Teaching is a lot. There is so much to do in the classroom in addition to the act of teaching. There's so much to do, so much to keep track of, and never enough time. These time saving tips for teachers will help save you time and are easy to implement.
1. Go Digital
Each year I do a little more digitally. It's easier to find things and it's easier to keep those things organized. If you lose a piece of paper in the classroom, you have to search through cabinets and drawers to find it. If you can't find a digital file, you can do a search for it, saving you time. The other great thing about going digital is you can access the files from anywhere at any time.
Here are a few of my favorite digital ways to organize all of my information.
Trello and Airtable are two of my favorite ways to organize. Both sites have a free and paid version, and I've always found the free versions to work just fine for what I need. Trello has lists and cards. The great thing about Trello is you can drag the lists and cards around as needed. I also recently learned that you can create template cards in Trello, which has been a game-changer for me. Airtable is like a spreadsheet on steroids. Play around with each of these and see what you think. When I've tried different sites such as these, I can usually tell pretty quickly if I think it'll work.
Google Apps are also a great way to organize digitally (or Teams if your district is Microsoft). I use Sheets a lot, and will also create tables in Slides as well. If you use Google Drive, make sure you are utilizing folders to organize your files and starring or color coding your most commonly used folders or files.
2. Communication
Communicating regularly with families will help save time. Families like to know what is going on at school and how their child is doing. By communicating regularly, you can keep from receiving those random emails about when things are due or "How is my child doing?"
There are a few ways that I communicate regularly. I send a weekly newsletter that includes what we're learning and upcoming events. I hold parent-teacher conferences to keep parents informed. Digital platforms help to stay in communication with today's tech savvy parents. Sending monthly reports gives information on behavior and academics. Lastly, addressing concerns and challenges promptly and effectively can help keep smaller issues from becoming bigger issues. If you'd like to learn more about any of these communication strategies, read the post on Effective Parent Communication.
3. Use a Planner or Calendar
Staying on top of things will save you so much time. When you're scrambling to be ready for something, whether it's a lesson or a meeting, you use up valuable time. Stay on top of things and be ready ahead of time. You can use paper or digital.
If you go the paper route, you could get something fancy like the Erin Condren planners that so many teachers love. Or you could use a simple monthly calendar. Figure out what works best for you.
I fought going digital on the calendar front for many years, and finally made the leap to using the Google calendar. I like that I can color code my appointments and deadlines. I like even more that I can set up reminders. I can set it for a few days if there's a task I need to complete. If I just need to show up to a meeting, I can set it for a half hour.
4. Batch
If you're not familiar with batching, it's doing a whole bunch of the same task at the same time. This can be a time saver for several reasons. If it's something you need to pull out supplies for, you only need to pull the supplies out once. If you need to go up to the office for the task, you don't need to make multiple trips. Switching tasks can be a mental time sucker. It can take up to 20 minutes to get back on task when a task is interrupted.
Here are a few things that I like to batch.
Copies - Do your copies for the whole week. That's just one trip to the copy machine. Then organize them by day or by subject. I always like to organize by subject in case there's something I don't get to, then I don't need to move the copies.
Grading - No need to pull out those flair pens and bring up the grading calculator on the computer multiple times a week. Put all of your grading in a basket as students complete it and then grade once a week.
Filing - Keep all of your papers to be filed in one place, and then file them all at the same time every week or two.
Think about your regular tasks and come up with a list of things that you could batch to save time.
5. Delegate
Students love to help. Let them. If you're a Type A person like me, I know that sometimes it's hard to just let go. But do it. Make them happy by getting to help and save yourself some time. It's a win-win. Here are a few things my students have loved to do in the past: sharpen pencils, take down or put up bulletin boards, organize supplies, change jobs, pass out papers, organize the library, and even help with tech issues. Make a list and start delegating to those students.
Parents can help too. Even if you don't have regular classroom volunteers, you'd be surprised what responses you can get if you ask. The year I taught a 2nd/3rd grade combo class, both grades were new to me so I had no materials already to use. I was making centers for each grade to work on while I taught the other grade. It was A LOT of work - cutting, then laminating, then cutting again to get the centers prepped. I sent out an email asking for help and I had about 6 parents offer to help. I divvied it up and sent it home with the students. I kept track of what went home with who in case something didn't come back but it all did. It saved me so much time. Don't be afraid to ask parents for help. There are quite a few who don't want to come work in the classroom but will be willing to help out with projects at home.
Try some of these time saving tips for teachers and see how saving a little here and a little there can add up over time. Have any of your own time saving tips? Comment below and let me know.
~Jill
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