How connected is too-connected?

I know many people keep "office hours" and with each job these hours vary. However, as a teacher, a good chunk of my office hours take place after 8pm. It used to be after the girls went to bed I would grade papers, plan for upcoming units, or work ahead where I could. Now I find my after-hours work answering emails, updating late submissions, or scouring my PLN for new ideas. After-hours are no longer a time to get ahead; they have become a requirement to just stay afloat.   

As much as I like being available to my students and answering their questions, I am finding that I just can't escape them. I try to not answer email that comes in past 10pm until the next day, but sometimes I can't resist knowing that if I just take care of it at night, the morning will present a much smaller "to-do" list. In every job there needs to be an element of escape, but with so much connectivity, I'm finding I need to be much more intentional about that escape.

The upside to all of this connectivity in school though...I am completely connected to my own children's school. Activities that I might otherwise have missed out on, I can get a glimpse at throughout the day. Twitter updates on school assemblies, photos of the girls doing fun activities throughout the day, Facebook updates of all the upcoming events we'll want to attend. Seeing the fun and learning the girls do throughout the day has been priceless. So how "connected" is "too connected?" Do students appreciate having access to teachers and learning 24/7 or are we failing to teach them to be intentional about walking away from the connectivity?

Highlight of my day...a photo in my Twitter feed of the girls eating breakfast after Mass on Grandparents Day.