It’s mid-September and though many of us just started up school again after Harvey we sure don’t find ourselves in any less of the craziness that is mid-September. In Mid-September you have not ONLY the regular teacher responsibilities starting to pile up that you didn’t have that first week (grading, tests, ARD/504 meetings, pep rallies, comfort-inspired behavior problems, etc.), but you are also still trying to tie up the loose ends of your summer and teacher prep-week. This involves (but is not limited to) staff online trainings, ordering supplies, initial paperwork, teacher web-pages, setting up log-ins for the billion website programs your district uses, and all the other start-of-the-year tasks that you almost crossed off your to do list back in mid-August. You feel a legitimate obligation to keep producing stellar lessons on the daily because your kids don’t know you enough yet to allow you to let your guard down for a day to get caught up. Your police work has to be top-notch while you’re still trying to figure all your kiddos and their antics out. And to top it all off you find yourself consistently fielding parent contact due to their heightened interest in their child’s education, and these contacts are FAR more important than they are later in the year (because, first impressions ?).
Mid-September is not the only time that stuff hits the fan during the school year as a teacher, but it is one of the many times during the year that we find ourselves forced to make some job-related sacrifices in order to keep our sanity (and in order to make it home to bed at night for a few hours of sleep). To help with this, I have compiled a list of short cuts (and what NOT to short cut) when you feel yourself treading water. I’ve included elaborations on each of the items listed in the infographic below (along with how to make an infographic like this ?). The tips I’ve described below are sure to help you keep both your job AND your sanity! ??????
1. Shortcut Grading Daily Work instead of Major Assignments such as labs and essays:
We all have a certain “quota” of scores to put in the grade book each term. There comes a time each term where choosing what and how to grade comes into question and often gets sacrificed due to lack of time. Keeping your daily grades consistent and easy-to-grade keeps headaches away! I generally do not allow myself to bring home papers to grade. That being said, I have developed a way to “easy-grade” those tedious little daily grades that are designed to provide a quick snapshot of a student’s effort and performance in class.
To keep grading under control, design your daily grades to be ones that can be graded in class. Build your notebook checks into the school day by scheduling them on top of a self-paced activity and over the course of a few days – this way you are not overwhelmed by trying to squeeze all that grading into one class period. This method allows you to take the time to determine legitimate scores while also leaving you some wiggle room to facillitate the class activities as normal. Utilize opportunities for students to get up and briefly present their work during class- another great opportunity to get those scores recorded while you’re already on the clock. Make quizzes easy-to-grade by utilizing technology – one way I do this is with an app called “zip grade” (check it out – no sign up for students necessary and requires nothing but your cell phone). There are many other ways to utilize technology in the classroom for grading – read about them on my blog post “Tech Tips for the Secondary Classroom“.
Another way I keep grading at bay is with my easy-grade bellwork (I call it “ATP” for “energy”). Students record their answers to their bellwork each day over the course of a few weeks and submit this at one time for one accumulative “bellwork” grade each progress reporting period. This is a much more accurate snapshot of a student’s overall performance as opposed to randomly selecting one day’s bellwork assignment to grade over another. It is an easy-grader as well because as students complete their bellwork each day you as the teacher keep track of the answers on your own template to quickly check once they are submitted. See my blog post “Setting up for Secondary” for more elaboration of my bellwork method!
Grading is and will always be one of a teachers biggest nightmares and time-consumers. If you overwhelm yourself with grading daily work outside of your school day you will find yourself less likely to take the time to heavily grade the “meaty” work – assignments you should really spend your time analyzing and providing purposeful feedback on! Additionally, if you provide “half-butted” feedback to all assignments, students will take your feedback with a grain of salt (or not read it at all). But, if you are selective about which assignments constitute some powerful feedback, students will take it more seriously and may actually even care about what you have to say – or LEARN from it! In an ideal world, you would grade ALL assignments with immense scrutiny and as a means to provide powerful constructive feedback. But, when you are in one of those seasons where something’s got to give, let it be your daily grades – NOT those important major mind-shaping ones (or your sleep and sanity)! ??
2. Shortcut Making Copies instead of Creating Stellar Lesson Plans:
In order to prepare for a day of teaching, a teacher must do 2 things: Create the lesson and produce/obtain the resources for it. Not always do teachers find themselves in a position to do both to their full extent every single day. If you find yourself in one of these sacrificial situations, it is important to remember that the quality of your lesson does not depend on the resources you give your students. Kids do not need their own printed copies of everything to be successful, nor do they need their handouts to be perfectly designed. Spend your time planning a powerful lesson FIRST, and supplement your lesson with the needed resources as time allows. If you have time to build a stellar handout to accompany and prompt a students thinking, WONDERFUL! Don’t have time for that? THAT’S OKAY – project it on the board and let students do it on notebook paper! Your time is better spent on some other job-related responsibility and frankly you are more excited by your stack of warm beautiful copies than your students ever will be (there’s a reason those things end up in the trash so often). CLASS SETS can work wonders and can be kept from year-to-year. Whenever I have a resource that I would like for students to have, I make a class set on bright card-stock paper. This screams “important” to students more so than a white computer-paper individual copy does. I encourage my students to take a photo of the resource if they want to have it for themselves and post the resource online so it is accessible for anyone who would like to print it.
