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Time Management Tips for Teachers
By: Mary L. Dennis
Most teachers find themselves in a time crunch before school even begins. As the year wears on, the idea of actually catching up with all you have to do may seem impossible. Maybe a teacher made up the saying, 00he faster I go the behind-er I get.00In the interest of better time management00ncluding some free time for yourself00ere are some tips to help you tame the time tiger.
Use gradebook software. Get the most deluxe version you can afford. The more it does, the less you will have to do. Even a basic program will average grades for you and print out reports. Try to find one that allows you to take attendance right on your laptop. Back up your data frequently, and keep your backups at home or in your preparation room. Let students help stem the tide. Before you do anything else, devise a system for managing student papers. Put a cardboard or plastic filing box on a desk or counter in your classroom, and have students file their completed homework in their own file folders. If you00e a middle-school or high-school teacher, find a file box made for hanging folders. Label them with your various class periods, and keep moving the file for the class just completed to the back as you go through the day. Keep duplicated materials and other items you need for the day in the same box, along with some extra blank folders. Use a luggage cart to move the box from room to room and between school and home. Keep other materials organized. In addition to all the student papers and handouts that you00l need to access on a daily basis, there are many others that need to be controlled. If you have not been provided with a filing cabinet, it00 well worth investing in one yourself. Try a used office supply store if funds are tight. Use hanging files and manila folders to organize and file all the correspondence you get from the district, department, and principal. Keep another file with forms parents sign, student registration and emergency forms, copies of interim reports, and so forth. Add extra files and folders as you need them for lesson plans, bulletin board materials, resource books, and whatever else comes your way. Don00 do a lesson plan twice. Use your computer to do your lesson plans, and keep them organized in your documents folder. When next year rolls along, you00l be set. If a plan needs to be modified, try to do it as soon as you can, or at least make a note of what needs to be changed. If you get ideas and handouts from the Internet or from other teachers, scan them and put them in your computer folders. Back up your computer files, and keep hard copies of everything in your filing cabinet. Keep your personal supplies in one place. You can use something as simple as a plastic shoebox. Fill it with the necessities that will help you stay organized: paper clips, rubber bands, staples and a stapler, hole punch, sticky notes, transparent tape, pens, pencils, markers, and so forth. Teach students shorthand. Writing out comments on student papers takes up a great deal of time. Instead, create a key of abbreviations. For example, use 00P00for spelling errors, VT for 00rong verb tense,00ROS for 00un-on sentence00and so forth. Check teacher stores for assorted stickers to correlate with a paper00 grade. Use a calendar or teacher plan book. There are many choices, so find one that you feel will work for you. The ones that display a week at a time are popular. Realize that the calendar or plan book is only going to be useful to you if you use it religiously. Decide on a time each day when you will consult the calendar and add necessary items. Since plans change00ecause of assemblies, fire drills that cut lessons short, and other unpredictable events, use a pencil. Use different colors of ink, highlighters, or symbols for different types of events and activities other than lessons, such as staff meetings, tests, teacher duty days, and so forth. Use a daily 00o do00list and learn to prioritize. Dedicate a small notebook to things that you want to get done, and write down everything before you go to bed. Then number the tasks in order of importance. The next night, cross of everything that you got done, transfer those you didn00 to the next page, and add anything new. Re-number to prioritize. Don00 waste time in the lineup. By planning ahead by a few days, you can save time waiting for access to the copy machine. Choose a time when it is least likely to be in use and run your copies then.Don00 keep everything. Once you00e entered the points or made the check marks for completed homework, consider what you really need to keep and what can be thrown out or given back to students. You can definitely toss that pile of five-question pop quizzes and the crossword puzzles that were just for fun. Those newspaper articles about 00urrent events00 that happened three months ago can go too. Keep the paper pile as small as you can. If you won00 need it again for anything, don00 keep it. Purge your student files at the end of the year.
Don00 forget to schedule time for yourself. Even though it may seem that you shouldn00 stop grinding away at a pile of papers, a break is often exactly what you need to renew your energy. Hit the gym, go for a walk, watch something funny on TV, or play with your kids or your dog. You work hard, and you deserve to have a life outside of school.
