Three ways teachers can wind down effectively after a long term

The Christmas break is finally here, so how can teachers make sure they leave work in the classroom? Neurologist Judy Willis shares her advice.

The countdown has begun for many teachers who eagerly anticipate a well deserved and much needed Christmas break.

It may surprise you to hear that there is a neuroscience behind effectively switching to rejuvenation mode. Just as your brain’s memory strengthens with practice, so do your brain’s behaviour control networks. Essentially, what this mean is that teachers get used to patterns of behaviour – such as thinking about their pupils before themselves – during term time which can be hard to break over the holidays. However, it’s important to switch off. So to help you I’ve put together a few tips on how to do this.

Make a list and check it twice

Write down all the things you’ve promised yourself to get done during the break. This could include organising things you’ve put off – cleaning your desk and arranging the photos on your phone into albums on your computer. It might also include getting together with people you’ve had to put off during the term or sending thank you cards to students and families. Other top festive tasks include pre-making any holiday food or buying gifts for family and friends.

To care for your brain and body during the school break any demands that are put upon us need to be managed. Your behavior control centres are located high up in your brain’s prefrontal cortex. These neural networks send messages to the brain directing the desired physical actions or emotional responses. The system works well until stress builds up and blocks the behavior control messages flowing from cortex to brain. This means that knowing what you have to do stops you from stressing out.

What can science tell us about the Star of Bethlehem?

During winter it can sometimes feel that the whole day passes in the blink of an eye and that evening darkness comes far too quickly. While more daylight would be a lovely thing, the early darkness has one big advantage: the stars. On a clear evening you can look up and see far into space. I’ve spent many winter evenings with my children, on our way home from activities, looking for Orion (and other constellations), following its path through the seasons.

Stars and space are two of the most popular science topics, whatever the age of the child. There’s something awe-inspiring and beautiful about looking into the night sky at the stars.

But it isn’t just children and young people who are fascinated by stars – astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs can make a significant contribution to our understanding of the subject.

… and there came from the East

At this time of year, the Christmas story can serve as a reminder that, throughout history, people have looked at the night sky, and wondered about what they have seen. The Babylonians had star catalogues as early as 1300 BC which contained information about constellations and patterns in the stars. It’s likely that the observation and naming of these constellations went back before that date.

The stars and constellations were important to those observing them. According to biblical tradition, after Jesus was born, magi (or wise men) from the east came to find Jesus saying that they had seen his star when it rose and followed it. The magi were people who studied the stars and saw significance in them.

Cucumber trees and courgette decorations: 4 ways to a green Christmas

It's not easy being eco-friendly at Christmas, but a tight budget is no excuse when you can make your own tree and decorations.

It’s not easy being green, sang Kermit, so to get everyone in the eco groove at this festive time, some creative inspiration may be needed. 

From courgette penguin decorations to microbead-free toiletry gifts, here are a few ways to help you keep it green this Christmas.

1. Deck the halls with boughs of holly

In fact, decorate anything you like with fresh greenery if you have access to it (no “borrowing” from the neighbours). This is miles better than garlands of synthetic tinsel that will eventually end up in landfill, potentially via an intrigued pet’s stomach. 

In the colder months, fruit and veg provide endless opportunities for sparkling up student digs. See if your local market has any citrus fruit past its best and going free. If so, orange and lemon decorations are easy to make and look amazing. Failing that, try fashioning some courgette and carrot penguin decorations – all you need is some carving skills.

Some think that covering their whole house with Christmas lights and setting them to flash in time to Gangnam style is the thing to do at Christmas. Think again. Instead, keep electricity requirements to a minimum and have a go at making a festive wreath that won’t cost the earth. 

According to sustainable fashion advocate and Nottingham Trent undergraduate Sophie Dumontroty, a student budget is no excuse for letting your green credentials drop:

“Most think being cash-strapped at Christmas limits their scope to act sustainably. Far from it! For example, this year I’m making my own sustainable stocking by upcycling unwanted clothing from my overflowing wardrobe.”

Picture This: Christmas from space

Satellites survey human behavior by snapping pictures of holiday lights.

 

SAN FRANCISCO — Evening trips to the mall. Christmas parties. Rooftop lights. The December holidays are bright — dazzling enough to be seen by satellites orbiting high above Earth. Researchers recently used satellite data to track when, where and how often we turn on lights. The findings, they say, point to how human activities drive electricity use.

Scientists sent radiometers into space and pointed them toward Earth. These instruments measure the intensity of light. In 2012, the research team released a set of “Earth at Night” maps. They had used data collected on nights with ideal conditions — evenings that were both moonless and cloud-free.

Miguel Román is a physical scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. He and his team wanted to analyze how light patterns change from day to day. To do that, his team improved its scans so that the scientists could collect data even on nights with clouds and a bright moon. (Unfortunately, the system can’t cope with snow. Light reflecting off the white stuff “contaminates the signal,” Román says.)

From 2012 to 2014, the satellite snapped daily pictures of 70 U.S. cities. The scientists used those images to measure how much the cities brightened between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. They compared the cities’ holiday glow to their light output the rest of the year.

It was “a huge effort,” says Román. “It took three years’ worth of data.” But with the team’s revamped system, “we can do comparisons across cities, even across neighborhoods within cities,” Román says. He described his group’s new findings December 16 at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

Many cities radiated 20 to 50 percent more light during holiday nights, the researchers found. The light intensity climbed a bit more in the suburbs than in busy city centers. But overall, it seems that everyone in the United States — regardless of income or ethnic background — celebrates the holidays, Román says.

