Author Archives: Katy

Joining the Go Green, Get Fit Challenge

Managing, teaching, and caring for 23 students and 2 daughters, while meeting freelance writing deadlines, and keeping up with the causes important to me– well, it consumes almost every part of my day.

 

But there is a problem. And that is looking out for me– my health, wellness, creativity and self care. Of course these are interconnected with how I care for others.

 

 Like many moms, sometimes I don’t do a good job with that balance.

 

 Two weeks ago, I ran a half marathon.  It was a challenge, it was joyous, it was exciting and fun.  Then my daughter got very sick and my school obligations super intense.  I haven’t exercised much and have been feeling low on energy.

 

 I’ve signed on to the Go Green, Get Fit Challenge, with a team of mom bloggers who want to collectively take better care of ourselves. We all have different goals, and we will post and support each other in our progress, and in our failings. But you can bet we will all make good progress toward getting healthier, especially together.  Won’t you join us?

 

The Go Green, Get Fit Challenge officially starts June 18th, but I am setting my goals now. This challenge will run 12 weeks, and I will be blogging about these goals (and more as I have them!):

 

1. Each day, go for a run, a hike, or do yoga. At least 5 or 6 days a week. This is hard because I usually run or do yoga every other day.  I’d like to have more consistency and see better results.

 

2.  Eat a healthy breakfast every day.  I don’t like eating breakfast and often skip it. Believe me, each day I hear my mom’s voice in my head telling me, “It’s the most important meal of the day!”  I know, I know. I need to make this a priority for good health.

 

3. Pick another event to inspire and motivate me. Half marathons are good because they are a challenge but don’t overwhelm my life like marathon training did. I’m searching for a fun, exciting fall event in the Northeast.  Any ideas?

 

I’d love to hear about your fitness and health goals, and please join us for the Go Green, Get Fit Challenge.  Together, we can improve women’s health and take better care of ourselves.  We (and our families) deserve it!

The Big Air 3: Allergies, Autism and Asthma

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

I should say read more about it. There are more and more reports and articles showing the link between air pollution and health conditions, diseases, and delays.

Here’s the latest in how air pollution and chemical exposures are linked to allergies, autism and asthma, three particularly vexing health problems that are fueled by air pollution and increasing rapidly in children.

Allergies:

Are your allergies bad this year? Turns out you are not alone. Many health experts are pointing to climate change making allergies worse for many people. A combination of a warm winter and an early spring, have brought out more pollens much earlier in the year.

According to Leonard Bielory, an allergy specialist with the Rutgers Center of Environmental Prediction, and an attending physician at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Allergy and Immunology,

 ”Pollen is an important trigger for both allergic reactions and asthma attacks. The longer and more intense exposure to pollen, especially when combined with pollutants, intensifies the severity of allergic reactions and asthmatic responses.” ~ The Star-Ledger

Please read the rest of this post at Moms Clean Air Force. 

Stop the Exodus (new article in Educational Leadership magazine)

Everyone seems to be talking about how to attract quality teachers to the profession.  This is absolutely important—but not many people are talking about how to provide a rich, supportive, engaging, and inspiring climate to help retain high quality teachers once they are working in America’s schools.

Why should we care about this?  With one in five teachers quitting in the first five years (NCTAF, 2003), and some early data showing these very teachers who quit are the ones with a higher measured ability (RAND 2004), this is a problem we can’t ignore.

Many of our schools have become institutions focused only on student achievement in the form of standardized tests—to the determent of the climate for students and teachers.

We need to make teaching a sustainable career, so that the people who enter this important profession can be challenged, supported, and empowered at every stage. With dwindling budgets, pressures from No Child Left Behind and an anti-teacher culture, making teaching more sustainable is not on anyone’s radar.

This has to change, because of course, the problems are interrelated.  Districts spend tens of thousands of dollars every year interviewing, hiring, and training teachers (Shockley, R., Guglielmino, P., & Watlington, E. 2006). With effort, planning, and a little more investment, schools can reduce attrition and improve the climate overall for students and teachers.

Read the complete edited version of this article in Educational Leadership magazine’s digital edition.