7 Essential Time Management Techniques For Teachers

It takes time to teach. And there’s never enough of it at school, or anywhere else. Time management is a thread that runs through practically all elements of teaching – scheduling the day, structuring the classroom, selecting how long and how frequently to teach particular courses, monitoring student progress, and keeping time-consuming behaviour problems to a minimum. Students only have a limited amount of time in your classroom. Effective classroom organization and management begin with efficient classroom organization and management – and vice versa.

Here are some ways to manage your time effectively and efficiently:

1. Determine your objectives

Spend some time reflecting about your personal, professional, and family objectives and aspirations. Think about the short-, medium-, and long-term. Small objectives can serve as stepping stones to greater ones, giving you hope that change is possible.

2. Always plan out all of your time

Going to the school without a clear strategy for how you will spend your day is a definite way to squander time. To allot the time you want to dedicate to your job, use a calendar (Corporate Time, Outlook, paper, or anything else) to particular activities.

Scheduling time does not need you to set aside time for it; it might simply be free thinking time that you can use to think about your work.

3. Create a list

Get a notebook, diary, calendar, or even your phone’s Notes App. Make use of this to keep a daily or weekly to-do list. Keep track of the tasks that are being relocated or that are not being completed. Consider why you aren’t able to reach them. Do you need to set aside time for this? Is it possible to assign them to someone else?

4. Procrastination should be avoided

Procrastination wreaks havoc on performance. A skilled teacher should avoid it at all costs in order to master his time management. When it comes to job completion, effective instructors are master planners. Tasks that are split down into smaller sections are easier to handle and provide the instructor more time to review homework and provide timely feedback to pupils.

5. Assignments and assessments should be planned strategically

A smart teacher should prepare assignments and outcomes for the entire week while still focusing on other duties that are time demanding and have short deadlines.

6. Smart marking

If the marking is objective (e.g., there is a correct or incorrect response), have your pupils undertake marking it. To guarantee impartiality, have them swap papers with each other. The extra benefit is that students will most likely learn more from marking their own papers because it compels them to evaluate potential errors as well as the reasons for correct responses. Don’t assign a lot of homework all at once. Prepare and spread out the timeframes for homework/assignments you set so you don’t end yourself with various mounds of work to do all at once. Instead of leaving everything till the last minute, plan to mark a tiny load at a time. 

7. Practice being conscious of what you’re doing while also enjoying what you’re doing.

When you’re rushing from one work to the next, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and lose sight of what you’re doing. Take note of what you’re doing and how you’re feeling. Concentrate on the aspects of the chores that you love and remind yourself why you’re doing them and how they relate to your goals. Keep in mind that the trip is frequently more essential than the goal.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Allow yourself time to unwind, to exercise, and to sleep. Maintain a healthy work-life balance and indulge in activities that feed your body, mind, and spirit. Also, keep in mind that a happy instructor will motivate happy students.

It is feasible to keep up with the educational demands of every student, solve urgent problems instantly, and prevent falling behind when unexpected occurrences happen by implementing teachers’ time management tactics.

This article has been re-published on Medium