Tap into your Inner Olympian and Celebrate You!

By. Craig Perrier

How great are the Winter Olympics? I remember my colleagues and I tailoring some of our lessons to celebrate the event.  It was a great way to connect student learning with sports, current events, and aspects of your content areas.  What Olympic themed experiences do you have planned for these next few weeks?

In the same spirit, tonight I am enjoying speed skating, both short and long track competitions, as I author this post. But, regardless of the type of competition, seeing this level of athletic performance is certainly inspiring. Plus, there have been two records set already this evening!

I share all of this to remind us that it is important to build in opportunities to celebrate both your colleagues and yourself.  Think about all the great things educators do! I am sure you can identify multiple Olympic level performances in your school on a daily basis.

Deciding how to recognize your peers is equally important.  The Educator Marketplace is a great place to start to look for your version of gold, silver, and bronze medals. In addition to the “Gift” section found here, I have curated a list of Olympic inspired ideas for you to explore for you and your peers.

• Vitamin Shoppe: It’s our mission to inspire, nourish, and help you thrive every day. We’ve got the widest range of vitamins, minerals, sports nutrition supplements and more to meet every body’s needs no matter where they might be on their personal journey to wellness.
• Hickory Farms: Share the love and send a gift basket filled with goodies like chocolate, wine, fruit and gourmet food.  Our gift packages are perfect for delivery!
• Plants.com: Our mission is to cultivate happiness. It’s a medically proven fact that our moods, behaviors, physical and mental health are all influenced greatly by the home environment in which we live.
• Teacher Home Swap: Teacher Home Swap connects homeowners with other teachers who are willing to house-sit in exchange for a place to stay. Safely and securely connect with other teachers to swap houses during summer vacation, find a short-term rental, host a teacher in your home, or hire a house sitter.
• EMS: Eastern Mountain Sports is a leading provider of outdoor sports and fitness equipment and apparel. Save Up to 70% Off Clearance and Up to 88% Off their Outlet. Whoa!

Teaching doesn’t have an equivalent to the Olympics – but we should!  Moreover, our athletes perform each day of the school year in innovative, caring, and unexpected ways.  So, build that medal podium and join in n the celebration!