Contemplations on Sleep and Industry

I took a sick day from my long-term job because I feel it best not to spread whatever germs I may be harboring beneath this sore throat, conjestion, and cough. I'm not completely incapacitated, so I have been reading news and blogs and whatever I come across on Google Reader.

One article that got my gears going was a news article about a recent sleep study. The study concurred that people who generally sleep six hours were more likely to die prematurely (whatever that means). Yes, once again, a study confirms that we need 7-8 hours of sleep at night. One bit that I felt worth sharing:

"Modern society has seen a gradual reduction in the average amount of sleep people take, and this pattern is more common amongst full-time workers, suggesting that it may be due to societal pressures for longer working hours and more shift-work."

How many times have I gone to bed at a reasonable hour, feeling guilty for using those two hours to sleep instead of do something productive? I've seen so many full-time teachers staying in their classroom until 10pm and arriving the next day at 6am. It's almost as if, to get ahead in our work/career/etc, we must sacrifice our own health. And the workforce is very competitive these days, because there are fewer and fewer jobs.

What is a solution to this? Sometimes I wish we could just all go back to being small homesteaders, growing our own food and livestock. That way, we'd all have work that directly effected our livelihood. The information age is scary, even for us 20-somethings who have never known anything different.

Great End to a Good Week

Saturday! My one day off of work. I've been feeling tired this week, and I think it's because I'm honestly not used to working this much. Darin laughed at me when I said that, and rightly so. Lots of people work six days a week. But luckily, I get Saturdays off.

The week flew by, and yesterday was beautiful for recess. The kindergarten playground smelled of flowers, and B. learned to pump on the swings to keep himself up. He just kept yelling "I'm doing it, Ms. O!" from the swing. It was awesome.

Last night, Darin and I had a study date, then we took Daisy for a walk. Afterwards, we watched Capitalism: A Love Story by Michael Moore and then called it a night. It was a good Friday.

Long-term Job Update.

My long-term sub job has been great so far. It's nice not to think about where I'll be going in the morning. I like being able to walk in to a building that is familiar, with staff and students who know my name. Earlier this week, one of the kindergarteners handed me a folded-up piece of colorful artwork that was made just for me.

One of the permanent parapros could be doing a better job at being friendly towards me and a choice few others. It's an awkward and unnecessary element, but it's essentially her issue that seemingly stems from her hating her job. She is qualified and good at what she does. I wish she knew how lucky she is.

This particular district favors a behaviorist approach to discipline. I've enjoyed learning more about this approach. It's very rewarding when a behavior plan starts working. I want to learn more about this, and about autism spectrum disorders. Working with the same students for the next four weeks will benefit my own educational experience, which is why I'm grateful for this job!

Eastern Michigan's teacher job fair is tomorrow. I'm a little nervous about how it's going to play out. My shirt has been ironed and my portfolio assembled. I couldn't help but have a low-self esteem moment about my resume and what I feel it's lacking. But Darin assured me that I will soon have more to put in there. And I'm certain that most entry-level teachers can relate to this feeling. Teaching is a learn-by-doing job; I hope I show excellent of potential to the representatives tomorrow.

I'm trying to keep a Zen mindset tonight, and towards my whole job search in general. I'm going to trust that what will be will be and have faith that the right job will come around when it's time. Until then, I need to put my energies into the elements of my life that I can control. I can distribute my resume, gain daily experience, read pedagogy, enjoy my fleeting free time to persue my other interests, and etc. And of course, take time to practice gratitude for what I do have.

April Updates

I got offered a job at a local private summer day camp. I will be working with one other person, the director, who will also be my boss. It's not the best choice financially, but I know that I'm going to love it. I'll be outside for most of the day, and I'll be designing and implementing activities, which should be great experience.

The guy that I'm working with is also going into education, and he seems to have great character. I'm excited to actually like my coworker. It'll beat working at the restaurant, for sure. I've thought about putting applications in at restaurants. The money is tempting. But in the end, I need to stay focused on what the best choice would be for my career.

Speaking of my career, I'll be attending at least one teacher job fair next week. I'm in the process of putting together my portfolio and resumes. I've already picked out what I'm going to wear, too. I'm looking forward to it, for sure. At the very least, it will be great practice in presentation and interviewing. Who knows what could happen?