It’s Almost Moving Day

Any kind of move, be it moving to a new home or even moving to a new school, will involve some significant challenges. Moving involves change and change often includes discomfort and disruption to our lives. The COVID pandemic, flooding, fires, and extreme heat have all challenged us to make changes and adapt to new realities.

This year the Digital Learning Team is focused on guiding staff through the change from Google tools to Microsoft 365. It is helpful to look at what organizing consultant, Marie Kondo, has to say about tidying up and how downsizing can lead to a more joyful life. The tidying tips below are based on Mari Kondo's work.

Throw away the old stuff first. One of the reasons we keep things we don't need is the "Just in Case" reason. Worksheets from 2010 might need to be left behind!

Plan first, then execute. Plan to spend a significant amount of your time weeding out your files before moving on.

Set aside enough time to fully engage in the process. Once you start looking through your Google Drive, it will be tempting to pause and look through mementos from past years. Squirrel! Moving always takes longer than you think, so start early and try to stay focused.

Use Labels and Tags to describe files. Use Folders sparingly. You can spend untold hours creating nested folders in order to categorize your files only to forget where you put them. Organizing by school year or other "big picture" attributes can be helpful. However, tagging or labelling files and folders allows you to find files more easily by using various search methods.

Organize files by frequency of use as well as other attributes. Most Office 365 programs have a "Recent" button. If you log into http://office.com you will easily find your most recently opened Office 365 files.

Maintain a positive outlook. We expect our students to embrace change in their learning journeys. Teacher modelling of positive attitudes toward learning has been proven to positively affect student learning.

"Who Moved My Cheese" by Spencer Johnson brilliantly illustrates typical human responses when facing change. Old routines will undoubtedly cause less discomfort than new ones. While teachers expect students to have a positive attitude toward learning, fear is often the obstacle that impedes change and growth. Overcoming the fear of change together will be vital as we transition to a new set of office tools or a revised reporting tool.

As we anticipate "Moving Day" let's remember that "Learning Involves Patience and Time."

GARY TOEWS, DISTRICT VICE-PRINCIPAL
Curriculum