How do you stop working at the end of the day when you know there are more needs to be met? My mentor teacher turned around in his swivel chair, thought pensively for a moment, and responded to my question. "That's what July is for", he said. My eyes widened at the thought of navigating the incessant communication a teacher's work life requires. How do you clock out? Like, really clock out. The kind of clocking out that actually energizes you so that you are not on your phone after dinner flubbing your loved ones and racking your brain over gluten free snacks or reading levels. I asked a principal at Seattle Public Schools this same question. She said she stops checking emails at 8 PM because after that it is family time. Being present with family helps fill us up and power us for the next day.

With the quiet hours feature on Bloomz it's easy to maintain a healthy work life balance. Choose hours that suit your lifestyle and you will stop receiving email and push notifications. If there are active message threads all users will see a tool tip saying that you are in quiet hours and will not be responding to messages.

This is how you will see your message thread:

This is how the message sender will see it: 

It is a teacher's duty to manage competing priorities. We must remain patient and tactful while working through challenging projects with a variety of people. At the end of the day we have to leave our classrooms while knowing there are more messages coming in and events to plan. The importance of personal time and a good night's sleep is essential to remaining energized in the classroom. The quiet hours feature clarifies communication availability so that parents know when to expect a teacher response. This tool facilitates healthy boundaries between parents and teachers.

Visit the Bloomz support center to learn more about setting your quiet hours. If you have set quiet hours on Bloomz, please share your experiences in the comment section below.