New teachers want to know how to develop time management skills that will help to keep them organized during their first year of teaching. Once the teacher is hired, there is a significant amount of paperwork that must be completed throughout the first year of teaching linked with assessment, communication with parents, correspondence with other colleagues and administration, and preparation of lesson plans each week.
The key to success is to establish a consistent routine from week to week that allows the teacher to be prepared and insure that all required paperwork is completed by the deadlines that may be given. This can be done when new teachers make the conscientious effort to organize their time each day.
Use Planning Time Efficiently
Teachers usually will have a set planning time each day while at school. This can be scheduled prior to the arrival of students, during dismissal of students, and during one particular set amount of minutes. The new teacher must make sure he stays away from wasting the time by socializing or working on other personal things that may not have anything to do with school.
Working on lesson plans, evaluating assessments, and preparing for the students' activities are the types of tasks that teachers can complete during the time when students may not be in the classroom. New teachers should be sure they have a work place in their classrooms so that they can easily complete the work that needs to be done. Whenever this is practiced each day, there can be less work taken home to complete.
Organize Resources Each School Year
New teachers will benefit greatly if they organize the teaching materials and resources used in the classroom. The first year of teaching should be the time to file the resources that will be needed the following school year. Once certain materials are used for a specific lesson or activity sheets have been completed by the students, the new teacher should immediately store them in a particular place in the classroom.
Three ring binders can be very helpful. Many of the activity masters, assessment original copies, and the teacher notes can be easily stored in the binder from year to year. This then leads to successful teaching the next time these items may be needed for a lesson.
It is also recommended that new teachers mark teacher manuals and resources with post-it-notes once they have completed teaching a lesson. If a particular activity did not succeed, then the teacher should attach a note stating what might need to improve the next time the lesson is taught. It is also helpful to note whenever a lesson was very successful so as to remember from year to year the exact steps used in delivering the information to the students.
Time management for teachers is very important. There are various practices that new teachers can establish each day that will help them be successful during their first year and future years.
Donna Hupe - I am a retired teacher with 31 years of experience including teaching in a private school for special needs children, directing and ...
