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Time management-for-teachers
- 1. Time Management for Teachers
- 2. Why is Time Management Important? This year is actually your chance to get into positive and healthy habits for managing your time. It helps you stay clear. It saves you time so that you can spend more time on the things you enjoy. Professional growth it will help you move ahead in your career. If you cant fit it all in now, how will you manage when youre the HT?
- 3. Always Prioritise Know exactly what you are going to do next, why youre doing it, by when it needs to be completed and whats the big picture. If you are unclear, you will run around like a headless chicken.
- 4. Say No to Distractions Give yourself uninterrupted, focussed time to get things done AND stick to it. Unplug the phone Turn off the TV Turn off your computer FOCUS
- 5. Distraction 10 time thieves 1. Your mobile 2. People dropping in (usually with a problem) 3. Poor information 4. Computer problems 5. Change priorities caused by colleagues 6. Lack of planning 7. Poor listening of others 8. Inappropriate organisational structure 9. Moved goal posts 10. Putting things right that were not wrong Some distractions are useful a new idea, a tip from a friend or an article, a reminder to finish something. Write down distractions so that you can review them later always keep a note pad or post-its. Remain focussed scribble the distraction and look at your note pad at an allotted time.
- 6. Organise dont agonise Organise and declutter your work space classroom, desk, home Organise files Organise your lessons: If you have a lesson that is going to give you a heavy marking load, try to balance it out with another that will allow you to use peer-assessment, or give verbal feedback. Throw away items that you do not use. Throw away anything collecting dust.
- 7. Accept imperfection Do you want to have that perfect classroom, with the perfect students, with the perfect everything? Take a minute to reflect and be realistic on what is achievable. Will that perfect image that you spent three hours trawling Google for really have an impact on Year 4? Will a primary class notice whether your clip art is perfectly coordinated across all of your resources? Design is important, but dont get sucked into the black hole of seeking perfection...
- 8. Daily Planner Create well prioritised to do lists and stick to them. To-do lists are essential, including things to do at home. Prioritize so if everything doesnt get done, the most important still have and I dont have to feel bad. This way theres a fair chance of success and it helps to really focus in on what are the most important things. Allocate set times for certain tasks, its much more productive. Include times for before and after school for particular jobs. For instance, use the first 30minutes after the school day finishes to ensure that everything is set up and ready to go for the next day. Create check lists for specific events e.g. a trip or concert try to consider everything that could go wrong (it will). Save your checklists in an organised system to avoid repeating. Many things in school life occur again and again. Invest in a diary and use it to plan out your week so that you can see your pinch points. The aim should be to anticipate when you might need to put extra time in, but also to balance this with absolute downtime, perhaps by making a personal pact not to work after hours on a particular day.
- 9. Its ok to say No or ask for help We have to know our limits. If workload is impinging on quality planning time, which is now cutting into my family time, theres a problem. Scale back on the less important things.JUST SAY NO! Dont disappear ask for support. It will be easy to forget that a world exists outside of dry-wipe boards, Post-it notes and green biros. You might be tempted to spend your lunch break setting up for your next lesson, but its imperative that you get to know your colleagues, too. Dont be a stranger to the staffroom. Your colleagues are your best allies. The same goes for spending time with your friends and family. Make sure that you plan and take time to be you.
- 10. Create time off for your well being All work and no play WILL lead to stress and makes you unproductive. Set aside time for yourself EVERY DAY Do things that take your mind off of school and demand your absorption. When youre at home, then BE at home. Its really important to set boundaries with work and home. If you work better at home than at school, then set clear times for working at home. When you leave school to come home, then leave your teacher bag at school and switch to home mode.