Time, the one thing that all teachers need more of. We feel it too, there just aren’t enough hours in the day and that means that your teaching jobs end up unfinished, leaving you to use your precious weekend time to get them done. There are however, things that can be done to help teachers save valuable time and reclaim your weekends.
Here are our top tips to help you:There is so much to do to get your classroom to be a healthy and engaging learning environment. Maintaining it is an even tougher job. Ensure your class know that it is all of your responsibility to keep the class in shape. Get your class to help with the little jobs that waste a lot of your time. Delegate smaller tasks and share the load with your ‘team’, the kids love the responsibility and it leaves you time to focus on more important things.
It’s essential to set standards in your class to make things run smoothly. When things run smoothly, it avoids wasted time. Making a classroom management plan may take some time to begin with, but is an investment and will save you time in the long run. Include a plan for behaviour management. Having to stop or interrupt lessons to manage behaviour is a major time waster and often means that you don’t get jobs done in lesson time. Get a strong routine in place, with plenty of positive reinforcement and reclaim those lost minutes at school. More jobs done at school means less jobs to be done at home!
The best way to combat the mountain of planning that teachers have to do is share ideas and work together to find inspiration and resources. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to lesson planning, if you’ve used something with a previous class and it worked well, then use it again. Then share the idea with your network too. This collaborative approach to teaching can be a great support and if you’ve got the right resources, then lesson planning can be a doddle! Pobble can help with lesson planning too, you'll find over 250 high quality lessons covering key writing curriculum objectives, all ready made for you. Guaranteed to save you time!
Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for help, ideas and inspiration. As a teacher you are surrounded by a huge network, in school and beyond. Social media can provide inspirational, valuable CPD. Facebook groups are a great place to reach out and ask for support and ideas. Networks like Twitter and Pinterest are jam-packed with brilliant teaching ideas. As is Pobble, you’ll find thousands of the best teaching resources from the top resource providers on there. With teaching ideas, resources and WAGOLLs at your fingertips. Pobble could help you save some of those precious hours in the weekend.
Planning for potential crises means if the worst does happen you’re ready with a plan and can deal with it effectively. Pobble's Free accounts are perfect for ready-made and simple to use lessons, whether it’s for a supply teacher covering your lesson or to fill a few minutes before lunch, there’s an activity to suit.
It’s often the marking that’s the job left till last. We know it’s a chore, but it needs to be done. With the extra time that having a clear plan and your team behind you provides, you can take advantage of time during lessons. Go round and mark as much as you can while the kids work. This is great for getting a feel for how the class are doing and if anyone is struggling. At the end of the session, get kids in the habit of stacking their work/books open at the page they have been working on, that way when you collect the pile in to mark you can easily see whose has been already been marked and whose still needs it. This saves you time flicking through each book and half the job is already done! Even if it only saves you a few minutes a day, it can save you leaving it till the weekend.
It’s also possible to save time on moderation and assessment too. Pobble’s moderation tool allows teachers to create assessment files for pupils, and moderate their writing together with colleagues or remotely. Not only does this save teachers time, but it empowers them to focus on inspiring their children to learn. Visit our moderation page to find out more.
Everyone has a different way of working, but everyone works better with minimal distractions. Simple things like arriving at school 20 minutes earlier when it’s quieter can make a huge difference. Close the door and focus on nailing one job before school starts every day. Lose distractions such as mobile phones so your flow doesn't get broken.
The Pobble team use some brilliant time management and organisation tools to support them in their roles. Find the tools that work for you, be it a weekly planner, an app such as Trello or a pinboard. Getting organised means you spend your time wisely and get more done mid-week. Leaving weekends free, hurrah!
