, celebration, inspiration, or healing: We are not alone” (p. 118). There’s more and more research surfacing that supports the idea that laughter really is the best medicine. Some of the short-term benefits of laughter include stimulating our hearts, lungs, and muscles; releasing feel-good endorphins; relaxation; and reducing tension and stress (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2016). There are also long-term effects, including improved immune system, pain relief, increased personal satisfaction, and improved mood (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2016).

Besides all of these health benefits, just consider the last time you really laughed. My guess is that it felt really, really good to laugh. Laughter is like an instantaneous mood booster. I love to laugh! In fact, I try to find the humor in even the most stressful situations. (Wheel falls off my suitcase? Hysterical! Tripped on my morning walk? So funny! Rather than feeling frustrated and irritated, I try to choose laughter instead.)

This week’s invitation: Laugh, giggle, and guffaw.

• Watch funny videos: Try YouTube videos, sitcoms, and podcasts. Everyone has preferences, but if you’re looking for new ideas, try simply searching online for funny podcasts or funniest YouTube videos.

• Spend time with animals: One of the best perks of having a pet is watching them do ridiculous things! I giggle every time my dog rolls around in the grass in the middle of a walk or when he goes to see who’s at the front door when the doorbell rings on a TV show that we’re watching. Savor those antics, and relish in the fact that petting animals even lowers your blood pressure and boosts your immunity (Johnson, Odendaal, & Meadows, 2002).

• Be silly: Skip around your classroom. Or hop on one foot! Do a somersault or a cartwheel. Roll down a hill. Do a silly dance. If you’re brave, do this in public; if you’re not, just close the curtains and lock the door!

• Sing at the top of your lungs: Belt it out! Pull out one of your playlists from week one (page 10) and sing along! I love to sing in the car (and it’s a good thing others can’t hear me) as singing to a song that I love always helps boost my mood. There’s research that states that singing is, in fact, a natural antidepressant (TakeLessons, n.d.).

• Start a Pinterest board: Use your board to showcase all the funny things you find online. This activity may encourage you to always keep on the lookout for things that make you laugh. Ask your students to spend a week looking out for and collecting fun things to share with the class. At the end of the week, challenge one another to laugh. Don’t just add to your board; go back and actually read what you’ve pinned when you need a boost.

• Make a list: Keep track of the funny things your students say (I still laugh when I think about the teacher who told me how many times she has to say, “Please stop licking your desk.”). Write down funny quotes you read. Utilize them in your classroom or school. Challenge your students to share quotes of their own or anecdotes about the things that make them laugh. Research confirms that using humor to cope makes us more likely to be positive (Doskoch, 2016). During a staff or PLC meeting, have folks share the funniest thing they heard their students say or do that week.

• Learn and share: Learn a new joke and share it with a colleague. Ask your colleague to share a joke with you, or suggest opening a teacher meeting with each participant sharing a good-spirited joke. Telling a joke increases our sense of belonging, which is essential for building a positive school culture (Doskoch, 2016).

Reflect on the Week

When and how did you incorporate laughter into your schedule this week? Which options did you select and why?

Which options were your favorite and why? Which options didn’t work for you and why?

How did focusing on laughter help shape your week both professionally and personally?

Do you plan to continue to make laughter part of your routine? Why and how?

Week Five: Technology (Days 21–25)

We love it, and we hate it. Technology can be a gift as well as a burden. Social media allows us to connect with others, share ideas, and escape for a few minutes. According to research, the average American spends two hours and fifty-one minutes on his or her phone each day (Text Request, 2017). The World Health Organization, which holds annual meetings about the topic, warns that technology addiction “has reached the magnitude of a significant public health concern” (Ladika, 2018). In fact, most of us struggle to go longer than ten minutes without checking our phones. Yikes! Looking at your phone reduces the ability to concentrate, solve problems, express creativity, pay attention, sleep, trust other people, and empathize (Lin, 2012). Read that sentence one more time. That’s terrifying.

Consider for a moment how scrolling may be impacting your happiness. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2008) says the “best moments in our lives are not passive, receptive, relaxing times [but] usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile” (p. 3). I had to work hard to reduce the amount of time that I spent scrolling. I didn’t realize how addicted I was until I participated in a 40 for 40 Challenge (40 for 40, n.d.), where for forty minutes a day for forty straight days, I committed to closing my laptop, turning off the TV, and hiding my smartphone during my free time. (This was when I wasn’t otherwise working; technology is an essential part of my work, and it may be part of yours, too.) For me, the first ten minutes were OK, but at about the ten-minute mark I found myself automatically reaching for my phone, just as the research predicted (Lin, 2012). Once I got over that hump, though, I found myself absorbed in a novel or writing or getting active, often for longer than forty minutes—all of which I was grateful for.

This week’s invitation: Unplug for a bit.

• Monday: Keep a running record of how many times you pick up your phone (or whatever digital device you typically use, such as a tablet, iPad, and TV) today. Some phones track screen time for you; check under Settings for options. Digital Wellbeing on Android devices helps track screen time, and QualityTime (www.qualitytimeapp.com) is also for Android phones; it tracks phone use per app. On Apple devices, look for the Screen Time option in Settings. Tally marks on a sticky note will do if you don’t want to use technology to track your technology use.

How do you feel about the number of times you checked? To further observe your technology use, you might pay attention to how many minutes go by between each reach for your device.

• Tuesday and Wednesday: Purposefully choose fifteen sequential minutes in your day to unplug completely (besides when you’re teaching, as I know you’re fully engaged with your students during that time). Try to choose a time when you typically use a device so you can get the full experience of shutting down. Use no electronic devices whatsoever. Note when your scroll finger starts to feel twitchy.

• Thursday and Friday: You made it fifteen minutes the past two days. Can you make it thirty minutes (or more) today and tomorrow? Push yourself to see how long you can go and notice how it makes you feel.

Reflect on the Week

When and how did you incorporate unplugging into your schedule this week? Which options did you choose and why?

How did it feel to unplug for fifteen minutes? What did you do with this time?

How did it feel to unplug for thirty minutes? What did you do with this time?

Do you plan to continue to make unplugging part of your routine? Why and how? What about trying something like a Tech-Free Tuesday? Check out Screen-Free Week (www.screenfree.org) for more options.

Week Six: Altruism (Days 26–30)

On a work trip where everything was going horribly wrong, I approached the airline counter with tears in my eyes. The gate agent looked at me with sincerity and softly said, “I’m here to help.” Those four simple words of kindness nearly melted me. I was able to catch my breath and accept help. Being kind, or giving to someone, actually decreases stress and enhances mental health (Achor, 2011a).