Next Level Teaching Skills Archives - Page 12 of 14

Taming the Beast: Time Management Tips for Teachers

September 19, 2017 by Inspired Together Teachers 2 Comments

Time management is an ongoing challenge for teachers. The demands of teaching are many, and you are probably feeling that there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. Getting a handle on your time is like trying to tame a beast, a very hungry, active and persistent one.

While everyone’s schedule is different and everyone has different school and life responsibilities, there are a few productivity hacks that can benefit most teachers. Here are four areas you can focus on to improve your time management.

Master the To-Do List

Whether you work with a paper planner or on-line one, mastering the art of the To -Do list will help free up your mind for more important work and keep you aware of what needs to be done.

Embrace the fact that all of your work will NEVER be done. Once you accept that, you can work within priorities to get things done when they need to be done.

Create a master To-Do list in your planner, lesson plan book or in an on-line program or app. Everything that needs to be done goes on this list; add due dates if possible. Writing it down will help you keep track of everything. The master To-Do list can become very overwhelming, which is why you should also create a daily To-Do list.

The daily To-Do list is a shorter and more focused list. This should include things that must be done by the end of the day. Look at the master list for things you should transfer to today. This is also the place to jot down all of the little things that might come up throughout the day.

Plan Your Day

Your teaching schedule is probably fairly fixed. Your prep time may be more open. Think of spending 1-3 hours a day on preparation and planning. Some of that might come during a planning period, or before school or after school. Some of that time might come in the evenings at home.

Working with your To-Do lists, schedule tasks into each of the planning and preparation time slots. Try to plan each chuck of time wisely. For example, if you only have a 20 minute block, group three or four short tasks together and polish them off during that time period.

Being focused and purposefully planning specific tasks during each time block helps to eliminate overwhelm and disorganization. If you know that at home tonight you will grade a specific set of papers you are more likely to get it done than if you throw every task that needs attention in your bag and then feel so overwhelmed that you give up and watch a Kardashian marathon. Setting a task to be completed and sticking with your decision helps you get things done and still maintain some work/life balance.

A good rule of thumb is never leave for home at the end of the day until the materials for tomorrow’s lessons are ready and on your desk. This will get you into the habit of planning ahead, rather than being desperate the night before.

Stay organized.

Teachers make many instructional decisions during the day, and making decisions uses a lot of cognitive energy. If we add to that decisions about what to have for lunch, what to wear or what to do during any given moment, we are using a lot of our energy making decisions. Organization is the building of systems or habits that eliminate some forms of decision making, leaving us with more energy to use for our work.

Plan a week’s worth of lunches on the weekend and put food in containers in the refrigerator so you can just grab them in the morning. Do the same with your clothes. Get a tote bag with pockets and built in organization so that you don’t have to look for things.

Organize student papers in sets and attach them with a binder clip. Keep papers to grade in one folder and papers to return in another folder. You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment moving them from one folder to another.

Keep your desk organized. Keep a manila file folder system that quickly allows you to find the notes from staff meetings and each committee. Keep a folder for each on-going project such as IEP plans or your professional development plan, and one for parent communications. Keep similar electronic folders on your computer. This simple bit of organization will save you time and frustration of looking for things.

Focus When You Work

No doubt you will have many distractions when you work, and sometimes they are out of your control. Other things are within your control, and you can learn to eliminate distractions and focus for longer periods of time.

Set a couple of times a day to look at and respond to your e-mail. Once in the morning, once at lunch and once at the end of the day is sufficient.

Beware of the time sucking vortex of social media. A quick look at Pinterest to find a fun teaching activity can quickly lead to an hour spent looking at lesson plans…and shoes. A few minutes with a video game leads to a few more and then you are almost at the next level so…you keep on going. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat…all are fun diversions, but they ARE diversions. Work while you are working and save social media for your personal time.

If you are particularly addicted to social media try turning off notifications. What you don’t know about won’t distract you.

If you procrastinate with bigger projects, give yourself an allotted time to work and follow up with a time to do something you love. Plan to spend one hour with your unit planning, and then give yourself permission to watch a television show or go for a walk.

It takes time and practice to figure out what works well for you. With experience, you get better at prioritizing. You’ll learn to plan in units rather than by individual lesson. You’ll learn when to give 100% and which tasks don’t require that level of perfection.

At some level, most educators will continue to struggle with time. The beast will always be there, but you can learn to coexist and maybe even get along.

Our Best

Positive Notes for Days You Really Need Them

September 5, 2017 by Inspired Together Teachers 9 Comments

For many years I have a kept a worn and faded old manila folder in the bottom drawer of my desk. It is labeled with a Sharpie: Positive Notes for Days I Really Need Them.

This folder is where I stashed the letter from a parent, thanking me for the extra attention to her son. It is where I put the note from a girl in middle school who tried my patience more days than not. I spent many hours with her after school, discussing appropriate behaviors and encouraging her to live up to her potential. A few months after I left that school, she mailed me a letter apologizing for her bad behavior. She told me that she felt safe with me, and that she had learned a lot more from me than she had ever let on. I was flabbergasted.

