It’s the first week of school, and you have just received your teaching schedule for the year. Either, you have tons of small breaks thrown into your week or one or two big chunks of time. You have promised yourself that this is the year you are going to maximize your planning time to get stuff done, instead of hanging out with your teacher friends in the staffroom (we’ve all been there!). The payoff? Having to spend less time at home getting yourself prepared. That’s why I’m sharing my 5 tips to really get the most out of your planning time. I’m going to go over things to consider before you organize your week, and ways to stick to your plan.
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Step #1-List your Tasks
The First step is to think of what you want to do during your planning time. What do you want to get done at school during these blocks of time in order to simplify your life and allow you to minimize the amount of work you take home. Some of these tasks will likely include:
- Grading
- Planning lessons
- Creating/finding resources-click here to check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store!
- Printing/Photocopying
- Administrative tasks (emails, completing forms, etc…)
Start thinking about how long you need to complete each of these tasks. You can rearrange this list based on the amount of time you estimate each will take. For example, grading will likely take longer than answering/sending emails.
Step #2-Study Your Planning Time Schedule
Next, take some time to almost analyze your schedule. Do you have one solid chunk of time to plan, or is your free time sprinkled throughout the week? Maybe there are days you start later and want to come in earlier to plan?
I suggest printing this schedule, selecting the times you will dedicate to doing your tasks and highlighting them. As teachers, there are always things that come up, such as meetings with parents or assemblies. However, try your best to make a commitment to yourself that you will dedicate this time to what you say you will do.
I started this post by saying that I am guilty of spending too much time in the staffroom with my teacher friends. While I don’t suggest doing this all of the time, I do think there is a need for a break! Allow yourself time to stop working, eat your lunch and relax a bit with your colleagues!
Step #3-Slot Your Tasks into your Planning Time
Now it’s time to slot your tasks into your schedule. I have a few things I want you to consider when you are doing this.
1-The time of day
Are your breaks in the morning or afternoon. I personally work best in the morning so I will plan my more difficult tasks, such as planning, in the morning when my brain is working best. I will slot my easier tasks, such as photocopying in the breaks that are later in the day because that is when I am working off little to no steam.
2-The amount of time you have
I try not to do a difficult task that takes a long time in a short break. I would rather get all of my planning done in one longer break. Personally, I find if I spread a task like planning over several breaks, I lose the momentum and forget what ideas I had planned. Check out my recent blog post about the steps to planning amazing teaching units!
Click here to download my QEP Competencies Handbook.
3-The day of the week
You may want to keep in mind what day of the week your break is on. For example, I wouldn’t want to plan for the following week on a Monday, because it is too early in the week to know what I will and won’t get done for that week. I would rather do my planning on a Thursday or Friday because then I have a better idea of what I will need to cover, what needs to be retaught and where my students need help the most that following week.
Click here to download my free QEP Competencies Handbook!
Step #4-Start Batching Your Work
Have you ever heard of batching? It is life-changing! Batching is when you block out your time to get tasks that are the same or similar done at one time. For example, blocking one hour to do all of your photocopying done for the week, rather than doing your photocopying each day. The thought behind batching is that you lose time and brainpower each time your brain has to switch to a new, different task. When you do switch to a new task, it is much more difficult to get motivated and will often lead to time wasters, such as scrolling on your phone.
Try batching the tasks you listed in step #1!
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Step #5-Plan Your Classtime Around Your Planning Time
Once you have finalized your planning time, you have a better idea of when to plan tasks in the classroom. The task that will likely be impacted the most is marking. If you are planning on doing your marking on a Thursday, you won’t want to plan for large assignments such as essays or tests on a Friday, because you will only get to them the following Thursday. In this case, planning for these larger assignments earlier in the week would be preferable.
Another example would be when it comes to printing/copying. You will likely only want to plan your photocopying after you have done your planning. It’s possible that you will want to plan digital activities on a Monday if your photocopying is only on a Tuesday.
Have fun with this! Look at it as a puzzle!
Final Thoughts…
I hope this was helpful! Remember, as teachers, we need to be flexible! Things always seem to pop up that we are not able to foresee. However, if we do our best to plan our time with intention, we can alleviate stress and have more time for ourselves, our families and our friends.
Let me know down below if you plan to implement these steps into your schedule! Id’ love to hear how it goes!
PS-Don’t forget to download my free QEP Competencies Handbook before you go!
