Website design By BotEap.comI’ve heard of so many teachers who spend 60, 70, 80 hours a week working. I like my job. I love my students. I love teaching, but we don’t get paid enough to spend that time on our career. And the best part is that you don’t have to.

Website design By BotEap.comI work from 6:30 to 4:00 most days. Then I go home empty-handed and don’t think about school again until the next day. Even keeping these hours, I am able to lead a well-organized, exciting, academically driven, high-performing classroom.

Website design By BotEap.comMy goal is to give you some quick strategies to streamline your planning, organization, and work so you can be successful as a teacher and still have a life!

Website design By BotEap.comFirst, plan with a team. In team planning, you “share the wealth.” Every teacher brings strengths to the table, and bringing them together to plan raises the bar for everyone’s plans. Working in a team also gives you the opportunity to share ideas with others in a non-threatening environment.

Website design By BotEap.comIf there are no other teachers at your school to plan with, find some in the area. Teaching is unfortunately a largely isolated profession: teaching, planning, grading and working alone. Planning should not be. You are only as good as your plans, so find other professionals to plan with.

Website design By BotEap.comSecond, the “bulk” plan. At my school we take one afternoon a week and plan each subject for a month. The first week we plan reading, the second week we plan math, the third week we plan writing, and so on. By doing this, you know what you need in advance, so there’s never a last-minute rush. This also covers you in case of illness or other unexpected emergency. If you have teaching assistants or parent volunteers coming into your room, you know ahead of time if you need something for them to help you cut, shop, or put together.

Website design By BotEap.comMass planning can also help you make sure you’re meeting all standards and expectations. You are never left hanging in the wind with 3 weeks of school remaining if you continually look ahead in large blocks of time.

Website design By BotEap.comThird, simplify your lessons. Every lesson doesn’t have to have a cute art project, worksheet, or product. The best lessons are lessons that have a clear purpose, a concise goal, simplified instruction, and keep the academic flow flowing. My classroom is a “no worksheet” zone. Children do not learn from worksheets. They learn from clear teaching, real-world application, and use of all the senses.

Website design By BotEap.comOne of my all-time favorite teaching tools is plain white paper. You can do just about anything with plain white paper. There are hundreds of ways to turn it into graphic organizers, stories, books, reviews, word family charts, and more. Children feel ownership of their products, and it is a real appreciation. To find great things to do with paper, visit Dinah’s Archives.

Website design By BotEap.comI have all kinds of students in my classroom, just like you: “typical”, gifted, SSE, ADHD, and the list goes on and on. Most of these students do not want to be in a chair all day, they would rather move! Having a classroom that allows children to learn in the way they are most capable makes sense. During my day we have tons of music, movement, dance, writing, drawing, cooperative work, hands-on and structured “learning through play” centers.

Website design By BotEap.comTry one of these tips and see if you become a happy teacher with more time for YOU to play!