You Should Thank a Teacher Today

Happy World Teachers' Day! Have you ever thought about all the little ways your teachers kept you healthy as a kid?

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By Anisa Arsenault, Associate Editorial Director Happy World Teachers' Day! Have you ever thought about all the little ways your teachers kept you healthy as a kid?   I have my first grade teacher to thank for several hygienic habits, including the mindset that I can absolutely brush my teeth more than twice a day. I credit her rendition of this banger of a song—it treats dental hygiene like the coolest way to pass some time. Today's Top Story Back in Class, Teachers Are Pushed to Their Limits We've spent a lot of time covering what a return to in-person learning might look like for kids over the course of this school year, as well as how parents feel about it. But what does it mean for teachers?   While that answer varies by state and school district, teachers we spoke with across the country expressed the shared concern that their job description now seems to include public health advocate.   "It is always in the back of your head as you're teaching: Make sure the kids have their mask on, make sure that they're socially distant," says Sofia Goetz, a high school history teacher in Lynn, Massachusetts. "They want to hug each other, but you have to make sure that they don't do that."   "I don't feel like just a teacher anymore," says Sabrina Cordero, a high school biology teacher from Los Angeles, California. "I've also taken up this responsibility for everyone's health. It's not communicated with us, but it's an expectation."   This constant vigilance—paired with making up for a year and a half of learning lost to Zoom—makes for a high-stress environment. Both Goetz and Cordero say the pressure is affecting their mental health and causing some of their colleagues to leave the profession altogether.   Some teachers may also be leaving for a different reason. In New York City, home to the largest school system in the country, all department of education employees are now required to have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. But leading up to this week's deadline, about 5% remain unvaccinated, and as a result, are out on unpaid leave. The aftermath is a shaky start to an already fragile school year. Vaccinated teachers are scrambling to cover the classes of their 4,000 unvaccinated colleagues.   The city's department of education plans to tap into a pool of 9,000 vaccinated substitute teachers to fill in the gaps. Know More On the heels of NYC, school systems in Los Angeles, Chicago, Oregon, and Washington state will require teachers to be vaccinated by mid October. Feel Better Vaccine mandates for teachers seem to be working. Since October 1, about 18,000 additional New York City school employees have received their first shot. READ MORE Based on the most recent CDC data collection period (August 1-August 28), national estimates suggest less than a fifth of people who work with children are not yet vaccinated against COVID-19. The Problem With Work-From-Home Pay Cuts Despite the messy discourse that your commute into an office is supposedly important for your mental health, people generally love working from home. In fact, a recent survey found 61% of Americans would take a pay cut in order to remain remote. Google employees who decide to permanently work from home may see their salaries reduced by up to 25%.   But is this a fair compromise? As disability advocate and journalist Rachel Charlton-Dailey explains, work-from-home pay cuts would be particularly detrimental for disabled employees, who have been able to thrive without the accessibility barriers of an office. Since disabled Americans with full-time jobs earn 13 cents less on the dollar than their non-disabled colleagues, pay cuts would add insult to injury. READ MORE What Does Remission Look Like for Type 2 Diabetes? With proper management, type 2 diabetes doesn't have to be a lifelong condition. Experts from Europe, the U.K., and the U.S. have come together to define what "remission" means for people with diabetes: three or more medication-free months of normal blood sugar levels. According to dietitians, if people with diabetes know remission is possible, they'll be more motivated to make the necessary lifestyle changes to achieve it. READ MORE   Pediatrician Leslie Sude, MD, shares how adults can create an "immunity shield" for kids who are too young to be vaccinated against COVID-19. All vaccine-eligible people who have contact with children should be vaccinated, creating a protective bubble, and decreasing the risk of virus spread to children. We need the older teens and adults in our children's lives to serve as a collective shield against the virus until we can offer vaccination to younger children. Leslie Sude, MD, Associate professor of clinical pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine   Keep Reading   ■ Pumpkin Spice Really Does Give You the Warm Fuzzies. CNN     ■ Apple Watch Flags Multiple Types of Irregular Heartbeats, Study Shows. The Verge     ■ Is Exploring Space Hazardous to Our Health? Astronomy More From Verywell How Is Hoarding Disorder Diagnosed? READ MORE What to Do During a Diabetic Attack READ MORE Prevent Menopause Weight Gain READ MORE   How'd we do? If you have any feedback, send us a note at   feedback@verywell.com.       You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the Verywell Health newsletter. If you wish to unsubscribe, please click here.   A DOTDASH BRAND 28 Liberty Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY, 10005   © 2021 verywellhealth.com - All rights reserved. Privacy Policy