Time-Saving Tips for Educators Lesson plans. Parent conferences. PTA/PTO meetings. Newsletters. Bulletin boards. Grading papers. Preparing tests. Planning activities with colleagues. Faculty meetings. Working with students individually. Field trips. Creating visual aids and other materials. “Aaaauuugghhhh!” to quote famous student Charlie Brown. Can a teacher do all this and still have a life, too? We know there are many educators who have come up with successful ways to manage the tasks they must accomplish each day because we’ve collected their ideas for saving time both at school and at home. The following tips are responses to “How do YOU do it?” They have been suggested by educators. So spare a few minutes, if you can, to look them over— it could save you enough time to get a life later. n
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I do as much work as possible during the school day. I try not to take any grading home on weeknights. I take anything left home on the weekend and plan my Sunday afternoons for getting caught up. Just knowing that I might have to give up part of my weekend makes me work harder during the school days. Put basic weekly schedule in a plan book or a computer template; then you don’t have to rewrite each week. Make lists for almost everything you do. It will help you stay on task. Take a couple of minutes at the end of each day to review your use of time that day. Learn the computer program your district uses to record and compute grades. Store as much information on the computer as possible. Papers can be (and often are) misplaced, but letters, lesson plans, etc., can be pulled up, reviewed, revised and reprinted in a matter of minutes. Be sure to name the files something you recognize instantly, and always keep back-ups.
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