teachers and others who work with the public: what do you do to stay healthy?

One thing that helped me more then anything was to quit wearing contact lenses and just wear my glasses. I found I was always digging at my eyes and I think that contributed to many a cold. I have a difficult time with contacts, however. They are never entirely comfortable for me.
 
RE: teachers and others who work with the public: what ...

I've taught for 15 years. The first year teaching, I was a mess. The other year that was bad was my daughter's first preschool experience. Our family joke for that year was that our oldest was in college, second in high school, I teach middle school, dh teaches elementary school, and dd was in preschool, we had all age germs cornered at our house.

I get a flu shot every year as does our entire household.

What I have found usefull, is to use handsanitizer or soap every time I handle student work.

I also send coughing kids to the office immediately.

I avoid touching my face.

I drink plenty of water all the time but especially during the "season" of illness.

I get to bed at a reasonable hour because tiredness for me is the precursor for catching something.

I eat clean as could be. I start every day with a three to four fruit smoothie with yogurt. I get in four more fruits and veggies during the day and two to three at dinner. I try not to eat the same fruits and vegetables twice during the day so I get variety in them.

I do not go more than a couple of hours between meals.

When I have syptoms of overtraining or illness (for me they look the same), I still work out but with lesser intensity and length of workouts until I am strong again.

When I have syptoms of stress, I deal with it as soon as possible. Teaching is stressful, if I don't have a battle plan for problems, they can get the best of me and when they do...I catch something nasty. When I am overstressed, I step up my workouts. That helps me.

I have trusted partner teachers. These guys, have my best interest in mind. We help each other, we vent and team up to deal with difficult kids. But most importantly, these people seem to notice my dwindling reserves and say..."Go home, you look tired!" They notice before my dh does!

I have tried "Airborne" which my dh swears by, it makes me sick to my stomach. I do use zinc tablets, when I feel throat scratching and my full vitamin supplements, and have found no value in adding others.

The best relief for you will be time. Next year won't be so bad for you.

Tracey

PS I'm getting over a cold right now. My dh is a mess, my dd was a mess, but I had only one bad day.
 
RE: teachers and others who work with the public: what ...

I continue reading this post with interest to see what other teachers are doing to ward off the bugs. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your tips -- many of which we have in common, it seems.

By the way, Tina - your kids won't think you're nuts. Get the scented gels from Bath & Body when they're on sale - my kids eat it up!

Re: the computers...Our computer teacher is fanatical about sanitizing (which I like). :) If someone sneezes while at the keyboard, she puts a post-it on the monitor...As soon as the class period ends, she disinfects that work station.

Good point about handling student work...I am careful about that, too. I wash my hands before/after and try not to touch my face. I had to laugh b/c this thread reminded me of woman at my former school who used to grade papers wearing rubber gloves. I'm not kidding!

-Cathy :)
 
RE: teachers and others who work with the public: what ...

hahah rubber gloves, thats is too funny :)

yea I am going to try to be more aware of touching my face and really scrubbing up, especially before eating.

And just admit, that I am a first year teacher and will probably will catch most of the germs this year :)
 
RE: teachers and others who work with the public: what ...

Tracey, I have the same symptoms of overtraining as I do when I am getting a cold. Extreme tiredness and overall achy feeling. I have to watch out for it, and be aware of it. Sometime I push myself too hard at work because I want to do well.... but if it costs my health, I 'm going to be worse off.

Today is the worse day of the my cold (day #3) I hope tomorrow I wake up feeling better. The nice thing is I can come home after work and hit the sack if needed :)

THanks!
 
RE: teachers and others who work with the public: what ...

That really is an excellent point that it's not just about the germs - it's about the stress, too, which is especially high in the first year or two.

The other thing is to take your sick days when you need them. I worked in an office for a number of years before becoming a teacher and quickly learned the difference. In an office, you can slog through a day when you're not quite up-to-snuff or even have co-workers help pick up the slack if need be whereas teaching is a job where you have to be "on" *all* the time. I think a lot of new teachers are hesitant to call out (I know I was). Probably b/c I've always been the type of person who doesn't like to miss work - and I still don't like to. But now I have a pretty good gauge of when I'm too sick to go to school, and the barometer is a lot lower than it was when I worked in a different profession.
 
RE: teachers and others who work with the public: what ...

I don't know if you have Costco...but they have this spring smelling hand lotion/antibacterial soap that my kids love and want to steal. I buy the big Coscto version and I have 8 "dollar store" containers I fill for my student sinks.

About the not being able to call in sick. I used to not call in sick because it was more trouble to write sub-plans than to limp through the day. Now before school starts in Sept. I write sub plans for about 4 days that are generic that can fit anytime of year. I even make copies I need and everything because when I am sick I don't want to plan and write the plans.

I rarely use all 4 days but when I need them they are so handy.

When my mom died, I suddenly left school for weeks because I was her caretaker. Those 4 days got me started and then when the panic subsided I was able to pull it off planning lessons long distance.

The other thing I forgot to mention is that I am a science teacher. So I teach germs in a big way...germ prevention in almost everything. When we learn about lab safety, germs are featured. When we learn about cells, I make bacteria a key feature, when I teach genetics they learn about viruses, and so on....They become pretty understanding and nail each other for spreading germs! Oddly this has built some compassion in them as well.

Twice, I had students undergoing chemo for cancer and the students with cancer had to wear a mask. My students were great with them both.

I hope you feel better. My dh is miserable right now. We are on Holiday Break now, so he has a few days to build his immunity back up.

Take care,

Tracey
 
RE: teachers and others who work with the public: what ...

Thanks, Tracey! I actually had all kinds of packets that would fit any time of year so that if I do call in, its ok and there is something to do. I just can't shake that pang of guilt when I do it!

I am a science teacher also, I teach 10th grade earth science. Although we don't talk much about germs, I'm going to start bringing it up more.

I cannnnn't wait for break! 1 more week and we are there. I haven't even worked out much lately, between Christmas stuff and being sick. Hopefully over break I can recharge, refocus, and get the drive back to push me through. I have learned, however, that working out only 4 days a week is going to have to be acceptable right now... I just have to survive till June mentally and physically!!

thanks for the feedback!

-Tina
 
RE: teachers and others who work with the public: what ...

I totally agree, Cathy!! when my husband is sick, he can actually work at home, in his pjs at his desk. NO way for us teachers. You just have to be "on" allll the time, I totally know what you mean.

Thanks for the feedback, I'm working on getting better ;)

Take Care!
 
RE: teachers and others who work with the public: what ...

Tina,

Don't hesitate to ask about other first year issues there are a lot of us and it is quite an initiation time!

Tracey
 
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