Top Ten Productivity Tips for Putting in Pockets of Time

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by Meggin McIntosh | The Ph.D. of Productivity™

Teaching can be a 24/7/365 career–and in many ways, great teachers don’t consider it an 8 – 5 “job,” which is part of why they chose it. However, if every moment of every waking hour (and most of your sleeping hours, too) are jammed full (and I mean JAMMED), then you don’t have any time “pockets.” Time pockets are daily, hourly, monthly, and yearly reserves of time that you can build in. Tips to create those reserves include:

1. Get a planner–and use its calendar. On the calendar page, when you agree to a commitment of any type, add time before and after that commitment. It might be 10 minutes–or an hour–on either side, depending on the type of commitment.

2. Get a planner–and use its to-do list feature. When you’re in a meeting or you think of tasks you want to accomplish, write them in your planner. Don’t just try to “remember” them.

3. Get a planner and use it as your “information central.” Coordinate all of your tasks, responsibilities, and commitments in one planner. You don’t want to find yourself at an IEP meeting while your son waits for you to pick him up from his piano lesson (which was scheduled on the home calendar, but not in your planner).

4. Clarify how many evening and weekend commitments are sensible for you. As a teacher, you have an enormous number of possibilities for how and where to devote your time. Determine what your number is…and then stick to it. Use your planner to stay clear on what your commitments are.

5. Double the time you estimate it will take you to grade. When you are thinking about how long it will take you to get your grading done, double that time and then plan for that. It may not take you twice as long as you thought, but it will definitely take you longer than your original estimate. If there is extra time, it’s your “pocket.”

6. Double the time you estimate it will take you to enter your grades in the computer. As with all technology, there are the upsides and the downsides. If you are trying to enter your grades at the last minute, then you might triple the time you estimate it will take you, since Murphy’s Law may come into play.

7. Double the time you estimate it will take you to plan your lessons. Block in the time on your planner so that you have adequate time to think and plan. Once you get in the planning “zone,” you want to stay there.

8. Double the time you estimate it will take you to be in charge of a sport, club, or other school-related activity. When you are asked to be a chairperson, faculty sponsor, coach, or the like…the person asking you might say, “This will only take ___ hours/week.” Whatever number you’re given, double that and then you’ll have some “pockets.”

9. Prepare stickers or labels to put on your calendar that designate “grading” or “prep” time. Once the sticker is on that spot, consider it an appointment and don’t schedule on top of that time. You have made an appointment to get your work done.

10. Arrive at school with adequate time to get yourself “settled” for the day. If you are arriving at the last possible minute, then you already feel rushed and out of control and the school day has barely begun. Get there with time to spare. It affects everything the rest of the day.

© Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D. (also known as “The Ph.D. of Productivity”™). Meggin was a classroom teacher for many years and then a teacher of teachers, both at the university level and in jillions of workshops. Feel free to peruse some of the teaching materials she has created. Also, if you are a writer, you’ll want to check out the learning tool “10 Tools, 10 Tricks, 10 Tips, 10 Techniques, 10 Tactics, 10 Talking Points (& Much More) To Propel Your Writing Productivity” at http://meggin.com/WritingTips.php.

New Teacher Tips on Using Meaningful Rewards and Awards

How to say it, when to award it, how to encourage continued learning… These are just three of the considerations for giving rewards and awards. With most students being used to extrinsic trinkets for performance and achievement, how do you honor them extrinsically while encouraging intrinsic motivation and internal drive for success?
(And you thought handing out happy stickers might solve the reward dilemma.)

1. Be sure that your rewards honor learning and academic progress. Rewards bestowed haphazardly for “just good enough” encourage more “just good enough” work.

2. Applaud effort and determination. Individual progress is a key consideration when giving rewards.

3. Be stingy. An award for every movement is exhausting, expensive, and becomes meaningless.

4. Link rewards to classroom instruction: a field trip to the museum, extra research time in the library, a visit to the elementary school to read with younger students.

5. Study each student to discover the perfect reward: John loves solving problems – a Sudoku book; June adores drawing – a sketchpad; Mary Ann and Trent are avid readers – new books from your book order. Since you are being frugal in your rewards, you can justify the extra expense as all will balance out in the end.

6. Giving whole class rewards/awards can be counterproductive. If Jim and Ann rarely come to class, never complete assignments, and are unpleasant to boot, is it right or fair to include them on the field trip? Oh, this is tough – you want to encourage them with the trip but they haven’t done the work… Sometimes you can make a deal in advance with all students and their parents so that your expectations are clear: We are going to the newspaper office Tuesday. To be eligible to attend ______ needs to (then delineate the responsibilities) prior to our trip. Students who do not complete this work will work in the library with Mrs. Smith to finish these assignments. You have set the rules and everyone knows the expectations.

7. Be kind, be specific, be encouraging. Reading the face of each student will help you discover just the right words and “gifts” to promote learning.

8. Carefully design your praise to make it a verbal reward: Saying, “Susanne, the artistic display on your science lab report really demonstrated your total understanding of the process. I look forward to seeing more work of this superb caliber,” is powerful, indeed.

9. Be ready for reward/award backlash. While it seems that for a student the honor of being honored would encourage more study and learning, sometimes the honor tells the student “I am the greatest; no more work is necessary.” Sad, silly, and often true.

10. When colleagues help you with ideas, when they offer support in bleak moments, when they accomplish great feats, thank them both verbally and with a written note. We each need to feel valued.

© Gini Cunningham (adapted from her book, The New Teacher’s Companion: Practical Wisdom for Succeeding in the Classroom (ASCD). In addition to her writing, Gini is an author, workshop leader, and consultant and provides education for educators through her company Energized Learning (www.EnergizedLearning.com).

Staying Positive – Do You Radiate Positive Energy? Assess Yourself on a Radiance Scale

Part of being an indispensable teacher is being positive. As Sue Vaughn states so aptly, “Remember that this is your job and part of your job is to have a positive attitude. My dad, a businessman, said that minimum wage meant that you were, at a minimum, paid to smile.”