Pages

May 17, 2007

Step Away From the Keyboard

Sorry about the earlier email rant post. My school email inbox was killing me. I counted yesterday and got over forty emails and only nine were actually for me personally. So please stop and think before you email. People are busy and if you need a stamp or a carpet cleaner or a new dentist or some green paper, ask around. Then email a few people. Then maybe email your grade level. But do you really need to email the entire building? It's especially odd at my school. I teach at an elementary school with around 1800 students, so it's easy for email to turn into white noise.

What's funny is that many people complain about the emails, but I'm not sure they remember that when they're at their laptops. It's an extra layer of busy-work that teachers don't really need.

I've gotten away from it by turning off my email alarm and have decided only to check it in the morning, at lunch, and before I leave. If there's anything that needs to be dealt with in-between those times, they'll come get me. Just like they did before email. I'm busy teaching, thanks.