Damage Control
It seems at school right now we are on damage control. It seems every year right about now we move in to damage control mode. The last week of the Holy Month of Ramadan...the last week of fasting for our students. I teach grade 9's and for the most part many of them have been fasting for several years so they are better at it, but it is still hard on them. They go all day without drinking or eating. At sunset they break their fast with a large meal (Iftar). They then go out on the town, visit with friends and family, enjoy a late evening, usually not getting to bed until well after midnight. They are then supposed to get up and eat around 4:00 am before they begin their fast again, however, most of our students are not able to wake up to eat this meal.
So as I'm sure you can imagine when we get the kids at school we don't see their best for most of this month. They are tired, hungry, grouchy, lethargic...and so on. This is compounded when you teach PE.
I have been lucky this year in that I have a good bunch of kids, but right now I am on damage control, trying to survive the last week. I have the kids downstairs in our sports hall in the weight room doing a unit on health and fitness. It is good because it gets them out of the sun and allows me to address some diet issues with them. I have spent a great deal of time trying to educate them on what this fasting does to their body and how they can minimize the effects by making some good decisions when it comes to breaking their fast, drinking enough during the night to make sure they start the day hydrated and more importantly making sure they get up to eat in the morning so they start the day with some fuel in the tank.
Ramadan can be a very frustrating month here for a PE teacher, but the best thing is it finishes with week long holiday (Eid). Until then it's damage control.
Cheers
Brawn of the Oasis
It seems at school right now we are on damage control. It seems every year right about now we move in to damage control mode. The last week of the Holy Month of Ramadan...the last week of fasting for our students. I teach grade 9's and for the most part many of them have been fasting for several years so they are better at it, but it is still hard on them. They go all day without drinking or eating. At sunset they break their fast with a large meal (Iftar). They then go out on the town, visit with friends and family, enjoy a late evening, usually not getting to bed until well after midnight. They are then supposed to get up and eat around 4:00 am before they begin their fast again, however, most of our students are not able to wake up to eat this meal.
So as I'm sure you can imagine when we get the kids at school we don't see their best for most of this month. They are tired, hungry, grouchy, lethargic...and so on. This is compounded when you teach PE.
I have been lucky this year in that I have a good bunch of kids, but right now I am on damage control, trying to survive the last week. I have the kids downstairs in our sports hall in the weight room doing a unit on health and fitness. It is good because it gets them out of the sun and allows me to address some diet issues with them. I have spent a great deal of time trying to educate them on what this fasting does to their body and how they can minimize the effects by making some good decisions when it comes to breaking their fast, drinking enough during the night to make sure they start the day hydrated and more importantly making sure they get up to eat in the morning so they start the day with some fuel in the tank.
Ramadan can be a very frustrating month here for a PE teacher, but the best thing is it finishes with week long holiday (Eid). Until then it's damage control.
Cheers
Brawn of the Oasis
posted by Brawn of the Oasis at 7:32 AM
1 Comments:
PE during Ramadhan - that does sound tough!
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