I believe a teachers most precious resource is their time. For so long, it's just been the norm to not even question our colleagues statements of, "get use to long hours." or "it's just apart of the job." People are content to think this way, but how often are we doing something about it? Being okay with spending long hours at work because you're passionate is important. But being so passionate about your job and knowing your going to experience stress so severe you'll almost have a nervous breakdown is not okay. Being passionate is what teaching is all about. But long hours, agonising over assessments, planning and meetings at the expense of your mental health is not going to sustain that passion for long. My inspiration to post this has been drawn from books written by people in other professions to maximise and be highly effective with their time and still achieve the same results. There's a lot we can take from their advice we can apply to teaching. I am not claiming to be an expert, but here are 10 things I believe made me a better teacher and improved my own mental health and number of hours spent away from work.
3. Refrain from keeping kids in at recess & lunchtime. Yes, I'll admit sometimes you can't let a student get away with not finishing work. But you need to be careful. If you're not getting into the staffroom at recess or lunch more often then not you're at risk of burnout. There are alternatives. Send unfinished work home. Send a reminder to parents on ClassDojo on your phone as your walk to the staffroom that it needs to be completed. Then get into the staffroom for a coffee! Take a freakin break! I'd like to hear other teachers thoughts on this. Are there other reasons why your student hasn't finished? Is it just as simple as they haven't worked hard enough? It really bugs me seeing colleagues not taking a break. It's the perfect time to take to debrief (without taking precious time away from your colleagues). Furthermore, you're limiting time students should be spending in physical activity!
7. Write a do to list & cross it out quickly. The worst thing about to do lists is that they never end. Whatever is on there, prioritise and get it done. Don't let it sit there. I'm amazed at how often things you're supposed to do don't ever get done because of a whole range of factors. Meaning, often there are little things we think are important and need to be done that actually do not. What's important? What's not important? What will happen to me if I don't get this done? If its nothing serious, don't waste your time doing it! How will it improve or make a difference? If it's not meaningful, don't do it and get rid of it. 8. Increase your exposure to Professional Development through Twitter. OMG again! Twitter was a game changer for me. How many times have you sat in a PD that you've been thoroughly disengaged and disconnected with? How many times have you sat there thinking "Man, I hope the lunch spread is better than what I'm listening to?" Furthermore, have you ever thought "I really should go to a PD on this?" But can't because of a whole range of factors (PD budget, location, time, etc.) Through Twitter, you will never experience boring PD again or be constrained by budgets. Connect with experts in a field of interest, filter out the people you don't want to view anything from, be directed to links to articles, resources, further PD, group chats etc. There is someone out there that knows more than you on a particular subject, and most are posting free stuff about it on Twitter. This link below is great for further info. http://www.slideshare.net/mikepaul4/10-reasons-why-twitter 9. Use I-Doceo on your Ipad This is great if you have an Ipad and want to go paperless in your classroom. If not, read on! I-Doceo is an assessment app that allows you to keep everything in one digital spot. I really found it frustrating how much paper I wasted or began piling up over the years. You can just about cut paper out of your office with I-Doceo. Take photos, record kids reading or video presentations, create checkboxes that link to AusVels curriculum content descriptors and do your report comments as you go. It's really easy once you set everything up. I utterly loathe writing reports & this helped cutting report writing time in half. This is a great link on the app below and a website full of awesome websites from some fantastic innovators in the profession. http://www.asquaredphysed.com/idoceo.html 10. Ask for Help One of my biggest frustrations is how much we as teachers always seem to try and reinvent the wheel with everything. Why? Why don't we ask for help more from the experts we work with. I guarantee, there is someone at your school that knows more than you about spelling. Maybe someone is a gun writer, or brilliant at warm up maths games. And I'd also bet they're already using some resource, program or tool that's much more effective than yours. Otherwise you wouldn't need any help. And if they're not at your school they will be out there somewhere in the online community. Ask for help and save yourself the trouble of looking yourself! DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS ON HOW TO SAVE TIME? I'D BE INTERESTED TO HEAR!
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AboutThis blog has been created to share my thoughts on Teaching. It uses my experiences, thoughts and ideas about a whole range of things related to education. Archives
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