Tag Archives: happiness

Stressed Spelled Backwards is Desserts

meaning of life, well-being, ,

Hearing the word April at OISE is as unnerving as hearing the word Voldemort at Hogwarts. Let’s cut to the chase…everyone is currently a little less patient and a little more stressed. Graduate students are working hard to finish their final papers and projects while faculty members are equally busy marking everything to meet strict deadlines. Factor in the 100 other responsibilities folks have to simultaneously manage and before you know it, everyone is reaching their boiling point. So why am I stating the obvious? It is because I whole-heartedly believe that self-care is SO much more important than a beautifully formatted APA references list.

Though we are busy wrapping up the academic year, self-care should never be put on the back-burner. Even if you do not think you have the time, self-care does not have to be a time-consuming event. Here’s a list of small actions that can have a big impact:

Get proper rest and sleep. Eat well. Think positively. Sing in the shower. Be honest with yourself. Colour. Have a spontaneous dance party. Do yoga. Eat yogurt. Keep track of your “stress quotient”. Don’t try to be perfect. Don’t place blame. Recognize and acknowledge your stress level. Be yourself. Run. Walk. Sit. Lay down. Stay. Don’t stay. Choreograph an interpretive dance. Cook. Get dressed up. Take a deep breath. Make a to-do list. Practice living in the present. Be with friends. Be alone. Be. Learn to accept what you can’t change. Write someone a letter. Do something nice for someone. Admit to yourself how you feel. Think about unicorns. Make a nice dinner. Play your favorite sport. Take a nice long shower. Hug it out. Scream into a pillow, or at a picture. Get off campus. Vent. Be optimistic. Be realistic. Smile. Find something that makes you happy, and do it.

NeedsLast

 

Believe me, I know it’s easier said than done and everyone copes with their stress in different ways. But if there’s one thing I want you to keep in mind while you indent, paraphrase, cite, & proofread, it’s this: You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress, simultaneously.

The University of Toronto turns 190!

celebrations, Events, humour, , ,

I (Said) have been part of the University of Toronto system since I began my undergraduate degree in 2009. It has been quite the ride considering I was born in Lebanon & immigrated to Canada in 2003! This year, the University of Toronto is celebrating turning 190 & one of its satellite campuses in Mississauga, Ontario, is turning 50. The history teacher/student in me became curious and wanted to learn a little more about the school I attend and the community I belong to.

It all began on March 15, 1827, when a royal charter was formally issued by King George IV, proclaiming “from this time one College, with the style and privileges of a University … for the education of youth in the principles of the Christian Religion, and for their instruction in the various branches of Science and Literature … to continue for ever, to be called King’s College [before it was renamed University of Toronto on Jan. 1, 1850].”

Established in 1878, the School of Practical Science (now the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering) offered students instruction in mining, engineering, mechanics and manufacturing. New faculties were soon added, among them home economics (1906), education (1907), forestry (1907), social work (1914), nursing (1920), graduate studies (1922), hygiene (1926) and the School of Architecture (1948). There is definitely a rich history to explore if you are interested in the social, political, and religious influences on the development of post-secondary institutions in Ontario/Toronto. Isn’t it amazing how a once denominational college is now a collegiate university with over 85,000 students from at least 160 countries, over 500,000 alumni, and 2 satellite campuses?

More interestingly, new courses and disciplines will certainly continue to emerge in response to developments in our globalized society and contemporary culture. I wondered if there were courses that weren’t as predictable as “Introduction to Eco/Chem/Math/Psych” and here are two that stood out to me:

Feminism, Zombies and Survivalism (WGS334H1S)

  • In this course, we interrogate the gender, racial, and generational politics of survivalist fantasies while, at the same time, re-reading them for the alternative ethical frameworks and possible futures that they suppress.

The Beatles (MUS321H1)

  • The class tackles two main questions: Why were The Beatles so popular, and how did they become the soundtrack to the 1960s (with a little help from their friends, of course). This class has no prerequisites.

I definitely wish I could have written an academic paper discussing the context and influence of the song lyric, “All you need is love, love. Love is all you need.” 

In any case, happy birthday UofT. Here are a few pictures, taken from Student Life @ UofT.

HartHouseSoccer
An intramural soccer game in 1951.
UC-Steps-1024x680
Nursing students in 1920/1921 on the steps of University College.
University College Tank
A tank on campus in 1950.

UofTBday

Defining happiness: A child’s take on life.

celebrations, classroom teachers, communicating ideas and research, communication, education, meaning of life, schooling, , , ,

IMG_0968From the mouths of babes. Motivational speaker Jay Shetty has some wise words for you on how to make the world a better place. A teacher asked her students to write down what they want to be when they grow up. There were the usual responses – astronaut, singer …. And one boy wrote down happy. When the teacher talked to the child suggesting he misunderstood the assignment, he responded. “Miss, I think you misunderstand life.” WOW!!!!

According to Shetty, it starts by pressing pause on your own life and improving the way you IMG_2826communicate with others.  The video is short but it reminds us about what is important in life. Well worth the time. In the video below watch him explain why it’s time for you to take a moment to become more conscious and aware. https://www.facebook.com/HuffingtonPost/videos/10153725769876130/

Happiness and Teaching – Insights from Dewey

academics, education, , , , , , ,

In earlier postings, I (Clive) talked about the need to see teaching and teacher education in very broad terms; to see ourselves as ultimately helping students develop a satisfying, enjoyable or “happy” way of life. This week I came across some wonderful quotes from John Dewey along these lines.

The first is from Democracy and Education (Macmillan, 1916); it emphasizes that we can’t separate our philosophy or theory of education from our philosophy of life.

“[P]hilosophy is at once an explicit formulation of the various interests of life and a propounding of points of view and methods through which a better balance of interests may be effected. Since education is the process through which the needed transformation may be accomplished…philosophy is the theory of education as deliberately conducted in practice” (p. 387).

Two further quotes are from Theory of the Moral Life (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1960, orig. 1908, revised 1932). They emphasize again the need for a comprehensive philosophy of life and education, and show the connection between this philosophy and human enjoyment, satisfaction, happiness.

“In isolation, one enjoyment cannot be said to be higher or lower than another…a satisfaction which is seen, by reflection based on large experience, to unify in a harmonious way [one’s] whole system of desires is higher in quality than a good which is such only in relation to a particular want in isolation [satisfactions of the former type together constitute “happiness”] (p. 44). … The office of reflection [is] the formation of a judgment of value in which particular satisfactions are placed as integral parts of conduct as a consistent harmonious whole” (p. 60).

Dewey notes, however, that our philosophy of life and education is never complete: it is always a work in progress.

“The business of reflection in determining the true good cannot be done once for all…. It needs to be done over and over and over again, in terms of the conditions and concrete situations as they arise” (p. 62).

I’m going to share these quotes with my students next week and see what they think – and learn from them. My philosophy of life and education is never complete!