Hey everyone! How many of you out there are banded teachers?? I would love to trade class stories as well as band stories, and hear how you deal with day to day band business as well as a classroom full of kids!

I have been teaching English as a foreign language in Portugal for the past 2 years, and I was a substitute teacher for 3 years before that. (I did it while I was completing my BS at university) I have just accepted a 7th grade Reading position in Haines City, FL and I'm looking forward to it! I'm planning on getting my reading endorsement and hopefully by next year, I'm going to enroll in a masters program for educational leadership at USF.

My band business hasn't been on track like it should be. But I'm hoping the structured schedule from the school will help me keep my eating on track. The school I'm teaching at now has weird hours since it's a private school and we teach outside of regular school hours. (I teach until 10pm every night!) and I can't wait to get away from this and into a normal schedule!

Well, I hope there are other teachers out there I would love to hear from you!

Heather,

I have to be at work at 7:30 so I am up at 5 AM swim from 5:30 til 6:25, then head off to work. Most mornings I love it, but lately I have been kind of tired and not enjoying it as much. I think it is because of allergies and not sleeping as well at night.

I have been banded for a little over 10 months, since July 11th and have lost 45 lbs. I'm only 5'1" so that is a change from a size tight 16 to a really loose 10 or a kind of tight 8 depending on the pants. I still want to lose another 30 or so, but I've plateaued and it is hard lately to stick to the rules. So, I guess I'm kind of taking a little break from them. But, still exercising.

I'm not a teacher YET, I'm still studying, but I've just done 3 weeks of teaching rounds at a nearby primary school and the eating/banded thing was quite a concern for me.

Me, who never PB's or has any real trouble!

I was so paranoid about eating with a group of people I didnt know in the staffroom. I do occasionally get blockages and when I do, it takes a while to resolve, you cant really just disappear into the toilet for 20 minutes spitting and burping without people noticing.

I took soup for lunch every day I was there, and I even had trouble getting that down, lol. Well, it was thick vege and lentil soup. I was too afraid to try a sandwich (which I normally eat OK) or anything else. I had great difficulty eating what I did take, I must have been stressed about it. No incidents but one fellow did remark, gee, you're not one of those girls always on a diet are you?, ovviously because it took me 30 minutes to eat a small bowl of soup. I didnt particularly want to share the fact that I was banded with complete strangers.

I also renewed my determination to begin a morning exercise routine. Of course, i run regularly and do a LOT of exercise but I found with returning to a work routine, it went out the window, I was too tired and had too many chores to do at night when I'd been out all day. So I got up at 6 am this morning and went for my run. May as well make it habit NOW!

On a good note, teaching is a fantastic environment for healthy eating. In Australian primary schools there is nothing resembling a vending machine anywhere, you dont generally leave the school premises once there (so its a bagged lunch arrangement), you're busy and not free to eat and drink between regular mealtimes, and there's not huge staff barrels of Cookies and crap food available all of the time (although of course people bring cakes for birthdays and the like). Its not like working in an office environment where I just used to go and make MORE coffee and eat MORE biscuits becuase I was just so darn bored.

I have found that my conversations have changed at lunch also. My lunch buddy and I used to chat and eat but now....oh no, if I do, things get stuck or I get an airbubble going down which hurts when food follows right behind. I'm not even filled yet, but I worry about what will happen once I'm filled.

Kity, glad to hear you're doing well. I remember we were both discussing how this would work during spring breaks and I guess all things turned out well.

I'm so ready for our school year to be done this go around. I'm in a traditional yr. school. Our last day is June 15...come on down! We've had a rough group of kiddos this year, more than the usual 6th gr. goofies. I'm ready for the break.

So, here's the question...if y'all are traditional yr., what are your plans for the break? I'm meeting my bio-mom this summer in Nebraska. Anyone elses plans for the summer????

I love hearing about your jobs. I'm lucky that I usually only teach in the mornings, so will have time for lunch. However, I know what it's like.

I find I enjoy teaching much more now that I'm not doing it every second of the day. The desk job part of my role is a lot easier but less interesting. People don't understand how hard full-time teaching is, do they?

I'm currently organising relief teachers for myself. I'm selfishly taking time off during the term for my op. I just can't wait any longer!

Hey Jachut! I didn't know u were going to be teaching. It's good to see you here. I can see why you would be nervous eating around new people, but hopefully that will pass when you get more comfortable then you will be able to eat normally. I sometimes use to skip the staff room and spend my lunch in my room grading or what not when I didn't feel like dealing with people.....that way I could eat what I wanted with out any looks or comments. But of course then you miss out on the social aspect. But I totally agree that the teaching schedule lends its self to dieting. It's not like you can munch in class when ur teaching, and breaks in between are to short to really munch. As long as u can control yourself when you get home it should work fine. I'm counting on that to be part of my support system when I start my new teaching job.

Jane how the heck you get up at 5:30 I'll never know. I plan on doing my exercise when I get home around 3:30. Hopefully by then I won't be to exhausted from teaching to hit the gym.

insub- I totally agree people don't realize how hard teaching is. It's not like your sitting at a desk staring at a screen or talking on the phone. Your on display in front of all these little faces for most of your day. That takes a lot out of a person. Plus the lack of discipline in schools these days does nothing to help.

:bump: any other teachers around?

Hi fellow teachers.

