#TechTipTuesday – Off For The Summer

Every Tuesday I share a Tech Tip on our social media pages to assist our staff in their use of technology as it relates to their role.

Mountain View School Division, MVSD, Kirsten Thompson, Microsoft Certified Trainer , online instruction, teacher wellbeing

Summer Holiday Tips. (2020). Uploaded by Kirsten Thompson. Available online at: http://fishbowlteaching.blogspot.com/

Today is the LAST day of the 2019/2020 school year in Manitoba and it was one for the history books! As we wrap up the year, and I wrap up our regularly scheduled posting calendar on our social media pages, I wanted to focus our last “Tech Tip” on summer holidays. Teachers tend to have their “teacher brain” on non-stop but if there was ever a time to step back from your job and take some time for yourself it would be this summer!

While we continue to operate within a pandemic-world we know that there are no guarentees. Any carefully developed plans we make for the 2020/2021 school year could change multiple times. In Manitoba we know that updated information affecting schools is scheduled to be shared on August 1st. With that in mind, I strongly encourage all staff to fully relax this July: don’t think about your classroom, don’t stress over “what ifs”, don’t develop full plans for options that we can’t guarentee.. just relax.

I recommend turning on your automatic replies on your email indicating that you are in holiday. (I’ll include a tutorial below for those who operate within Outlook)

If you previously had your work email on your Smart Phone or personal devices consider removing it for the summer. Alternatively, you can go into your settings and disable all notifcations for the summer.

Finally, engage in activities that bring you joy. That may be camping or outdoor activities, physical exercise, reading for pleasure, hobbies, or simply sleeping in or binging that TV series you have saved. Find something that works for you!

I’ll continue to post with moderate frequency on the blog and social media over the summer months but for those that are “tuning out” until the fall; Happy Summer!