In my folder, there are also notes from principals, and my positive recommendations. There are a few notes that I jotted down after having a conversation that boosted me just when I needed it. There are funny cards, like the hand drawn one given to me after my sister-in-law died with the heading, “Houston, we have a problem.” He meant well.

Other notes make me cry, like the one from Todd, who even as a twelve-year-old lived life fast and took chances. I remember him, with his sandy hair and his goofy grin. He also tried my patience, but then he would make made me laugh and I never could stay mad at him for long. At the end of the school year, he wrote that he would miss me. I later learned he died young. It broke my heart, but I was not surprised.

There is also a note from another young man who danced with addiction, contemplated suicide and thankfully, didn’t die young. The words, “Thank you for everything,” mean much more to me than the four words he wrote. I know that what they really say is thank you for not giving up on me and not letting me go and believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself. I spent sleepless nights over him, and knowing that I reached him keeps me going on days when being an educator seems too hard and I just want to quit.

As a teacher, you are going to make a difference to someone. It is the nature of our profession that sometimes you will never know how you might have affected someone. Fortunately, other times you will know. People will thank you. You will get scribbled cards, written in crayon in messy first grade writing that say, “You are the best teacher.” You will get a grateful e-mail from a parent or a guidance counselor. Someone will tell you that you are doing a great job.

You need to get yourself a folder or box or an accordion file and save every single one of those positive notes. Save them for days that are difficult, and there will be plenty of those. Save them for when you are working too hard, and not making enough money and it just doesn’t seem worth it. Save it for those day when a parent makes you cry and days when the students are acting out and you are tired of dealing with it all.

When you are down or struggling, take out that folder and start reading. Those messages, notes and cards will lift you up. They will encourage you and remind you that what you are doing matters. They will feed your soul and revive your spirit.

It is human nature to focus on the negative things we experience. If you are going to make it as a teacher, you will also need to focus on the positive. You need to know that someone appreciates your hard work, that someone notices, and that someone cares.

You need to be reminded that you are doing important work and that you are making a difference.

Get yourself a folder and start collecting your positive notes now.

Our best,

10 Things You Won’t Hear Excellent Teachers Say

August 2, 2017 by Inspired Together Teachers 2 Comments

Though we would like it if the world were always a positive, friendly place, sometimes it just isn’t so. We’ve heard our share of negative teacher room talk. Still, we try to do our part to stay positive and focus on how to handle challenges in a way that encourages positive change. Given that philosophy, here are ten things you won’t hear excellent teachers say:

These kids are all lazy and unmotivated.

Really? All of them? Show us a classroom where all of the students are unmotivated and we will show you a classroom that needs a reboot. Perhaps the lessons need to be more academically or developmentally appropriate. Maybe the work needs to be more active and engaging. Has the teacher built a good relationship with the students? If not, start there. Students are more likely to do good work for teachers they like and respect.

You’ll do what I say because I am the teacher and you are the student.

You might get students to comply with this statement, but compliance is not the same as learning. Compliance is at the low end of the motivation scale, with interest and engagement at the other end.

That’s not how we act. Were you raised in a barn?

You don’t know how they were raised. Making assumptions or belittling their background is not likely to teach them proper behavior.

When I want to control my class, I just give them a pop quiz.

There are two problems here- emphasizing control over learning and understanding the purposes of assessment.

Did you leave your brain at home today?

Teachers who say things like this think they are being sarcastic, but be aware that many, many students do not understand sarcasm and will just recognize this statement as an insult.

That is a stupid question.

If you want to make sure students never ask a question in your classroom, be sure to tell them that their questions are stupid.

Don’t smile until Christmas.

The sentiment behind this one is that you have to let students know who is in control and that you are not their friend. However, you can build a classroom environment where students will work and respect you and each other. You can be firm in your expectations while building a rapport with your students. We say, go ahead and smile on the first day.

She works so hard she makes the rest of us look bad.

The general public does enough teacher bashing. We don’t need to do it to ourselves. If you make this statement, you are really making a statement about how YOU work.

There are only 39 days left of school!

The problem with counting down the number of days of school is that the subtle message is “this place is so bad we can’t wait to get out of here!” In your glee, you are negating the fact that school is a positive, purposeful place for learning. While we all like our vacation, many students are safe, fed, and happy at school. Sometimes home and summer brings unknown and unsettling circumstances. If you are confronted with an end of the year countdown, consider saying things like “Only six more days until we can stay home and read all day long.”

How many years until I retire?

This is not a problem if you are actually planning your retirement. But if you are an early career teacher and you are starting to count the days and years until you retire, you might want to take a look at why you are so miserable in your job. Yes, teaching is hard work and we know that not every minute is enjoyable. The good should outweigh the bad. Good teachers generally like their work!

Here’s to positive teacher talk,

Which of These 6 Types of Teacher Are You?

