By Catholic Partnership Schools Healthy Courier reporters | The proper amount of sleep helps you focus and stay alert during the school day so that you can become a more successful student, according to teachers and others interviewed recently by St. Cecilia and Holy Name reporters.
Teachers say that advice applies to them, too!
“When I don’t get enough sleep, I feel out of it and I have very little patience,” said Mrs. Buchhofer, Holy Name third grade teacher.
Ms. Elizabeth, a volunteer at the Mary, Queen of All Saints Food Pantry, said when she doesn’t get enough sleep, she is grouchy, not focused, and is often in a bad mood.
The interviewees spoke to Healthy Courier reporters at Holy Name and St. Cecilia about the importance of sleep for everyone and how to get a good night’s sleep. According to heath experts at KidsHealth.org, lack of sleep can cause kids to feel grouchy and tired, and to find it difficult to stay motivated. They can also lack energy and have mood swings, behavior issues, and learning problems. According to the website, school-age kids need 9 to 12 hours of sleep each night.
“A Child’s Need for Sleep,” an article by Harvard Medicine, also says that a lot of kids’ brain growth and development occurs during sleep.
Sleepyheads
“It’s really hard to focus throughout the school day if you are not getting the proper sleep,” said St. Cecilia fifth-grader teacher, Mrs. Woerner.
Ms. Mary McGinley, who is in charge of the food pantry and former substitute teacher, said sleepy students become cranky, lazy, and miserable.
“When students are caught sleeping, they tend to go into denial and say they were not sleeping,” she said. Teachers have different ways of dealing with students who fall asleep in class.
Mr. Clark, eighth-grade math teacher at Holy Name, says he talks to parents when he finds students who tend to fall asleep in class.
Mrs. Buchhofer said she once found a student sleeping in class. “I woke them up, and they became angry and went back to sleep,” she said.
Talking to students and finding out why they aren’t getting enough sleep is important, says Ms. Elizabeth.
Ms. Trzcinski, St. Cecilia first-grade teacher, says she sometimes allows students to rest or offers them activities that increase energy levels.
Mr. Magano, Holy Name seventh-grade science teacher, said having conferences with students who fall asleep in class to discuss why they aren’t getting enough sleep often helps.
“Sometimes I just allow some students to take a nap if they didn’t get enough sleep at home,” said Mrs. Johnson, fourth-grade teacher at Holy Name. When she sees a student yawning and putting their head down, Mrs. Johnson knows they haven’t had enough sleep.
Written by Holy Name and St. Cecilia reporters.
Illustration by Cristina and Merida, St. Cecilia reporters.
