thoughts about ish
THIS. THIS IS THE ONE I'VE BEEN WAITING TO SHARE. Seriously, you guys, this is the important one. And another one coming up (i talk about how much I miss dry-erase markers, it's great). Anyway. This is not just important to me, but it's important for everyone working from home to TURN OFF WORK at a certain point. Remember that you are at home. Like, that work email someone sent at freaking 8 pm can wait until 8 am. You don't need to reply. This is especially important for me because I was answering emails at all hours of the day and never turning it off and then I was getting mad at the kids because they were driving me insane. I specifically wrote this after one student sent me four emails in fifteen minutes. FOUR EMAILS IN FIFTEEN MINUTES. The time of these emails started at 8:45 pm. NO, I will not reply to your email about your grade because you didn't complete an assignment properly. I told the kids I will not answer emails after 4:30 pm and I am less likely to answer on the weekend because that's not my job. I am only required to work Monday through Friday and while I am working from my bedroom that does not mean I will be on 24/7. I can't be. My mental health is already a high risk problem and I will not let teaching drive me to insanity this early in the game. So here it is, my post to the kids about turning off school. Tuesday, March 31, 2020:
I’ve been trying to think of something funny to write all day. Or maybe not even funny (do you guys ever think I’m funny?), but at least interesting. I looked at a bunch of instagram posts from other teachers and thought about sharing a picture and my reflection on it, but I think I’ll save that for another day. Tonight, after watching the news with my dad and talking to friends on the phone and even playing video games when I was done with work, I noticed how many times I still check my work email -- and then reply after hours. The one thing that I’ve always needed to learn to be better at is separating work and home life. This is a challenge most grown-ups have, but because I care so much about what I do I always feel that it’s important to answer all your burning questions as soon as I see the emails. This is something I’ve been working on. And honestly? I’ve been getting a little better at it. During this time of isolation, I’ve noticed that it is very difficult to separate my “school” life and my “home” life because I am doing school from home and really it is hard to recognize what hours I am working and what hours I am just doing me. After grading until Wednesday through my spring break and sending too many emails back and forth last week, I realized that I was never taking a break. This is important for all of you as well, becauase if you don’t take a break your mental health will suffer. And of all the things I care about, I take your mental health (as well as my own) very seriously because it’s the make or break of how we live our lives. So starting this week, after 4:30 pm, I am only replying to emergency emails and google classroom comments and I won’t reply to reminds after 7 pm. I am doing this for both of us. The more time I spend at home, the more it just feels like I’m working in my office and it gets harder to “turn off” work mode. Give me some time to miss you and we will all be happier in May when we see each other again. This also benefits you because as you read from my entry yesterday, it teaches patience. Your emails about your grades are important. Your emails about the assignments you are working on are important. But so is taking some time to attempt coming up with an answer on your own. Or just taking the night (while I am probably sleeping and you should be too) to take a break. What I’m taking an entire page to get at is you need to take a break from school. It’s easy when you come to Monticello at 7:30 am and then leave at 2:45 to leave school at the door or turn it off. That gets harder when school and home are melting together. This is a challenging time. But it’s a time to learn and a time to grow. I am using this time to grow as someone who recognizes the need to step away once in a while and turn it off so I can play a video game or read a book without constantly being at work. As always: stay healthy, stay safe, and take a break from school, I doubt the kids actually read this, but I hope they did. I've also been replying to comments on Google Classroom (when a question is repeated 25 times on 3 different posts for me to reply to their email) that it is after my working hours and I will reply the next day (or Monday if it is Friday). I also put it into my Weekly Assignment page that I email out that my email hours are 9 am - 4:30 pm. Again, they don't read anything I post. Ever. Anyway. Thanks for attempting to deal with my insanity. I really hope that I'm being entertaining during this pandemic. xo, j
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorJust a 20something trying to get by in life. Archives
April 2020
Categories |