June 21, 2017 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

There are six types of teachers, at least according to a sixth grader named Topher. Topher is one of the narrators in John David Anderson’s, funny, wise and heart wrenching middle grade novel Ms. Bixby’s Last Day.

Here are the six types of teachers. Which one are you?

The Zombies

These are the ones who have been teaching since Roosevelt was president- the first Roosevelt. The one with the broomy mustache. Zombies speak in a monotone and come armed with lots of worksheets. They suck the fun out of the learning process. Zombies don’t technically eat student’s brains, but they don’t do anything to nurture them either.

The Caff-Adds

You can spot these teachers by their jittery hands, bloodshot eyes and the NPR travel mugs they carry around with them. Caff-Adds are like little bouncy balls and they talk really fast. Listening to them is like sticking your head in a beehive…ZZZZZZZZZZZ.

The Dungeon Masters

These teachers are hall pass wielding ogres who wish paddling was still allowed in schools. They allow no talking- ever. You are expected to sit still, be quiet and do your work alone. They will capture your I-phone and feed it to their goblins.

The Spielbergs

These teachers aren’t as cool as Steven Spielberg, but like him they show movies all the time. With Spielbergs, you often get a chance to snooze or doodle or text your friends. A sub category is Zombie Spielbergs- old guys who show movies, often ones that are unrelated to class, constantly.

The Noobs

Noobs are “fresh picked from the teacher farm.” Noobs, with their bright eyes colorful catalog posters are overachievers. Students like Noobs, but sadly, they don’t stay Noobs for very long. They get burned out in a year or two. Topher blames the system, not the students, for causing this form of teacher burnout.

The Good Ones

These are the teachers we hope to get. They make school bearable. You actually pay attention in their class. You work hard in their class because you don’t want to disappoint them. These are the ones you will go back and say hi to next year.

We asked, “Which of These Six Types of Teacher Are You?”

Actually, we already know the answer. It’s summer, and you are reading this. You are doing a little self-imposed professional development.

Gotcha. Caught in the act. Now we know. And you know too. You’re our kind of teacher.

One of The Good Ones.

Congratulations,

Paula and Michele

P.S. It’s summer, and we plan to read a lot. If you are looking for some good books, we’ve got you covered. Fill in your name and email below to get our free guide, 25 Amazing Books About Teachers that Every Teacher Should Read.

P.P.S. Number one is Ms. Bixby’s Last Day, by John David Anderson, 2016, Walden Pond Press. Read this one first. And make sure you have a box of tissues handy. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Interview 101: What Makes you UNIQUE?

June 9, 2017 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

Do you have a teaching interview planned? We have participated in hundreds of new teacher interviews. New teachers talk about their student teaching, their coursework, and how much they love being in a classroom with kids. They answer the questions, and if they are wise, they expand upon their answers with examples.

However, most new teachers forget ONE VERY IMPORTANT SELLING POINT IN AN INTERVIEW. Saying that you love students, or love teaching, is not a bad thing. But the teacher who interviewed before you probably said the same thing. You need to give the interviewers something about you that they will remember.

The interview team needs to know what makes you UNIQUE.

To determine what make you unique, we offer the following categories for self-assessment:

Awards– What awards have you won? These awards may be academic (think Dean’s List or a specific content award), work related (top counselor at camp, voted most creative day care teacher, etc), or social (any awards for involvement with a community group or organization).
Endorsements or Certifications– Don’t forget to mention any endorsements or certifications you have earned. Even if you have them listed on your resume, be sure to bring them up in the interview. Having that coaching endorsement, or that middle school endorsement, may be what is the deciding factor between you and another candidate.
Extra–curricular Activities- Did you participate in choir all four years of college? Were you a leader on the court? Did you perform on the stage? Did you make it to a national championship? Did you sit on the bench for four years and support your teammates with your enthusiasm and positive attitude? You may think your extracurricular activities are not relevant to teaching, but extracurricular involvement shows leadership, resilience, and dedication- all important skills in teaching.
Experiences– Were you an Eagle Scout? Did you study abroad for semester? Did you take a service trip that impacted your view on the world? Down assume they aren’t relevant. Your participation in these experiences shows a lot about your character and your desire to continually learn.
Opportunities– Did your teacher education program offer any unique opportunities that you took advantage of? Are there community involvement events that you always take the opportunity to volunteer for? If you have ever jumped at the opportunity to do something, it may be worth mentioning in the interview.

Once you have determined what makes you unique, be sure to write it down so you don’t forget to mention it in the interview. The opportunity to present the unique information about you may come at the beginning of the interview when they ask you to introduce yourself, it may come up during the examples, or you may have to add it at the end if not opportunities presented themselves based on questions asked of you. However, you need to find a way to make sure the interviewers know the unique qualities you will bring to the classroom and the school.

Our free guide entitled How to ACE Your Teaching Interview contains even more advice. Feel free to download it here.

Good luck with your interviews,

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