It goes without saying that teachers are very busy.

So it’s not unusual to hear their concerns about the lack of adequate time to do everything teachers need to do: plan, individualize instruction, test, assign grades, collaborate, innovate, reflect and of course, teach. No one, not even teachers, can add more hours to a day. The key to finding more time each day may be to use strategies that make the most of your available time.

Formative Assessment

Interestingly, teachers have found that implementing the instructional process of formative assessment can actually maximize time for teaching and learning.

-Remember these major steps of effective formative assessment.

-Clarify learning goals and criteria for success;

-Plan and implement instructional activities that include the gathering of evidence of learning;

-Analyze the evidence and provide rich, descriptive, actionable feedback;

-Adjust instructional/learning activities to address learning gaps;

-Involve students in self-evaluation;

-Activate students’ peers as resources for learning.

Research has shown convincingly that these practices can help teachers make the most of their instructional time and raise student achievement levels significantly, particularly for underachieving students.

1. Gather Evidence of Ongoing Learning

Implementing the formative assessment process means shifting our thinking about how assessment is used in the classroom—from gathering evidence of student learning after instruction, to gathering that evidence while learning is occurring.

You can do this by building in opportunities for students to provide evidence of understanding through short, instructionally-embedded assessments that are focused on clear learning targets. These evidence-gathering opportunities help students understand what they currently know and can do.

Teachers can also adjust their instructional actions and provide descriptive feedback to students on what they need. Taking the time to ensure that students have learned what was taught allows the teacher to move forward with instruction—saving time typically spent having to reteach later.

2. Prioritize

You can’t do everything–or not equally well, anyway. One easy way to save time as a teacher is to reduce your workload by focusing on teaching what’s most important by using the 40/40/40 rule in teaching.

3. Share The Responsibility For Learning

This deceptively simple statement has far-reaching impact, and points back to the above. How exactly you accomplish this would be a fantastic topic for a book. Project-based learning, place-based education, ‘living’ student portfolios of work, and student-led conferences are just a few examples of how this can happen.

4. Empower students

How useful this is–and if you can also use collaborators from outside the classroom–depends on what grade level you teach, but one of the most important rules in teaching is to never work harder than your students. This isn’t easy to pull off and very well may not be a ‘simple’ way to save time as a teacher, but over the long run can be one of the most powerful.

Assigning students specific tasks, teaching through stations and literature circles, having systems for make-up work and grading, and so on can all go a long way to save you time in the classroom.

5. Clarify Learning Goals And Criteria For Success

In the era of the new College and Career-Ready Standards, it is critical that teachers take time to clearly articulate learning expectations that support the content, skills, and processes inherent in the standards. Clarifying learning expectations not only helps teachers focus instructional time on what’s important, it helps engage students in learning and understanding the criteria for success.

The instructional process becomes more transparent when success criteria clearly articulate expected performances of understanding and skills. This allows teachers and students to use time more efficiently when interpreting evidence of learning as it unfolds.

6. Rethink The Roles Of Teachers & Students

Adding on to #4 above, rethinking the role of teachers of students in the classroom can allow students can pick up foundational knowledge and skills on their own, rather than through large group lectures or other teacher-led instruction. They can do this using online tools or other resources, either within or outside the classroom.

Some activities that have typically been considered homework—such as practicing skills introduced in class—can move into the classroom. This doesn’t mean that teachers should dispense with large-group instruction entirely. Variety is the spice of life. However, this approach allows teachers to spend more of their classroom time checking on student understanding in a variety of ways.

7. Involve Students In Small Group Work

Another way to save time as a teacher is to share the responsibility of learning is to ‘activate students’ peers as resources’ through small group work.

The delivery of instructional content or facilitating learning through small groups can also be a way of having the students and peers check their understanding themselves against the success criteria. This allows teachers opportunities to spend their time assisting students who have the greatest need for support.

8. Don’t Grade Everything!

Terry Heick has said this again and again–in how to reduce teacher workload, for example: don’t grade everything!

Most evidence of learning gathered for formative purposes should not be graded. This evidence is collected during the learning before students have reached the level of attainment they will by the end of a unit. It would be unfair for their early work to be counted toward summative grades. Rather, the early work should be thought of as preparation for subsequent—and fewer—summative assessments (another time saver).

