It is finally here! The moment educators have been dreaming of has arrived. It’s winter break, but are you really taking a break? Too many educators use breaks to do more work and then they return to school tired and needing another vacation. Do not be that person. Take care of yourself. Here are some suggestions to do you and to put yourself first.
Do nothing.
Okay, so you really can’t just do nothing, but you should at least reserve one day to do the least amount of activity as possible. I have kids…and a husband, so that means some extra planning. It is so worth it. As educators, the moment we pull into the school parking lot, it is go time. We need a day to slow down and not be responsible for anyone else but ourselves.
Indulge.
We all have our guilty pleasures. Enjoy one or more of what makes you feel awesome on the inside. Teachers deserve to be fulfilled and to feel joy from something other than our students achieving academically.
Connect with family and friends.
Family and friends frequently get pushed to the side during the school year. Teachers tend to go to bed early to wake up early for school the next day. If we are not going to bed early, we are staying up late writing lesson plans and grading papers. Our family and friends are waiting for us to be available. Make family and friends your priority.
Forget about school.
Don’t check your work email. Don’t work on lesson plans. Sure as hell don’t go to the school. Please don’t go there; you are better than that. If you must hang out with teacher friends, make it a rule to not talk about school. If this is hard, then you might not know enough about your friend, so take the time to get to know your teacher friend as someone other than a teacher. We know the winter break will come to an end. This means school will be waiting for you when it is over, so let these couple of weeks be school free.
Hopefully, educators, you will relax and enjoy winter break. We all deserve it.