As stressed teachers... we are always looking for MORE INSTRUCTIONAL TIME in our day.
Over Thanksgiving my daughter taught me a lesson about finding more time in my day. "You've just got to integrate activities together!"she told me. You determine what are the most important items that just have to be accomplished, be realistic about the minutes of the day that you have available... and integrate activities to find a way!"
This picture shows my daughter on the treadmill with her fifteen pound five month baby on her back while she walks on the treadmill. After about 10 minutes, the rhythm of the walking has put her daughter sound asleep. Her mom always walks with her when she can because she has a demanding global job that takes her to places like Paris, France. "I know my health and job are important, but so is my daughter...so I intergrate important items. After she falls asleep, I put her in her crib and come back and finish my run."
I often tell Multigrade Teachers that they need to integrate academic areas like science and small reading group instruction, or science and math because teaching two grade levels of students causes honest concerns about the amount of instructional minutes available in a day. Sometimes you just need to integrate activities to find a way!
Deborah Devine
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