managing your time By Carolyn

I agree with Cathy-Dee in that the first couple of years are hard for teachers. You have so much more to do in the way of creating materials, assembling materials, and organizing yourself than the more experienced teachers do. (They have everything they need, most likely in files to just pull out.)

I have children, too, and I have felt very guilt ridden when I am doing something really important, like posting report card grades, and they ask me for help with their schoolwork. I really do hate saying "no!" However, I do owe myself a personal like, just as you do, so I give myself a cut-off time for quitting. It is usually 8:00, so that I can read and relax for a little while before I go to bed. Also, if a child of mine has something really important to do for school, I give that priority.

The key word here is prioritize. I usually put what is most important to do in the evening at the top of my "to do" list. When my cut-off time arrives and I am out of time to finish everything, I just stop. I ask myself if what I still need to do is all that pressing to complete for tomorrow, or if helping my kids or relaxing is more important. Most of the time it's my own personal time.

If you don't take the time for yourself, you could burn out, although it sounds as if you enjoy what you are doing. Still, you really do need to set aside time for yourself.

Shortcuts may help you. Mentally examine all that you are doing for school at home. Could some of it be done at school, maybe by kids?

An example of this is homework. It already sounds as if you are shortcutting there. What I would like to ask is: Do you have the kids self-correct their homework assignments? I assign homework, then I have the kids put it on the board--math, for instance. We go over the problems, then the kids self-correct their work. They mark it themselves. I collect it, then see how they have done. I give them a grade, based on what they have checked on their paper. I use the letters E, S, or N.

I found that I saved a lot of work when I began doing my grades on the computer. The computer program maintains an on-going average of all of the students. There's no more of the getting out the calculator for time-consuming averaging at the end of the marking period!

As far as tests go, I have the kids trade papers (except for spelling and essay tests). We go over the test, then the kids mark them. Once I am at home, I quickly check over the tests questions to be sure that the kids marked them correctly. They usually do.

Kids are great at creating and putting up bulletin boards. Just give them an idea and some work to do, and they go for it!

One motto I heard when I first started teaching was "Never do yourself what kids can do for you."
That still echoes through my mind. I am sure that with some careful planning, you won't be working quite as much as you aren't doing now.