When everything is graded, students are motivated by the grades: “I got 80 percent right; I don’t care what I missed. Besides, I can get extra credit for some things I do.” Research has shown that over-grading inhibits learning. Of course, the first time students are asked to produce work that is not graded, they may not take the assignment seriously. But when they are reprogrammed to realize that what they’re practicing will show up later on the test that does count, they soon will develop the motivation to learn, which formative assessment experts assert is critical.

The ungraded work yields the rich feedback that students use to reflect on their work and that students and teachers use to identify learning gaps and decide on the next instructional steps.

9. Plan Time for Students to Reflect on Learning with feedback

Build time into lesson plans for students to review progress. When students have the opportunity to reflect on their learning and apply feedback to improve their work, they can see their progress and advance their learning.

By giving students major responsibility for their learning, using class time differently, and changing grading practices, teachers can gain time that might be put to better use. Teachers may not be able to change some practices on their own. Education leaders need to understand formative assessment and support teachers in implementing it effectively—to allow teachers to focus their time on their primary goal of helping students learn.

10. Automate

This is obviously not ‘simple,’ either. How to automate and what to automate and when to automate in your teaching is a complicated thing. That said, some automation in the classroom is more obvious than others: Taking attendance, self-grading assessments, systems for grouping students and exit slip collection and more are all low-hanging fruit, here. More on this topic, soon.

11. Delegate

Don’t try to do it all. Being a martyr only leads to burnout. Use your aides, paras, and even parents to lighten your load. Don’t do something for your students that they can do for themselves. Empower your kids to take on the tasks that take up your time. Even younger students can help with organizing lesson materials and filing things away. Kids love to organize.

12. Organize Your Desk (And Desktop)

Not all solutions are technology-based. Brother International says two-thirds of us spend at least half an hour each week looking for lost digital items. Letting things pile up on your desk (or digital desktop) is a sure-fire way to lose things you’ll need. Here are a few tips to clear the clutter from your physical desktop.

• Use an inbox/outbox system for daily things that arrive on your desk — notes from home, permission slips, whatever.
• Use well-labeled bins or shelves for regular submissions — a tray for turning in homework packets and a tray for completed math assignments, for example. Teach your students how to use the system, and you’ll spend a lot less time sorting through stacks of papers.
• When something comes in, put it right away. Don’t let things pile up.
• If you don’t already have one, get a filing cabinet — a big one. Get lots of hanging and manilla folders. Label them well. Your physical file organization can mirror that of your electronic files.
• Store away larger artifacts or older materials that you aren’t using now but many need again in the future. Empty copier paper boxes work well.

Bonus: Collaborate with other teachers online 

Some teachers harness the power of lesson planning sites to save time. Use your PLN to gain ideas, tips, resources, strategies, webinars for teachers, and more.

Reference: https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/8-ways-teachers-save-time-classroom/?fbclid=IwAR3y6EyLE58o97W-cz_Q7ZcGhazFs8lf00dMh4ae2misfBqh5olkSxBY9i0

1. There is never enough time

This was true before the pandemic. Now? I could be given an extra 14 hours each day and still not have enough time. Teachers don’t have enough time to grade. We don’t have enough time to plan. We don’t have enough time to eat. Heck, we don’t have enough time to pee. Please help.

2. This should have been an email

One reason teachers never have enough time is because we spend a lot of hours in meetings. Please be judicious with our time. Keep staff meetings short and to the point. Don’t be afraid to ask the teacher who always has more questions to speak to you after the meeting. Better yet? Forgo the meeting and shoot us an email.

3. The numbers of hours of overtime I work would take your breath away

It never ends. The emails, the extracurricular activities, staffing the concessions stand, the grading. Late at night when the words on the page begin to blur, we pour ourselves into bed, only to get to school early the next morning. We know there’s not much you can do to change this, but recognition and appreciation go a long way.

4. We hate ice breakers, but we love food

No teacher is going to pass up the opportunity to tell their principals their favorite snack in hopes of seeing it turn up at a meeting. If you want to lure us to meetings, bribe us with food. But at this point in the year, could you please shelve the ice breakers and team-bonding activities until we have a little more mental bandwidth?

