Sleep deprived teens

In one of the breakout sessions at the conference I recently attended, I learned some interesting facts that helped explain why some teenagers are the way they are. According to Dr.Laurence Martel,President of the National Academy of Integrative Learning, Inc. most teenagers are sleep deprived. They actually need 9 hrs. and 15 mins of sleep everyday for the brain to fully function at its highest potential. Most students only have 4-5 hrs. of sleep. In my three classes I only have a handful of students who actually has 8 or more hours of sleep. Now, that can be a challenge to us teachers. We really have to make our classes really interesting and fun less we see them getting their needed sleep from our classes.

What's going on?

Allow me to veer away from posts about teaching and my life here in the US. It is disturbing to know that schools in Metro Manila are closed because of a coup attempt. I received an email from a friend which prompted me to check on inq7.net. True enough, something's going on. This is the way people are celebrating Edsa. I can only sigh and be sad on the plight of the Philippines. It is just one thing after another. Tsk..Tsk

At the end of the day

This is one of those days when I am physically exhausted but still energized from within. I can say that I worked for every penny I earned today. As usual, I was having a difficult time feeling inspired in the morning. Blame it on the weather, boring breakfast of peanut butter and jelly or probably just the lack of inspiration and the fact that I have first period off. I had to pray real hard for some motivation. God answered my prayer. My classes turned out fine. As soon as I started teaching, my lethargic moods straightened up. I had etiquette lab today. Students got to practice their table manners and etiquette. Everyone was excited. The smell of the pizza kept drawing unknown students to my room. Students practiced on setting the table and eating bread, soup, salad as well as practicing the european style and american style of eating on the good 'ol pizza. Overall, this day still turned out okay despite the bleak beginnings. God just has a way of turning anything into something wonderful. We just need to ask.