I teach Chemistry at Kempner High School outside of Houston, Tx

(2500 + students).

I've been teaching for 25 years.

This past year was the best I've ever had. Kids were great!

We had graduation today and I was sad to see them go.

I was banded on April 27, 2007 by Dr. Spivak.

Haven't had a fill yet, but will talk to the doctor Thursday about it.

Some things I can't eat...tuna and soft bread. I can tolerate almost anything else. Our lunch at school was only 30 minutes which made eating slow hard. I usually took a Smart Ones or Healthy Choice dinner, Lite yogurt for a snack and SF pudding. I drank Water all day long.

Now that school's out I can concentrate on exercising more and eating better. I hope to return to school much thinner in late August.

Take care...Debra

hey all, thought I'd bring this up a few spaces!

I am really excited, June is here! I am going to change my exercise routine this month. School is out on th 21st thanks to snow days.

What is everyone else doing?

Only a day and a half until my banding. I hope I can get back to work in a week. How did you guys go?

I was only off work 3 days, plus the weekend in between, so a total of 5 days..... and I'm a big baby about these things, but I was fine. I'm sure a week will be plenty of time, but every one is different. Good luck and keep us posted on how you are doing!

School is out for me on June 30th, and we are flying out to Florida on July 4th, I don't think my new classes start until August 13th, but I will probably be up there earlier to start arranging my room and what not. I need to buy some posters and decoration stuff. I found these really cool Garfield that they personalize with your name, they say stuff like "Mrs. So and So's classroom Rocks!" and "Mrs. So and So's classroom...Privlidges....abuse them and lose them!" Totally cute with Garfield and Ode. I think I'm going to order one or 2 of them for my room.

Other then that I am just getting ready for the move to the states and getting things all ready. I'm going to try to have some down time and rest after the move before work starts again and after we get all our stuff sorted out.

How is every one else doing?

Heather,

where do you get the personalized Garfield posters? Those would be really cool to have. School ends for me on the 21st. Last projects are coming in right now. I have lots of grading to do this weekend, then it is the downhill slide.

I'm looking forward to being able to work out in the morning for a longer amount of time, then go home and go back to sleep:)

lunch is quick, 30 min to eat and potty, aaahhh! That is tough. I have been bringing a great combo that has 0 sugars...1/4 c. veggie refried Beans, 1/4 c. of shredded cheddar, and about 2 oz of chicken. I heat up for 45 sec or so, and yummmmm. It is a great, 0 sugars and fills me up.

Just a thought but be careful of that shredded cheddar cheese. 1/4 cup or 2oz has 230 calories and 20gms of fat. That isn't even the main part of your meal.

Grrr,

Ok, I'm teaching 6th grade English/language arts. I went in today to grade final project, only 55% of my kids have turned them in! Man, I am so frustrated! I feel like it is my fault. Do you think if I didnt take ANY late work, more students would turn it in on time?

Anyway, 8 full days of teaching left, then it is on to summer

I had my band placed last July, so I really can't anwser for those who are having theirs done then going back to work, except that when I was in a car accident and went back to work, I just had the kids do stuff that was too hard. Like, when I needed to write on the board, a student would do it.

most of them really like to help. good luck,

jane

I used to be a teacher of the visually impaired. Now I am a researcher working for a univeristy. I go all around Florida working with visually impaired students to train them to use low vision devices. I worry about eating when I travel. I don't usually have time time to stop for food because I'm usually going to three schools each day. I am also usually in a different county each day, so I don't have access to refrigerated food.

I'm am not banded yet. When I travel, I usually eat fast food or nothing until one big meal around 3:00pm. I know that will not work with the band. I'll probably eat a lot of Protein bars or find some healthier meat choices at fast food places. Any ideas?

K@t, Haines City is in Polk Co., correct? I have lots of students in Polk county. What school will you be working at?

I'm planning to be banded right after Christmas because I won't have to do any traveling for a few weeks. Otherwise, I'll have to wait until next summer. I'm typically gone 1-2 weeks/month during the school year. If I didn't have to do the 6 months supervised diet for my insurance, I would do it this summer. I have thought about doing it the week after Thanksgiving, but I don't think I would be able to eat any real food for CHristmas. I think that would be too hard!

Grrr,

Ok, I'm teaching 6th grade English/language arts. I went in today to grade final project, only 55% of my kids have turned them in! Man, I am so frustrated! I feel like it is my fault. Do you think if I didnt take ANY late work, more students would turn it in on time?

Anyway, 8 full days of teaching left, then it is on to summer

I had my band placed last July, so I really can't anwser for those who are having theirs done then going back to work, except that when I was in a car accident and went back to work, I just had the kids do stuff that was too hard. Like, when I needed to write on the board, a student would do it.

most of them really like to help. good luck,

jane

:tired I soooo feel your pain. I too teach 6th grade only Math/Science. And I think that if we danced naked on a table they STILL wouldn't turn it in. I was rather surprised to get Science projects this year since in the past, my % of turn ins were about the same as yours. I just figure it ebbs and flows. I've got 3 1/2 w/Kids, 5 w/o left. I'm ready after the chuckle-heads I've had this year. I love my job, but I'm ready for a new batch. :yield:Best of luck with the final days. I'm gonna have them busy cleaning these last couple of days.....:heh: Take care!