Teaching Online And Being Healthy

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It’s important to take care of your health as a teacher. It’s especially important for online teachers because they spend a large amount of teaching time, sedentary, sitting down.

Take Care Of The Basics.

Do things to keep healthy. Drink lots of water. It’s essential for your most important tool - your throat. Avoid sugary snacks. Move around. Stretch. Take breaks. Get 8 hours of sleep. Have a life outside of teaching - don't get addicted to your desk and work. Have a good work-life balance. Did I say, drink lots of water? Exercise. Be consistent with all this.

Health Check Your Desk And Workstation

How is your posture at your desk, your ergo-dynamics? Get a chair back support if your chair doesn’t come with one. Is your chair height correct? Your feet should be flat on the floor. Are you close enough to your screen (18 to 24 inches)? Your eyes should be level with the top of the screen. Sit tall. Get a seat wedge. Keep your seat height correct. Wrist support for your mouse, if you use one, works wonders.

Move!

Sitting isn't killing you - not moving is. [check out this infographic about what sitting]. Do small exercises to maintain flexibility. Consider using inexpensive under- the-desk pedals. Even at your desk you can move and do exercises to help avoid problems. Leg and hip raises. Ankle bends. Twists. Ab crunches. Movement is a key to continued teaching health.

You’ll need to take scheduled breaks, just get up, move around and shake out the cobwebs. Use a timer if you need reminding. Some teachers find variations of the Pomodoro Technique useful - 25 minutes work, 5 minutes break. There is even an app for it.

Move More!

Having another desk for working can help. A laptop can be moved, try your kitchen table. Or make a standing desk to use for short periods. And if you really want to do things right and spend a lot of time at your computer - do what I do, hack a treadmill and make a treadmill desk. It’s easy. Buy commercial grade, used and one with straight support bars. Lay a flat piece of plastic or wood across it and bingo, you have your treadmill desk. Walk at a slow, slow pace while you work. After the first day, you won’t even notice your moving!

My setup at home.

See our infographics on this topic. Free for all registered members.