For the Classroom: Sleep Hygiene Journal
© Rebecca Wenrich Wheeler 2016
Sleep deprivation affects Americans from all age groups. The following activity is great for students. Teachers and parents may benefit from participating as well.
Week 1:
Follow normal sleep routine and record the following in a journal on a daily basis labeled with the date:
- Log all activities one hour prior to bedtime, including screen time, food and drink consumed, and hygiene activities (brushing teeth, bath time, etc.).
- Record the time you went to sleep and when you awoke.
- As soon as you wake up, rate how awake you feel on a scale of 1-10 (1 being “I can barely get out of bed” to 10 being “Let’s take on the world!”)
- Record whether the alarm woke you or you woke on your own. If you woke up by an alarm, write down how many times you hit the snooze button.
- Record on a scale from 1-10 how you would describe the quality of your sleep (1 being “Very light sleep, woke up several times” to 10 “Very deep sleep”).
Week 2:
Turn off all screens one hour before bedtime (including televisions, computers, cell phones, iPads and eReaders). Reading a physical book or magazine 30 minutes before bedtime is okay. Record the following in a journal on a daily basis with a date:
- Log all activities one hour prior to bedtime, including screen time, food and drink consumed, and hygiene activities (brushing teeth, bath time, etc.).
- Record the time you went to sleep and when you awoke.
- As soon as you wake up, rate how awake you feel on a scale of 1-10 (1 being “I can barely get out of bed” to 10 being “Let’s take on the world!”)
- Record whether the alarm woke you or you woke on your own. If you woke up by an alarm, write down how many times you hit the snooze button.
- Record on a scale from 1-10 how you would describe the quality of your sleep (1 being “Very light sleep, woke up several times” to 10 “Very deep sleep”).
After the two week experience, review the results and write a short report comparing the data for the two weeks. The length and description required in the report can be adjusted for grade level of students. If you would like to extend the experiment for a third week, continue with the removal of screen time and then add another sleep hygiene tip for instance: “Add an hour of exercise two or more hours before bedtime.”
