Stress Relief!

It’s Friday night and I’m tired.  I’ve put in another 5 hours at school today.  My classroom is beginning to shape up.  The boxes are all unpacked, my desk and the front of the room is ready to go.  The back of the room, the classroom library, well let’s just say it’s not quite ready for prime time.  Then there are bulletin boards to get up, lesson plans to write, oh and did someone mention interventions?  Yikes!  I’ve already spent over 15 hours working at school and teachers aren’t officially back to work until next week Wednesday.  Stress level rising……

So after my day my husband suggested we go downtown and enjoy our town’s “Friday Night Live” music festival.  I agreed even though I really just wanted to curl up and fall asleep. And what happened?   We had fun! And I discovered a new method of stress relief that is guaranteed to make anyone forget their problems, laugh and have fun.  What’s the secret?  Polka music!  Yep, that’s right, polka music. As my husband and I were walking through the downtown, we heard an unfamiliar band playing.  We turned down the street, and low and behold, a polka band.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve never been a polka fanatic, but for some reason, after a stressful day, all I wanted to do, was dance to this polka music.  Everything else was forgotten.  Before I knew it we were laughing and hopping along with everyone else!

So how does this help stress relief at school?  Here’s my idea, polka music in the classroom.  It’s not so far fetched.  Currently I play classical music to relax and help me think.  Why not polka music to unwind and distress?  Just download the music on the iPod, turn up the volume, and go!  I’ve already started the download….