A problem most teachers face is lack of time. Too little time to get all the papers graded, lessons planned, parents conferenced, and students taught. There is forever too much to do and too little time to do it.
A problem most teachers face is lack of time. Too little time to get all the papers graded, lessons planned, parents conferenced, and students taught. There is forever too much to do and too little time to do it.
Since no one is ever going to give us more time, we must manage the time we do have more efficiently. Here are two important steps you can take to make time work for you.
Prioritize First, prioritize. Figure out what is important and what is not. Make a list of what must be done today, what must be done this week, and what must be done this month. Then do it. Start with the things that need to completed immediately and work your way down. If you find yourself working on something that is unimportant or could be done at a later date, then stop and re-prioritize. This may mean saying no to requests you would have agreed to in the past. Maybe you just can’t afford to be on just one more committee. You have students to teach! Plan While planning requires a large investment of time up-front, it saves countless hours later on. There are four types of plan every teacher needs to have. 1) A Yearly Plan: Before school starts sketch out what you would like to have completed when. This gives you a general guideline to go by. For instance, this way you can see that you need to have your unit on measurement completed by October 15 in order to get in everything else you have to teach. 2) A Monthly Plan: At the end of each month figure out what you want to complete the next month. When you go to do your weekly lesson plans, much of the work is already done! 3) A Weekly Plan: Most teachers are accustomed to weekly lesson plans, so this will probably not be anything different. What will you do each day during the school week? 4) A Daily Plan: What does your day look like? It is good to have a solid routine in place. This helps students know what to expect and improves attention and behavior. These plans are just that, plans. If you need to change them, then do so. They provide a general idea of what will happen in your classroom during the school year. Be sure to save them from year to year. You will probably not be able to re-use them, but your plans from year to year will probably be similar.
