From the Better Sleep Council

The following was submitted to me by Jay Cooper, a helper with the Better Sleep Council.

Ridding the Classroom of Sleepless Zombies

Trying to engage a room full of high school or middle school students is hard enough on its own. Throw a little sleep deprivation into the mix and the challenge borders on impossible.

While so much is expected of teachers in terms of classroom performance, the amount of rest their students get on school nights is a factor that is largely out of a teacher’s control. Yet students who do not receive the recommended 9-10 hours of sleep can suffer a number of consequences the next day including irritability, depression, anxiety, apathy and decreased brain and memory function.

As school gets back into full swing for the year, the Better Sleep Council has launched a new campaign encouraging students to get more sleep so they perform better in the classroom and have more energy at school. Rather than lecturing students on why sleep is important, the `StopZombieitis’ campaign uses social media to engage students in a more fun and encouraging way, reminding them to get their sleep so that they’re not a sleepless zombie roaming the school halls the next day.

The campaign includes a Facebook page asking students about their sleep habits and encouraging them to get more rest. It also includes a website dedicated to stopping the Zombieitis epidemic. The Stop Zombieitis site also include a “report a zombie” function that teachers or parents can use as a friendly nudge to students who are falling asleep in class. Finally, the campaign also reaches out directly to students on Twitter, encouraging them to sleep so they are not a zombie.

The Better Sleep Council is asking teachers to get involved and spread the word about the campaign. Please check out the website and Facebook page and tell your students (and fellow teachers) about it.

With your help, hopefully more students will be getting their sleep on a quality mattress, instead of a school desk or bus seat.

The web site for the Better Sleep Council’s campaign can be found at http://stopzombieitis.com
The Facebook page is www.facebook.com/stopzombieitis

Comments

  1. I am so giving extra credit to students who get on that Facebook page!!

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  2. Being a Zombie Teacher, I clicked through, and though I didn't download the Better Sleep Council's Better Sleep Guide, it appeared that its main focus was on getting a new mattress. What might help me more is having fewer students to grade, reverting to a childless state, and caring less about my work. Speaking of which, it's 9 p.m., and I must get back to it . . .

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  3. I think the faculty must also cooperate on this one. Quit giving too many research assignments.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sleep is beneficial. Gutting enough sleep is a key part of a healthy lifestyle, and can benefit your heart, weight, mind, and more.

    ReplyDelete

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