Did you know that according to Google, the average classroom teacher will make more than 1,500 educational decisions every school day? In an average 6-hour school day, that’s more than 4 decisions every minute!
Let’s face it – on top of decision making, teachers have an insane amount of other responsibilities they must take care of every single day. Lesson planning, anchor chart preparation, center activity preparation, paper grading, data collection, data analysis… I could go on and on. Teachers need to save time anywhere they can.
Here are 5 time saving teacher hacks to help you save time:
- Put your students in charge! That’s right, you are meeting with groups, collecting data, differentiating, and trying to make sure every single student is confident going home to do their homework each and every day. Why not let your student decide if they understand a concept? This will save you time when deciding who needs a little extra help, then you can spend time after school analyzing student work. Here are self-assessment stamps that you can put out next to your return bin, so students can privately self-assess each assignment as it is handed in.
- Don’t spend your time coming up with Morning Meeting Conversations. You have enough to be preparing for! You know your class really cares about spending time with you and knowing you are about them. Make this time of the day fun and laidback, as you build your classroom community. These morning meeting chips will do just the trick!
- Don’t waste time prepping math center games. When students are done with math assignments, give them math practice with this pre-made dry erase board, which will save you time and money! Reuse and recycle to save time at the copy machine too!
- Have a place for absent students to get work from the day before, to save yourself time going back to everything from the day before . . . and trying to find everything. Be sure to teach this routine at the beginning of the school year to avoid questions as the year goes on.
- Never move desks around again! You’re probably thinking it’s too good to be true, but by using desktop helper sleeves, you will never have to. Students can simply move their desktop helper and their books and supplies to a new desk. Check out these Two Sided Desktop Helper 12’’ Sleeves to save time throughout the school year. You can also use the sleeve to put learning tools or behavior charts inside, so they don’t get lost!
I hope this helps! We know teachers need as much time as they can to work with their students, and by changing just a few things, you will leave yourself extra time to meet with students or have a little fun with your class.