Stop Wasting Time

In Respecting their time from Seth Godin's Blog, Seth Godin states,

“Synchronized, real-time interaction is precious. It creates magic. We shouldn’t waste it on bureaucracy or displays of false control–it’s better saved for moments of connection and possibility.”

One of the things I like about attending meetings on Zoom is that we can introduce ourselves in the chat window instead of going to each person and doing it one at a time. I think this really saves a lot of time and allows the meeting to move into the “meat” of why we are meeting. I hate wasting time and many times I feel like I could skip the first 10 minutes of a meeting because they go around and introduce themselves. Everyone giving their location and job title in the chat really moves things along. Another way to get this information is by taking a poll. This keeps everyone engaged at the same time.

Recently I attended a webinar and the presenter started her presentation. The first presentation slide was jam-packed with bullet points and words. There were so many words that I could barely read because the font was so small. I confess that I inwardly groaned. Then she started to read every word off the slide and I instantly shut down. I also confess that I left the meeting. I did not want to waste 50 more minutes with this person if this is how she began the meeting because I didn’t see the rest of the time being any more productive.

I need to treat my students with the same kind of respect. Their time is as valuable as my time. Instead of expecting my students to sit there and just listen to everything I want to say, I need to get them engaged. I need to make sure they want to stay engaged.

I like to put students in teams and team members have different roles like a Leader, a Collector, a Reporter, a Closer. I don’t want to waste precious class time taking care of attendance or collecting homework. The team leader can tell me if everyone in their group is there or who is absent. The collector can collect homework for the group and put it in a designated folder for me. I can also have the collector pick up materials to give to the team. During the lesson, the reporter can fill out any forms to turn in or prepare a presentation share. Before the class ends, I can have the Closer collect materials and put them back in a designated area. This cuts out a lot of wasted time.

One way to get my students engaged is by hooking them into the lesson. I want them to ask questions and want to know more. I want them to feel they have some control over what information we can find out. I want them to feel like the lesson is worth learning and not a waste of time because my students don’t have the option of leaving the class. They can mentally shut down and still be physically there but that will end up being frustrating for both of them. I need to make sure that this real-time interaction is meaningful to them.

How do you avoid wasting time in your class? Please share.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

T is for Time

During this holiday season, I thought it would be fun to use the word Christmas and apply it to education.

Today’s letter is T and T stands for Time.

Time includes punctuality, wait time, patience.

Being on time is important and it means you respect the other person. By showing up early or on time, you are letting the other person know that you value them. When you are late, you are being disrespectful and saying that your time is more valuable than theirs. I want my students to know how important they are to me so I am always early to class. This is also a way that I can be a role model for them.

Time also means giving people time to answer your questions. Too many times in the classroom, teachers ask a question and do not give the student time to answer. This rush for an answer can confuse and even intimidate the student. Sometimes it may be important to say that you will give them time to think of the answer and come back to them. Don’t be in a hurry to answer it for them or ask someone else to help them. Show them that you have faith that they will come up with an answer. I also like to toss out the question to the whole class but not let anyone answer it for a few minutes. Then I will ask students to give me a “thumbs up” if they know the answer and I can call on one of them. The ones with their thumbs down can learn the answer for next time.

Patience is also involved in teaching. Sometimes the students won’t catch on to the skill the first time and will need more practice. Don’t rush them through a lesson if they haven’t mastered the skill. It is more important to have mastery than to push through some arbitrary timetable. What I may think is easy, may not be easy for my students. If the student can’t seem to master the skill, it might be worthwhile to see if a peer can help them learn it. Sometimes a peer is more helpful than the teacher.

How do you show your students that time is important? Please share.

Photo by Evelyn on Unsplash

Spinning Wheels

In Waste: Finding Balance in a Demanding World from  Cool Cat Teacher Blog, coolcatteacher@gmail.com, Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher, asks,

“Did you complain pointlessly at any time? Are you pouring your time and energy into too many things? Even worse, are you pouring them into things that aren’t really a calling for you anymore?”

Usually at the end of every day, my husband and I talk about our day. We talk about how productive we were, whether it was a good or bad day, and the highlights of the day. I don’t know when we started doing this but I enjoy our conversation as we evaluate our day. I feel proud when I’ve had a good day, disappointed when it isn’t, and it is nice to have his support as I share about it all. I hope I do the same for him.

It is hard when I look back and see that I didn’t get a lot done during the day. We call it “spinning our wheels” where we feel we were busy but nothing got done. I think it helps to reflect about the day to see why it happened.

Where did I lose my productivity? Was I too disorganized? Usually this is my biggest problem. If I can see where I had the biggest problem, I can correct it the next day. Usually the next day is better because I have analyzed the day before.

Sometimes I realize that the project I was working on isn’t that important or necessary. I ask myself why I bother to continue doing something that doesn’t give me joy. When I was growing up, my parents always pushed me to finish what I started. Now that I’m an adult, I have to remind myself that if it isn’t necessary, I don’t have to finish it!

Sometimes what I am doing is not fun but necessary. Usually if I make a list of all the steps that I need to do, I can check each one off as I finish it. This really helps me get it done when I don’t want to do it.

All of these things are great to talk about with my class. Many of them feel the same way at times and I  need to show them that even adults feel that way in the real world. They need to learn how to handle these feelings. That is the hardest thing for teenagers to deal with. Helping them deal with their feelings means they will be more successful in other ways.

How do you handle waste time? How do you help your students deal with this problem? Please share.

Original photo: https://flic.kr/p/bAgDm1 

Cherish the Time

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had a couple of friends who have lost a family member. It is times like this that make me cherish the time I have had with my own family in the past and the present. It has me reflecting about making time for the people I still have in my life and not use excuses to keep us apart.

My sister lives far away from me but we stay connected through phone calls, text messages and facetime. We share the love of knitting and crocheting. We drifted apart when I was in college and she was raising a family. Now that we are older, we seem to have more in common, less competitive, and want to connect.

My parents are in their 90s and I try to call them often as well as visit them in Florida as much as I can. Even though it is hard to have a conversation with them over the phone (their hearing and my southern accent sometimes makes communicating hard), it is important that I connect with them.

My daughter stays in touch with us almost daily and we frequently meet for lunch or hiking. Our relationship is so much better now than when she was a teenager and I’m thankful that we have evolved into this.

Life is so short but when we are living it, sometimes it feels like we have all the time in the world. When we are young, we want to be older. When we are struggling in life, time seems to go so slow. Sometimes we are in a hurry for the future to get here that we forget to appreciate the present.

When I get annoyed with family members, I try to stop and think about how I would feel if something happened to them tomorrow. Usually that puts things in perspective and I can be more patient or make better decisions.

I try to do the same thing with my students. I try to imagine how I would feel about my actions tomorrow. By doing this, I think I am making a good role model for them especially if I sometimes explain how I make some of my decisions. Hopefully they can use the same strategy for their decision making. When deciding something, I sometimes make the problem bigger than it should be and by thinking about how I will feel about my decision in the future, it makes the problem more realistic. If my decision doesn’t really make a difference to anyone, I can choose what I want to do. But if the decision is going to make a big impact on my life or someone else’s life, I need to do the right thing which might not always be what I want to do. This rationale also helps me accept the decision that I must make.

Last week a friend of mine was trying to make a decision that was important to her and I shared with her my strategy. I hope it helped her put things in perspective and made the decision making easier.

What things do you do to cherish time? Please share.

Original picture by Donna Ripley

T is for Time Management

School is back in session now and the hardest thing I see teachers and students struggle with is Time Management.

The main thing to do is to try to find a system that works for you. This might involve starting a system and then fine tuning it until it works. What may work for me might not work for you. Here are some suggestions:

Agenda/Calendar book – some schools issue an agenda book for students to use. The trick is getting in the habit of using it. I think it is also important not to just add when something is due or a test is scheduled but to add reminders a few days ahead of the due date. It might start out being a pain but the more you make it a habit, the easier it is to do and rely on.

Online Calendar – I use Google Calendar. I like that I can schedule reminders for advance warnings. These reminders can be sent as an email or pop up on my phone. Again, this needs to be made into a habit for it to be effective.

Priority List – I like to start each day with making a priority list. I list all of the things that I need to do for that day. Then I number them in order of priority. As the day goes along, I like marking each item off the list. I have moved away from paper and pencil sometimes and make a list on “Google Keep” which lets me add checkboxes. As I get things done, I can check the box and it moves it off the list.

Personal Time – I think it is important to schedule meal times and at least an hour of “me” time in the day. Eating is so important and gives you energy to do the things that need to be done. Too many teacher skip meals to get more done but I think it slows you down in the long run. Either you get sick from not eating right or you get so exhausted that you make too many mistakes that have to be corrected. Having “me” time helps to handle the stress in the workplace and is vital for mental and physical health.

I truly feel these things work well for both students and teachers. What do you do for time management? What would you add to this list? Please share.