The days before winter break can be filled with fun student engagement, classroom celebrations, and anticipation of time off. At the same time, they can also be exhausting.
To set yourself up for a restful winter break, consider strategies that you can use to set boundaries, automate routine tasks, and help you enjoy some valuable time off. These small steps before break can help you protect your time, lower stress, and make the return in January smoother.
1. Clear the Clutter
During the frenzy of these last days before break, it’s easy to let things pile up. This clutter might include physical papers stacked on your desk, and it can also be online learning management systems (LMSs) stuffed with digital assignments. It’s tempting to push these piles aside and tell yourself that you’ll deal with them when you return to school after break. However, a little extra effort now, even though you’re tired, can help you more easily rest over break and return with a cleared plate.
If you can find the time, leave for break with assignments already graded and with your virtual and physical desk cleared.
One efficient option is to ramp up to break with formative assignments that don’t require you to manually grade them. Consider using this opportunity for peer feedback, self-assessment, automated digital feedback, or enrichment activities that can help students grow but don’t require grading.
If something does require grading, consider having students present their work live in class so that you can grade or provide feedback while they are sharing rather than at home over break. Be kind to yourself and try to keep the workload manageable.
This clear-the-clutter philosophy extends to your email inbox as well. Consider putting all “after break” items into one labeled folder or list called “January 2” (or your return date). This provides a clean reentry point instead of a mental pileup.
2. Set Your Email Out-of-Office Message
Email can be a source of continual anxiety. It seems like it comes in faster than we can reply, and the thought of it piling up even more while we’re out on break can be stressful. It can tempt us to continually check our inbox even when school is not in session. It can be a very healthy practice to set some boundaries here.
To do this, consider setting up an out-of-office message for the days when you are out of school over break.
A simple and warm message works well, something like: “Thank you for your message. Our school is currently on break. I’ll respond when we return.” This gives an immediate response to those trying to reach you, and it also sets the expectation and boundary that you won’t be replying during break.
3. Schedule Messages in Advance
Similar to clearing the clutter, you can be preemptive about messages that you know you’ll need to send when you return from break. Taking care of some of these now will reduce your stress level when you return.
Many programs allow you to schedule messages in advance. This includes email, LMSs, and student information systems.
You might want to schedule a welcome-back message to automatically go out the night before school resumes, or you might put a message on the landing page of your LMS. This could include your classroom newsletter, a preview of a new unit to begin in January, or perhaps a warm welcome-back message to your students and their families.
For email messages that you’re certain you will need to attend to when you return, consider scheduling an email send back to yourself at a later date. This doesn’t eliminate the work, but it can help you clear out your inbox during break. Overstuffed inboxes can be a significant source of anxiety.
4. Turn Off School Notifications on Your Devices
Pop-up alerts of new emails or messages coming in can be stressful and continual reminders that work is waiting for you.
To help you unplug and disconnect from the stress of work, turn those notifications off. It can help you break the habit of constantly checking email or other communication inboxes.
You might even choose to move your school email shortcut off your home screen during break to move it out of sight. Do what works for you, and remember, it’s healthy to disconnect during break.
5. Have the First Day Back Ready to Go
Again, this takes a little time now, but if you can have your first day back planned and ready, it will allow you to enjoy your break much more stress-free. You will be eliminating the urgent work that is needed for that first day, allowing you to be more relaxed heading back to school and focus on reconnecting with your students.
If you use an LMS, you can have those lessons prepped and loaded. You can usually hide them from student view as well, and you can publish it or make it public when you return.
One great back-to-school lesson idea is to review digital routines when you return. This can be a fairly easy lift, and it can help you and your students review best practices that will keep things running smoothly in the new year. This review might include topics like digital routines, file organization, and communication protocols.
Another way to keep that first day back manageable is to use it to reestablish relational capacity in your classroom. You might pre-build a slide to use the first day back that is as simple as: “Welcome back! Let’s ease in. What is one thing you learned or enjoyed during break?”
Posting a message encouraging your students to enjoy their break is a nice touch as well.
6. Block Out Time on Your Calendar for Your First Day Back
Be kind to yourself and add a quiet planning block, maybe 30 or 60 minutes, to your calendar on the return day. This protects time for recentering, easing in, and catching up. If your calendar is blocked, others will be less likely to schedule meetings during that time.
7. Send Yourself a Positive Message
Write yourself a positive, encouraging email and schedule it to send to your email upon your return, so you’ll receive it when you’re back to school after the break.
In the message, you might remind yourself of a classroom win that you had before break, or you could outline a brief to-do list that helps you recenter yourself after being away from school for a while.
Make it positive. Give yourself a smile. Maybe even include a photo of your family or a funny meme.
You’ll probably forget that you sent it, and it can give you a nice, positive boost when you return to your classroom after some time off.
When that final bell rings before winter break and your students file out of your classroom, remember to tell yourself, “You’ve done enough. Let this break be a break. The work will wait.” You might even write this on a sticky note and place it to your computer screen as a visual reminder.
Remember that boundaries are healthy. And now, it’s time to enjoy your break.
AVID Connections
This resource connects with the following components of the AVID College and Career Readiness Framework:
- Instruction
- Systems
- Culture
- Relational Capacity