6 Quick tips for success

Try these strategies for making the most of your time, resources and earnings

Welcome to a new school year. Here are six easy ways to get organized, keep parents informed and manage your paperwork and time so you can have a life beyond teaching! Some of these organizational tools and systems can even be set up long before the school year's first bell rings.

Tip #1: Become a paper management expert.

Try this wonderful system for paper management. You'll need about a dozen file folders and a box large enough to hold them. Label the folders as follows:

*Urgent--Do Today--This folder will contain all papers and reminders about things you absolutely must do before going home that day.

* Do Next Week-- Do you have a form to turn in at next week's faculty meeting? Pop it into this folder so you don't have to search for it.

* Do Next Month - File papers and reminders that can wait until next month.

* Read Later - The bell rang just as your new issue of Teaching K-8 arrived. Stash it in this folder so you'll know exactly where it is!

* Notes - This is the spot for notes you need to respond to. Keep a notepad and envelopes in this folder as well.

* Phone calls - Staple a list of names and phone numbers into this folder. Jot notes to remind yourself about important calls.

* For the Office - No more dashing back to the classroom for forgotten papers. All you have to do is remember to take the folder along!

* On Hold - This folder is the place for contact information, copies of notes and orders for materials you're waiting for.

Once you get in the habit of using this system, you'll wonder how you survived without it. No more frantic searches for lost scraps of paper!

Tip #2: Create a classroom newsletter that doesn't require a degree in desktop publishing.

You don't have to spend a minute of your out-of-school time creating newsletters. Just create a generic newsletter form with a heading on the top and sections for MondayThursday and "Next Week," as shown at right. During the last few minutes of each school day, elicit ideas from the class and write a student-- dictated sentence or two about the day's occurrences. After school on Thursdays, add announcements and reproduce the newsletter, so children can take it home on Fridays.

Why not pop a copy of the newsletter into your administrator's mailbox each week to show him or her how you keep parents aware of school happenings?

Tip #3: Cut down on paperwork.

When you consider doing an activity with your class, ask yourself, "Does this activity have to be a 'paper and pencil' activity? Can I accomplish the same activity without having any papers to mark?"

For example, instead of giving out a worksheet about plurals, give each child a card with "s" on one side and "es" on the other. Write a singular-case word on the chalkboard. On a signal from you, every child responds by holding up a card showing the appropriate plural construction.

You can probably do the whole lesson in five minutes and have no papers to correct. Best of all, at a glance you'll know who understands the concept and who needs additional help.

Tip #4: Find a "teacher buddy" and share the workload.

Join forces with a teacher on your grade level and figure out ways to save yourselves time and work.

* Perhaps you can plan and prepare materials for your class and your buddy's class for the upcoming unit on communities, while your buddy prepares everything for both classes for the upcoming unit on rainforests.

* Another approach is to plan a unit together, dividing the work between the two of you. Each teacher does half of the preparation and prepares materials for both classes.

* Perhaps you can teach a lesson to both classes so your teacher buddy can have that period as planning time. There are so many ways to work together to save time.

The teacher buddy system is a win-win situation! Why not consider how you can make it work to your - and your students' - advantage.

Tip #5: Make the most of every minute of school time.

Get as much done as possible at school so you lighten the load of "homework" you carry home each day. Spend 30 minutes before school working in your classroom instead of in the teachers' room. Hang a sign that says "Teacher at work - Please do not disturb" on your classroom door.

Tip #6: Maximize your earnings

Teaching is challenging, difficult work. You can maximize your compensation by investing in yourself. Determine how many units you need to advance so you earn the maximum based on the length of your employment. Take courses and earn units to move up the salary ladder. Consider online courses, which can be taken any day, at any time, without driving to classes. It will be satisfying to know you're earning maximum compensation for your work as an educator.

There will always be more work to do and less time to get it all done, so strive to find ways to save time and work every day. Effectively managing your time and workload will give your energy and enthusiasm a boost during the school day - and after that last bell rings.

INTERNETCONNECTIONS

Topic: Class Management

THE REALLY BEST LIST OF CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT RESOURCES: http://drwiliampmartin.tripod.com/reallybest.htm/ Collection of classroom management resources to use all year. Click on the link to

2 EDGATE, SCHOOLNOTES.COM: http://schoolnotes.com Free registration to create and post homework and class information online. Post home-school news to build community involvement. ONLINE MENTORING: TEACHERS BUDDY-UP TO LEARN: www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin139.shtml/ Dozens of links for mentoring and teacher networking, from unit planning to online classes.

Barbara Gruber and Sue Gruber write resource books and develop and present seminars for K-6 teachers.

Copyright Early Years, Inc. Aug/Sep 2002
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved