Time management tips for teachers

Teaching is considered as a noble profession in many countries around the world. If you are a teacher, you probably know that being a teacher is not just about sharing knowledge in your field of expertise with your students. You also have to perform tasks such as grading assignments and exams, preparing for classes and not to mention attending seminars to further your own career. If you bored because of all this things, cv editor can help you with your resume and you will find your new job. Sometimes you may even find yourself performing these tasks on your personal time. In a previous post, we had talked about the aspects of balanced life (link). Work is just one aspect of balanced life and working overtime every day is certainly going to tip the balance.

There is a solution to this and it’s called “time management”. There are many time management techniques that teachers can use to help them get things done more efficiently. One of these techniques is organization.

De-clutter
Even with the advance in technology, many schools still require their students to submit assignments on paper or write exams using pens and papers. The result of this is a large amount of papers for teachers to deal with. If you are a teacher, how much time do you waste on looking for that missing lesson plan, or that assignment submitted by one of your students?

“A place for everything, and everything in its place.”

Spend 10-15 minutes at the end of each work day to organize your papers. Papers that contain information that is no longer useful, such as worksheets or grade sheets that had been filed many years ago, should be recycled or thrown away right away.

You can throw them out in the trashcan or place them in the faculty lounge. Next is to make a place wherein you will put all the things. Also, divide the place – desk into different categories like To Do, To File, To Read and To Hold. From their name themselves, they already explain their functions in the desk. If you want to have organized file or desk, you need to do the things that I mentioned earlier.


Categorize your papers
One way to organize your papers is to categorize them. What are some categories that are most commonly used by teachers? First, there are materials that are related to specific courses. These could be lesson plans, ideas for lessons, exam questions, etc. These materials can usually be reused or can be saved for future use. Then, there are materials that are related to specific classes that you are teaching in the current semester. These could be class schedules, special notes, etc. These materials can usually be thrown out at the end of the semester. Third, there are materials that are related to students. Being a teacher is not just about teaching, sometimes you have to deal with things like discipline issues. This is common to students who are fond of not abiding the rules of the school. You can keep your notes or information about certain students or groups of students that require your special attention.

Once you have categorized the papers, put them in colour-coded folders. If you have a lot of papers, then put them in different drawers in your cabinet or boxes. When you need something about the Math class you are teaching, go to your “class folder”. If you need to talk to the parent of a student who has discipline issue, go to your “student folder” for information about that student.

This is just one of the many time management techniques that you can use to increase your productivity. There are other ways that you can make your teaching life easier. If you are a teacher, what do you do to increase your productivity? Please share in the comment section below.