American Schools Need a Siesta

PYP students enjoying their morning break

 What do you love to do?  Go fishing?  Play a sport?  Run a business?  Be a soccer mom…or dad?  Bake cookies?  Build Adirondack chairs from scrap wood and metal? Choose one, and think about it for a moment.

Here’s one of mine:  I love to teach.  I love the feeling that follows an engaging, well-planned lesson.  I love the look on a students’ face when, after struggling and struggling and struggling, they finally get it.  I love the freedom I have to run my own classroom—to make a lesson as dull or exciting as I please, to decorate, to establish rules…it’s great…but I couldn’t do it joyfully, hour upon hour, without taking a few moments to myself.    

This is something we American’s tend to struggle with—breaks.  Is it me, or has this term “break” become somewhat of a taboo in our country?  The word relax is code for laziness.  Rest?  A.k.a. Wasting valuable work time.   “I’m going to use the rest room.”  Hmm…we’ll let it slide this time, but make it quick. 

I remember when I was young—like 7 or 8 years old—and I used to spend hours with my sister jumping on my parents’ bed.  After each jumping session, I used to lie down and stare at their collection of books on the large shelf next to their bed.  One book always caught my attention; it was titled When I Relax, I feel Guilty.  I used to sit there, contemplating how much I enjoyed my Nickelodeon watching, bike riding, and bed jumping time, and wonder how on Earth someone could feel guilty about taking time to do things they enjoy.  Stressing out over a break?  Quite the oxymoronic situation if you’d ask the second-grade me.  Then I grew up.  Then I went to college…

Now I’m on the path to become a teacher and have a moderate case of self-diagnosed workaholism.  The symptoms:  averaging five hours of sleep a night, not having time to go for a run, and irritability with anything or anyone distracting me from getting a job done.  I have a feeling my first student teaching placement may have triggered some of these behaviors.  I loved my first placement—I learned a TON, worked with an amazing teacher, and had a lot of fun while doing so.  Looking back though, my average day didn’t allow for time to simply chill out.  Yes—I’m to blame, but the school’s schedule did not help the situation.  Classes started at 7:55.  The day kicked off with back to back 90 minute classes followed by 90 minutes of study hall duty, a quick 30 to scarf down lunch, then race back up to the room for 90 more minutes of class.  Where does a cup of coffee or nice chat with a colleague (let alone a bathroom break) fit into that?  It really doesn’t (minus lunch).  Now let’s look at the schedule of a typical SIS day (see right column).  

A Typical Day at a typical Minnesota School	A Typical Day at Sotogrande International School
7:55-9:30   Block 1 9:35-11:10  Block 2 11:15-12:50  Study Hall Duty 12:50-1:20  Lunch 1:25-3:00  Block 3	9:00-9:50  Period 1 9:55-10:40 Period 2 10:40-11:00 School-wide COFFEE BREAK 11:00-11:50  PREP 11:55-12:45  Period 4 12:50-1:40 PREP 1:40-2:40 LUNCH 2:40-4:00 Period 6

There are many differences to be debated in this side-by-side comparison (block schedule vs. 7-period day, school start times, etc.) but for now, let’s focus on the integrated breaks of the right column, and the lack thereof in the left. 

Coffee time!  SIS teachers enjoy a break between classes

Having experienced both schedules, I can say that having these breaks and preps scattered through a seven-hour school day makes teaching so much more enjoyable—even the most tedious day of planning and teaching becomes bearable.  Each day at 10:40, teachers flock from every direction, coffee mug in hand, headed eagerly towards the break room for some pastries, café con leche, and conversation while the students enjoy a similar snack time.  Lunch is relaxed; teachers enjoy the company of one another, as do students.  The SIS schedule is void of any long, dreaded stretches of class time.  Teachers and students can enjoy each lesson a little more because they know a break is coming soon; there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. 

This post is getting a bit long, so I’ll save the conversation about American vs. Spanish culture and siestas, for later.  I’ll end with this:  In my opinion, schools without integrated breaks are sending their staff on a trip down the fast lane towards teacher burnout.  The American schools I’ve experienced are hyper goal driven—so focused on the final destination, whether that be high test scores, covering a vast content, or simply getting through the next day’s lesson—they forget to enjoy the ride.  The challenge I have for myself and you is to step back, slow down, and enjoy each day for what it is.  Spain has taught me how to do that, and for that I am forever grateful.    

Take it easy.

Julz     

On the side:  I wrote this after a lovely day in Gibraltar—what a strange place.  Also, Michele arrived here Wednesday, and will be with us for a week to observe and “do the Spain thing” with us.  We are very excited to have Michele here!