How to Stay Healthy During Student Teaching

It’s no secret that high schools, and schools in general, are full of germs.

So how does one stay healthy when presented with a room full of students who are sneezing and coughing – clearly too ill to be in their seats?

Allow me to help.

First and foremost, take care of yourself. There are many different ways to go about this, and below, I deliver a detailed plan for how I’ve attempted to take care of my health throughout this semester.

1. Hand Sanitizer

Since day one of my experience, I’ve carried hand sanitizer in my purse. I tend to use my hand sanitizer between every class in hopes to avoid any viruses or particularly nasty colds that my students suffer from for days.

2. Vitamins

Take your vitamins. Or, if you’re like me, don’t take them -- but then find alternatives. My alternatives are preventative in nature. Upon the first word of a terrible illness making its rounds, I make sure to take Airborne when I get home. I’m convinced that this extra boost of vitamins is keeping me healthy.

3. Liquids

Drink as much water as you can. During the school day, I find myself not having any water, mostly because I’m too busy to even think about digging out my water bottle from my bag. But once I get home, I try to make sure I’m drinking as much water as possible.

4. Sleep

For me, this has been the hardest part of taking care of myself this semester. I’m accustomed to sleeping for six hours or less a night during the school year, but this semester, that’s not an option. With my 4:45AM wake up, it’s imperative that I sleep for seven or eight hours. I’m finding myself going to bed earlier and earlier – which is no easy task for me, but I know that I must in order to stay healthy.

5. Eat Well

This has been one of my biggest struggles this semester. With my early wakeup and hour commute both ways, my cooking has fallen to the wayside. Poptarts and popcorn have replaced chicken and tacos for dinner. My breakfast each morning: a quick breakfast bar. Luckily, I try to make up for my unhealthy eating habits with my lunch. Every day, I pack carrots, an apple, and a yogurt. But with dinner, it’s always a toss-up. Some nights, I barely have the energy to boil water for noodles.

6. Exercise

At the beginning of student teaching, I had much more time for exercising than I do now. But recently, I figured out a way to multitask. I try to make time for reading for fun so that I can recommend books for my students, so I’ve started walking on the treadmill while reading.  

If there’s one thing I’ve noticed this semester, it’s the lack of time for extra activities. While I knew that student teaching would be time consuming, the workload is a bit more than I expected. I think this is partially a result of the standards based grading system my cooperating teacher and I use, but it’s also just how teaching is.