5. Please stop adding more to my plate, or compensate me fairly if you do

If you add something new to my plate, take something off. My plate is now more like a platter, and even that’s overflowing. Something’s gotta give, and I’m afraid that when I finally do drop a ball, you’ll reprimand me without realizing how heavy my load is.

6. Back me up

When parents and community members come barging into your office with complaints, please back me up. When I send a student to the office for not wearing a mask correctly or texting in class, please back me up. Please don’t override my grades or give in to every squeaky wheel.

7. If you value real rigor, some students will inevitably fail

Most administrators I know talk out of both sides of their mouth on this one. On one hand, we must hold our students to rigorous standards, but on the other, low grades make the school look bad. I can’t do both things without compromising my integrity somewhere.

8. I have a life outside of school

Please remember how much of our own, unpaid overtime we devote to this job. When teachers finally decide to step away from school responsibilities to prioritize family or self-care, don’t make us feel guilty for doing so.

9. Please include us in discussions before decisions are made

As foot soldiers in a school, we see things from a perspective that is different than yours. We have valuable insight to contribute to decisions being made at the building level. Include us at the table where decisions are being made – a smoother rollout of any change is guaranteed if teachers are aware of the changes, and staff buy-in is stronger if we feel that our voices are being heard.

10. Don’t scold everyone for the actions of a few

This is the principal version of a subtweet. The admin notices a staff member isn’t following a policy and wants to issue a correction, but instead of pulling that staff member aside and talking with them directly, the principal sends an all-staff email. You know who the email is aimed at. We know who the email is aimed at. The only person who doesn’t? The one person you should have talked to directly in the first place.

11. You have no idea what teaching during a pandemic is like

No offense, but unless this is literally your first year as an administrator, you have no idea what we are going through. Your classroom days were pre-pandemic, and this, folks, is a whole new ballgame. The kids are exhausted. So are we. Everyone is stressed all the time. This is not sustainable, and we need your support now more than ever.

12. Teach a lesson every once in a while to stay in the game

One of the greatest gifts an administrator ever gave me was the opportunity to go observe other teachers in my building. My principal taught my classes for half the day while I got to do some on-the-ground PD. We know you have classroom experience, but we wonder if you’ve forgotten the day-to-day demands placed on a teacher. And let us tell you principals, doing this is a win-win for everyone.

13. Ask what I really need, listen, and help how you can

We all have ideas, pet projects, or petty annoyances. What I wouldn’t give for an administrator to come to me, sit down, and ask, “How can I help?” Many of the things on my list are small and manageable with some support, but they would go a long way toward improving my classroom quality of life.

14. Give us a say in PD

Professional development is great – if it’s the right kind. Many teachers understand the “flavor of the month” element of PD and this tends to give us whiplash. Instead of bringing in the latest and greatest, ask us what we would like training in. I guarantee that most of us relish the chance to be students for a change, but we want to feel like our learning is relevant. We would love to tell principals exactly what tools we need to help our students and ourselves succeed.

15. Trust us

No one goes into teaching for the money. We are here because we love this job. And we love the kids. We are educated, trained professionals with the students’ best interests at heart. Please trust us to do our jobs.

In the end, teachers want to work with our administrators to build a better school community for the
students and families we serve. The way forward is mutual trust and respect. We’re all in this together.

Reference: https://www.boredteachers.com/post/what-we-could-tell-principals?fbclid=IwAR2h9I1HQ-3sZVD9m2YlJaiF2i5SUXQ9a-9DzVKEBGNTJlIUwga1wzk_6pI

I was always happy when students came back to visit, and it was usually the most heartfelt and touching moment. I am glad to witness students growth and maturity. When kids become teens, they might become disobey, but it view this process positively as a nature adventure in life. Therefore, I love my kids and they are always welcome back to say hi and share their lives and stories with me : )

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I miss them.

I work closely with my kids, generally for several years. And then, they are gone. And I miss them. Every year I rework my program, my department, and my life to fill holes that kids leave when they graduate. I have to find someone to do the jobs they did, for me and for the program. Who is going to be the lead technician? Who is going to be the one who welcomes in the new kids? Who is going to be the student voice when I am making decisions? Who is going to be the one who makes us laugh?