A different picture emerged when his team analyzed another part of the world: the Middle East. There, the major holiday is Ramadan. It’s the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. On those 30 days, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.

Seven ways that chemistry puts the magic into Christmas

From the enticing aroma of the turkey in the oven to the “whoosh’” of the flames as the brandy-soaked pudding comes alight, Christmas is a wonderful time for the senses. But have you ever considered the science behind our best-loved festive traditions? Here are seven of my food and flammable favourites:

Candle light, shining bright

 

Candle-lit carol services are part of Christmas for many people, as are the ones entwined in holly on the table. Traditionally beeswax was used but while it gives great flames, it is rather expensive. Nowadays the vast majority of candles are made of paraffin wax obtained as one of the products of oil refining. These waxes are hydrocarbons, molecules made of two different elements: carbon and hydrogen.

When you light a candle, wax is melted, and the molten wax gets drawn up the wick, which gives a larger area for the wax to evaporate. It is the gaseous wax that burns, forming carbon dioxide and water, and giving out energy, which is where the heat and light come from.

But not all the carbon atoms get turned into carbon dioxide at one go – it is carbon-rich soot particles glowing hot that give out the yellow light that characterises a candle flame.

Turkey time

Most people know that cooking involves chemistry, and where better to start than the Christmas Day turkey? The turkey meat you cook is muscle tissue, about 20% of which is protein (nearly all the rest is water), with a small but important amount of carbohydrate. If you “hang” the meat and allow it to age, enzyme catalysts naturally present in the muscle start to break down the proteins so that they lose their naturally rigid structure and the meat becomes more tender.

How mindfulness could give you the gift of a calmer Christmas

In the run-up to Christmas we find our to-do lists bloated with added chores: present shopping, card writing, preparing to travel or receive guests. We are bombarded with adverts telling us what to buy and where. We tackle the shopping crowds searching for the perfect gift and the juiciest turkey. Our energy and purses are pulled in all directions while we limp on at work waiting for the holiday to arrive.

As the day approaches we may dream of happy families singing around the fire or worry whether everyone will like their gifts or if there will be arguments. Media images distort our expectations of the perfect Christmas with celebrities advising us on the recipes and crafts to add extra joy to the holidays.

And then there’s the ghost of Christmas past. Maybe we are feeling that Christmases are not as good as they used to be or maybe we are dreading a repeat of an earlier disastrous year. It can be a lot to contend with and perhaps not everyone feels as festive as the songs and adverts would have us believe.

Some of us may be seeking a way to avoid being bogged down by the stress. We could try a single ticket to that Caribbean Island or perhaps embrace the spirit of Scrooge and say “bah humbug” as we lock ourselves out from the world. If these options seem a little extreme, an alternative is to take inspiration from the teachings of mindfulness.

Enter mindfulness
A modern interpretation of ancient Eastern philosophies, mindfulness incorporates guided meditation that helps us learn about the inner workings of our mind. This helps break habitual patterns of thinking and behaving that can increase distress and unhappiness.

Meditation practises that focus on monitoring the activity of the mind or cultivating compassion are familiar in both historical Eastern traditions and modern mindfulness interventions. The way in which mindfulness meditation is different is the way in which it has been packaged. Often it is taught to beginners as an eight-week course that includes a selection of meditation practises and teachings that have been brought together and adapted to address specific issues such as emotional stress or chronic pain.

Instead of buying your child a boring old iPad for Christmas, get them a stick

Wild Network is urging parents to encourage children to play with nature and the outdoors rather than technology.

The Wild Network wants to drag children off the sofa and get them interested in nature and outdoor play. Photograph: Grady Reese/Corbis

With sales of tablets, smartphones and gadgets predicted to soar this Christmas, many British households will soon be temples to the latest technology.

But parents are now being asked to consider a low-tech alternative – to root around in the back garden and give their children a stick or a stone instead, in place of the latest smartphone, and to swap "screen time" for "wild time".

The Wild Network (www.projectwildthing.com) wants to drag youngsters off the sofa and get them interested in nature and outdoor play.

The network has therefore drawn up an "alternative Christmas list for kids" that suggests a stick makes a brilliant gift. Sticks, it helpfully suggests for baffled parents, are "easy to pick up, perform a thousand different uses and can be thrown away as easily as you found it. Great for helping with imaginary games, playing Pooh sticks, building things."

How to teach… music

Whether you are a non-specialist focussing on music for the festive season or an experienced music teacher, we have teaching resources and ideas to inspire.

From now until the end of term the singing isn't going to stop, these resources will help you make the best of music in school. Photograph: Adrian Sherratt/Alamy

Like it or not, Christmas spirit comes early to schools – so this is the time of year when even non-specialist teachers find themselves devoting inordinate amount of times to music and festive singing.

We have some inspiring music teaching resources to share which will uplift non-specialists and experienced music teachers alike.

We start off with some excellent resources shared by Jackie Schneider, a teacher on a mission to help fellow primary teachers teach music. Find Jackie's useful presentation on teaching primary music as a non-specialist dealing with such desperate questions as: "But I'm not musical, how can I teach music?" There are lots of generous music teachers who like nothing better than to share if you know where to look: I need some help to teach music is a handy guide to online inspiration.