How many times do you see teachers who are scramming for last minute lessons spend their time finding some packet online to make 150 copies of in the morning? This alone can cost 30+ minutes and that time could have been spent designing some stellar questioning, coming up with a powerful debate topic, or finding some neat tech resources that don’t require copying. For example, let’s say you are teaching about photosynthesis. You could spend 30 minutes finding a packet and copying it off (assuming there’s no line). The packet is likely not engaging and students will not ultimately get a lot out of it. You will spend your day policing behavior and barking at students to “stay on task”. Instead, you could have spent that time finding 6 awesome content-related websites/videos and make QR codes for them. Print ONLY the QR codes and post them around the room for students to explore. Then, have the kids answer a few general prompts (posted on the board) about each in their notebook. NO COPIES to be made at all and preparing this lesson took MUCH less time and is MUCH more engaging/powerful! Cutting out the copies might seem like a silly thing to sacrifice, but collectively “trimming the fat” of many tedious time-consumers that are not completely necessary will help you to stay afloat when your days are particularly busy. ????
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3. Sacrifice Mindless Organizing over Completing Paperwork with Deadlines:
When a busy season is upon us at school, our desks and classrooms sure take a hit! The paperwork piles up and you feel like your drowning. Being a reliable teacher/colleague comes with a responsibility to submit paperwork by the deadlines given, just as you ask of your students. When you get to your conference period, your first thought might be to tidy up. I encourage you to instead tackle that stack of 504 paperwork or staff training that needs completing by the end of the week. You can work through the mess, but you will lose major credibility if you continue to miss deadlines because your priorities weren’t straight.
I struggle with this every year so this year I have designed a system to help myself when my desk gets extra messy. It is called my “Priority Tray” and it is working wonders so far! I simply have 4 stackable trays on the side of my desk and labeled them 1st, 2nd, and 3rd priority (the use of these is self-explanatory). The bottom tray is reserved for templates I often need to print to complete mundane tasks such as 504 paperwork and deposit slips – this way when I have a task that needs completing it doesn’t get put off due to lack of time to print it – I already have some blank templates of the paperwork right there on my desk! This helps me to keep on top of my to do list and take care of my responsibilities in a timely manner. ?? Sit yourself at an empty studen’s desk during your conference period so your messy desk doesn’t distract or overwhelm you from tackling those first priority tasks. Once things settle down a bit, THEN you can take the time to organize your space or sift through that pile of old handouts!
4. Sacrifice Creating Your Own Resources instead of Powerfully Teaching them during class:
The great thing about teaching now-a-days (yes, there are a few ?) is that there are so many avenues to share/borrow resources online. If you are teaching a topic and want to supplement it with something such as a PowerPoint, text, or activity, SEARCH THE WEB before making it yourself! When I first began teaching I felt obligated to make everything from scratch and it was completely exhausting. The unfortunate reality is that not every school environment or department is one that supports sharing among teachers and if you find yourself in a department where you are intimidated to ask for resources please know that there are other avenues.
Obviously as teachers we LOVE to make our own awesome lessons and resources, but this post is not about how to do that – it is about how to stay afloat when you don’t necessarily have the time to do that. There are so many resources out there for almost every topic – spend a few minutes sifting through them or modifying one to fit your specific class. You might not be a super-teacher for doing this, but it’s better than slapping together something basic because you didn’t have time to design something awesome! I plan to post my best lessons from my biology class throughout the year for those biology teachers who may find themselves in a situation like this so feel free to take full advantage when the time comes! To find of my favorite lifelines during the DNA and Genetics unit –> CLICK HERE! No matter what your subject is, do a little web-surfing or ask a vet teacher and I garuntee you’ll find something you can use.
5. Sacrafice your School Lunch Time instead of your Family Dinner Time:
This one is obvious, but it couldn’t be more important! When things get busy, nothing helps keep you afloat better than making time for yourself and your family. We all know how a messy home life can lead to poor performance by our students and the same is true for us. If you don’t have time to enjoy both of your meals each day, sacrafice your down time at school instead of your down time at home. Let yourself be present in your happy place and reserve the heavy lifting for your workday. Leave your teacher bag in your car and don’t check your email after you leave your classroom. Let yourself look forward to your evenings by fitting in the things you love to them – whether that’s Netflix, a hot bath, working out, cooking a nice meal, or all of the above (…we wish ?). You will be more productive during your work day if you don’t plan to work at home. ÂÂ
I help myself maintain my opening evenings by not leaving the school until ALL OF MY FIRST-PRIORITY ITEMS ARE DONE. Worst case scenario (if you have to leave early without finishing them), plan to arrive earlier in the AM to finish those tasks at school instead of on the couch that night. I can honestly say that I’ve gone almost 3 years now without ever taking home a stack of papers to grade. This keeps me from getting completely burnt out when things get tough because it helps me keep my personal life strong and fulfilling. Just like the kids, we don’t perform well when our relationships are strained or when our health is compromised due to a lack of time to take care of ourselves. We have all heard this a million times but have still sucumbed to sacrificing ourselves. Make yourself and your health a priority this year – you will enjoy your life more both in and out of your classroom! ?
Happy Mid-September, Teacher friends! We can do this! ??
-Kelsie