I get to see who they are becoming.

One of the things I love most about teaching high school is watching my students grow and become adults. Once they graduate, though, I stop getting to see that process. When kids come back, I get to hear about their lives and see how much they’ve changed.

My former students are the best role models for my current ones.

In my program, we tell stories about former students: the time B ripped his pants on stage during a show and handled it beautifully; the time C started the year in tears because of stage fright and ended the year with two shows under her belt; the way J ran everything and knew where everything was. These kids are the heroes of the department, and when the new kids get to meet them, it continues the tradition of learning from people who have been their shoes.

They remind me why I teach.

As someone who gets super focused and uptight, having someone come in who is there just to be happy and enjoy themselves reminds me of the fun parts of my job and to have fun with my students.

These are my kids. They will always be my kids.

Reference: https://www.weareteachers.com/former-student-visits/?fbclid=IwAR0BdsvZRju6vGOe8V1aJzVVN4p28Xq24Rg3JS80e2YDQsO49oesYe7nsCE

Bring these ideas to life in your classroom to create blossoming reading communities for your students.

1. Start the Tradition of Book Talks

A Book Talk consists of someone (a teacher or student) sharing a book they’ve read with the intention of convincing a potential reader to do the same. These talks should go beyond saying, “I love this book,” by giving the class insight into what to expect from the plot or the characters.

It’s best to deliver a Book Talk with passion. Use a voice filled with excitement. Hold the book in your hand and always leave your listeners with a cliffhanger. These can be such powerful exercises to inspire and influence the class and their future reading.

2. Breathe Life Into Your Classroom Library 

Creating an inviting classroom library is a great way to keep students engaged with reading. Something as simple as displaying new books every few weeks can gain the interest of readers. It takes time to build a classroom library, but you can still use your school or local public library to consistently keep your classroom updated with new texts.

Seasonal themes provide great opportunities to update the books and decor in your library. This helps ensure that the most important part of your classroom always feels new and captivating.

Looking to stock up on a budget? Here are 100 amazing books under $5.

3. Give New Titles the Superstar Treatment 

Showcase books in new ways to create a sense of wonder. Before you introduce new books to the class, give them the superstar treatment: Spotlight books in the morning and during independent reading time by projecting the book cover. This can transform your whiteboard into a beautiful billboard!

With dramatic displays like this, readers can see the books before they are shared, and it builds interest — giving books that extra “wow” factor.

4. Keep Track of Classroom Read-Alouds

Document your reading journey visually throughout the year. A bulletin board display of your shared reading not only looks beautiful, but it makes a wonderful teaching tool. It can lead to conversations about an author’s craft, common themes, and genres that the class still needs to explore.

Your students will be amazed to see all the books they read throughout the year, and that excitement can further encourage their own reading. (Laminate the titles so you can use this display year after year.)

5. Create a Mystery Book Box 

Draw students in with a Mystery Book Box. This is simply a box that is mysteriously filled with read-aloud titles. A book is blindly selected from the box and then shared with the students. Reveal the Mystery Box only a few times a year to preserve its charm with students. In particular, this is a great activity for the beginning of the school year!

Here are a few tips to integrate a Mystery Book Box into your classroom:

• Preselect your read-alouds for the week. Having trouble picking a favorite? These read-aloud favorites for grades PreK-3 has awesome titles to help you out.
• Place the books inside a decorated, mysterious-looking box.
• Tell the students a fun story about the origins of the box. Maybe an unknown person left the mystery box in your classroom? Create a fun catch: On the days the Mystery Book Box appears, you can only read one book a day, otherwise, the box will lock and the books will stop appearing.
• Each day, pull out a random book with excitement (desk drum rolls are optional!) and share the book with the class.
• At the end of the week, see if the students can find any common themes with the texts you shared or ask them to describe which story they enjoyed best with their classmates.

Sharing books with your students is one of the most important things teachers do. These ideas can help build an exciting culture of literacy in your classroom and a true love of books.

Reference: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-tools/articles/5-teacher-tips-to-create-a-culture-of-literacy-in-your-classroom.html?fbclid=IwAR1Ea15_56n6ytPJRf0S41rwkCE_0kE2gTQh-IvAlvI93KrHNO1K1NkT2no