Teacher’s Bag of Tricks

Getting Teaching Done is really about not doing things. A teacher can only successfully complete one action at a time (forget multitasking). This means that as a teacher, you have to be very comfortable with all the things that are not getting done at every moment of the day. To get there, plan out your action times and defer like crazy:

• Plan a day ahead. Find open time slots and write down actions you will complete during those times. This will be your next action list for the day.
• The stuff you don’t like to do gets done first. Whether it’s grading those persuasive essays, emailing your committee members, or writing those science lesson plans, getting the annoying and boring out of the way can be a good way to build momentum. It’s the all-downhill-from-here approach to productivity.
• Alternately, go for some easy wins. Put a couple of quick, painless tasks at the top of the list, and hit those first. Momentum builds as you cross actions off the list. If you feel productive, you’ll be more productive.
• Stick to contexts. We lose a ton of time because we hop around from the computer to the office to the phone to your co-worker’s classroom. Instead, organize your next actions by context. Pick one time answer all the emails. Collect everything that needs to get done in the office and take up in one trip.
• Don’t get guilty. Prioritize your actions, and if some things don’t get done that day, don’t beat yourself up. Make a plan for the next day and recognize that there will be things that don’t get done. But remember, you’re in charge of the “didn’t get done” list.

Check out this great post from lifehack.org for a ton of ideas to kickstart your productivity.

50 Tricks to Get Things Done Faster, Better, and More Easily

• INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE - OLYMPIC GAMES
  Information and media about the origin of the world-wide contest. Ancient art, mythology, athletics, and history are described and illustrated with images and a cartoon (*with depictions of naked athletes, be warned).
  (tags: socialstudies greece olympics)

• Ancient Greece - Festivals - The British Museum
  A panoramic flash image of an ancient Greek theater. Students can click on different people to learn facts about entertainment and the beginnings of drama.
  (tags: socialstudies greece theater history)

• Celebrate Diversity with Dream In Color | Scholastic.com
  Scholastic and Target partner to celebrate black history month. The website provides lesson plans for digital storytelling with students.
  (tags: lessons holiday)

Merlin Mann presents a compilation of GTD articles and resources from the archives of 43folders.com. The productivity blog got a much deserved mention on NPR in a recent radio segment about Getting Things Done. Here’s an excerpt from one of the articles:

“So you sprint from fire to fire, praying you haven’t forgotten anything, sapped of anything like creativity or even the basic human flexibility to adapt your own schedule to the needs of your friends, your family or yourself. Your ‘stuff’ has taken over your brain like a virus now, dragging down every process it touches and rendering you spent and virtually useless. Sound familiar?”

Seems to ring true with the sentiments of many teachers in the lounge. Congratulations, Merlin and friends.

43 Folders: Best of GTD | 43 Folders

Tags: gtd, productivity, links

• keybr.com - Typing at the speed of thought!
  This simple keyboarding site provides instant feedback about typing speed and accuracy. It also generates a chart for tracking progress on multiple exercises.
  (tags: technology typing keyboard)
• Stress-Studying-Exams.pdf (application/pdf Object)
  The University of Arizona provides this guide with self-assessments and suggestions for reducing stress and improving study skills.
  (tags: studyskills, stress, testing)

A trusted system stays trustworthy for about two minutes in the real world of near-constant input and frequent distractions. A weekly review of your lists can go a long way toward clearing your mind, reassessing your commitments, and ultimately getting teaching done.

• Take a look at your calendar. Whether you use a physical plan book, or an online service, your calendar is sacred ground. If your calendar tells you to go to the library at 1:35 on Wednesday, go there without a second thought. Create a separate calendar or list for optional events during coming up in the next week.
• Scan your active projects. Make sure that each project is moving forward. Are your lists of actions up-to-date? Are there any actions you should move to your calendar? Are you waiting on someone that you need to follow-up with? Can you do anything in two minutes or less?
• Think in contexts. As you find actions that you’d like to take in the upcoming week, place them on lists that are context-specific. Lists like “calls”, “errands”, “copier”, and “computer” can give you a quick reference when you have a some open time to knock out a few actions without jumping from the phone to the computer to the office copier and back to the phone. Some other helpful teacher contexts might be “beginning of day”, “end of day”, or “class meeting”, for those announcements, papers, and instructions you need to give to students.
• Cut away. Don’t be afraid to cut tasks that just don’t seem to be getting done week after week. They’re probably not that important, and that’s why they’re not getting done. If you absolutely can’t bring yourself to trash a to do, then create list called “someday”. This list is available anytime your feeling particularly visionary, or when you reach that golden moment when everything is done (read: never).

Kelly Forrister at Simply GTD lays out some clear guidelines for getting things done by directing and controlling the actions on your to do list. Teachers tend to work at the mercy of administrators, parents, and sometimes even students who want things done. Kelly suggests we need to exercise more self-advocacy:

One of the most powerful aspects of GTD, in my experience, is the part
about agreements. What am I doing to create, promote or allow the input
I am receiving? What’s the agreement I am making with everything that I
collect? Is there anything I can do to better communicate when my
priorities and interests shift so I stay clean, even when things land
in my world that I don’t want or think I should do?

Simply GTD with Kelly: It’s either actionable or it’s not–there is no gray zone

In the middle of the year, lessons can become predictable. How do you measure the quality of your teaching, especially when your audience is extremely familiar with your delivery? Shift your focus to a new set of measurements to engage and surprise your students.

• Teach bigger. If you stand in one spot and position your body and hands in the same places every lesson, then get out of your body language box. Place your podium on a different side of the room, consciously move your hands to punctuate your words.
• Teach quieter. If you’re like me, you talk loud and often. Stop. Replace as many spoken words with written words, drawings, or even sign language. Save your words for praise and encouragement directed to your students. Manage your class with posted expectations and behavior correction forms.
• Teach lower. I’m usually taller than my sixth graders. When I explain concepts and answer questions, I’ll get down on one knee to better connect with the student.
• Surprise them. Playing to the unexpected improves retention (of knowledge, that is). Break out a puppet, wear a goofy hat when you open the door, flip your daily schedule backwards (be careful to consider special needs students on this one).

• The Challenge of Creating Community: First Steps | Edutopia
  Bob Lenz shares some tried and true tricks for building community in your classroom and on your campus.
  (tags: classroomcommunity management)
• The Challenge of Creating Community: Meetings and Managers | Edutopia
  The second part of Bob Lenz’s series on building community in school. Good practical tips about running a classroom meeting, which I need to schedule more often.
  (tags: classroomcommunity)