This year is forcing all educators to adjust their practice. The best teachers will reflect and develop a plan that both fits the times and empowers students.

One thing we all need to remember is that this work is a collaboration. None of this is being done in silence. There will be many voices.

Students and teachers. Administrators and parents. Politicians and the community. Everyone will get a say in the final outcome. We all get a voice.

Together, let’s make something we will be proud of.

I woke up with a case of the “yeahbuts.”

I got to school early and my brain went “yeahbut no one is here to let me in”.

Someone sent me an email about an interesting opportunity to help my school. My brain said, “yeahbut, it is going to be a crazy year and maybe this is not the year to take on new things.

Come on Brain, snap out of it! Stop with the yeahbuts. Breathe. Refocus. Take a minute to come up with options and think. You and the community you serve deserve more than the yeahbuts.

Oh, and remember, the wifi works whether you are sitting in the building or right outside of it. So, turn on your laptop, take a seat, enjoy the cool morning air, and start it up.

Let’s to this.

The last paragraph on this post was . . .

This weight loss journey I’ve been on, at its heart, has to be one of self-understanding. I can lower my calories and lose fat. I can learn more about nutrition. I can exercise and make my body fit. Until I understand more about what is going on underneath the surface there will be no long term changes.

My Food Dysfunction – Notes For Kevin

In March I had a major setback. Before then I was down just around 100 pounds. I have not been that weight since before starting my first teaching job 20 years ago. And then my son got sick. He was in one hospital or another for almost two months. Monday through Friday I was in the hospital with him, 24 hours a day. And with Covid-19 my wife I could not be in the same room together. My parents were quarantined so I could not be there to support. We were renovating, moving, and selling our house

After all this, he is not better. Among other issues, he will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

I relapsed. I went through an overwhelming time, a novel stressful event, a massive withdrawal of my usual support systems. It is not unheard of. Somewhere around 50% of all addicts “fall off the wagon” at some point. There is a similar rate of relapse for those dealing with hypertension.

I ignored my self-care while I was in the the hospital with my son. Some psychologist look at the parts of self-care with the abbreviation HALT. You need to look at yourself to see if you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired. Is those things increase, it can be a sign that you are going to be overwhelmed and more susceptible to relapse.

My self care fell apart while I was in this hospital with my son. I ignored all of the problems I was having. I was angry about my son’s diagnoses. I was angry with what that meant for his life, and for mine. I was lonely, all my normal support was taken away. I was constantly tired, as he would need support all hours of the night and day. The only thing I was not was Hungry. I was constantly eating and eating things that were not good for me.

I was self medicating with foods, instead of trying to take a more balanced approach to self care. And I ended up just hurting myself in different way.

So where do I go from here. I thought about doing a daily self care checking. Rating myself on the HALT system to help monitor where I am. For example.

• Hungry: Not really
• Angry: Yes, I hurt my foot and knee by tripping over a pair of shoes that were left out.
• Lonely: Somewhat. I have my wife, but I’ve not seen anyone else.
• Tired: Yes, very.

So again, I may be in a perfect place to relapse into eating for self-medication. Tonight I need to do something to start to move the needle on all of these.