Easing Back In: I Need Today to Feel...

Do you experience the winter blues? I do. Do you experience the Sunday Scaries? Same. So this means that for me, returning to work after winter break is maybe more difficult than I want to admit to people. YES, I absolutely LOVE my job. I really do. My work ignites a huge passion I have for serving and supporting students and families. I think there's a lot of reasons to unpack the layers of reasons behind this - but to keep it short, this is a huge struggle for me. I know it may also be a source of struggle for some colleagues, students, and families, too. 

Since it's also the launch of testing season for many of us, I'm also going to link a former blog post about Seasonal Affective Disorder & Testing Season (Part One and Part Two). If you're a leader, you may also be interested in this post on how to support your colleagues during testing season.

I recently filmed an IRC Wind Down Wednesday episode that walked through five tips for those first few days back. Check that out here. The tips included resetting the space, planned rest, declutter, revisit norms/expectations, and rebuild stamina. 

One additional activity that you might consider is having students do a reflection on how they need the first day back to FEEL. This is a great activity to do anytime, but it is especially helpful to consider this temperature-check when easing back into routines. 

Here's a quick sample template that you might use. I gathered a few example words of how students might identify how they need the first day back to FEEL. I used a simple word cloud generator for this. You might also use a tool like MentiMeter or AnswerGarden so students can share anonymously and the whole class can view the responses. 

The second space is for students to share why that might be. Now, depending on what students capture, they may or may not feel comfortable sharing the WHY - so you might encourage students to just reflect for themselves, or you can encourage them to write it but inform them that you won't be collecting that piece. Or, let them know in advance that you'll be collecting this.