How to ensure I don't spend every waking moment of my life doing schoolprep!

Today's post is about something very close to my heart, and something that I struggle with almost every day: HOW to be a great teacher without sacrificing family time. I'll be honest, it's a fine line between getting it right and getting it horribly wrong. I am no expert... But since cutting down my working week to just two days and job sharing, I've picked up a few tricks and I thought I'd share them with you!

1. Keep marking to a minimum 

It's really important to mark work and some schools can be particularly strict on how often work is marked. But there are ways to get it done without taking tubs of books home every afternoon. First of all, marking work together as a class is a great way for students to be accountable to their own learning as well as cutting down your workload. However, marking as a class isn't alway feasible, and so that's why I created these amazing stamps with Vistaprint. I created a stack of different stamps so that I'm not always writing the same thing over and over. If you wait for a sale, you can get the stamps for a bargain.

2. Use your release time efficiently

I have always wasted my release time by prioritising my work badly. I've spent the time "catching up" rather than getting ahead. I only have one hour of release now, so I have to use my time wisely. Instead of going down to the staff room and potentially getting caught in a conversation with a colleague, I spend my first half hour marking and my second half hour photocopying and borrowing resources ready for the next week. So that when I come in on a Monday morning, I can ease my way back into work.

3. Have split up booklets organised for sick days so that students are still on task

Split Up days happen. It's unfortunately the way life is for teachers nowadays. Because I job share, there's a higher chance that my colleague or I have to take a day off. So we created 'Split Up Booklets' that are stored in an easily found tote tray for those days when one of us can't make it in and the school can't get a casual teacher in time. The booklet contains work that can be completed independently, however, is still keeping the class on task. STEM activities are great ideas for Split Up Booklets. Blank templates for planning and writing as well as spelling activities that cater towards different spelling lists are also great activities. I've put a couple of images below of our current Split Up Booklet below.

4. Use your diary well

This one is pretty self explanatory and links in with my second point. Write important details down and then remember to check your diary. I like to plan out what I need to do before and after school so that I make the most of my time. I also try to do jobs as soon as possible so that I don't forget to do them. Rip it off like a bandaid. 

I created a couple of different planning templates for you to download and use. I like to print them off in advance and bound it ready for the term. Click on the images to download the templates.

5. Keep parents up to date with what's happening regularly so that you don't have to spend your whole lunch break chasing them up

I've mentioned this point in a previous blog post… I highly recommend using ClassDojo! It has an amazing messenger tool where you can directly message parents. It's a great way to keep constant dialogue open between school and home. A quick message here and there is far easier than a long phone call.

6. Look after your own wellbeing… 

Make sure you make an appearance in the staff room. Don't always diet. Have a laugh. Say thank you to others. Ask people about their weekends. A happy workplace is a productive workplace.

7. Give yourself a pat on the back sometimes…

And ask yourself what went well rather than what went wrong.

8. Keep things digital and back up your USB regularly. 

I think every teacher has had a moment where they've had to search for a resource that they've put in a "safe place" and then they couldn't find it when they've needed it. Times have changed... There's no need for hard copies of every worksheet... It's time to get digital! Then you can access documents from home or school. 

My colleague and I have gone digital with our program too. We're using 'One Drive' but there's so many sharing platforms out nowadays. Google Docs is a great tool for working documents and there's lots of programming apps out there too. Check out iDoceo! 

Make sure your USB is organised. Label files and documents appropriately so that you can easily find them when you need them. I can't tell you how many times I've had to recreate a worksheet or PowerPoint presentation because I couldn't find the original one I made. We do not have time to reinvent the wheel let alone recreate things because they're lost! 

And remember to BACK EVERYTHING UP!

9. Have students assess their own work and teach them to be accountable for their own learning.

I've been using these little checklists for a while now. They're great for seeing which students understand and which students could have worked harder.

I also like to get my students to mark their own work where possible. By doing this, you're not only saving your own personal time but you're teaching them to be accountable to their own learning. I think it's important for them to be apart of the process. So mark homework as a class. Mark pre and post tests together. Get them to calculate their score and figure out whether they've improved. 

10. Stop being a Perfectionist!

There's just no time and perfectionism isn't always attainable. Just do your best!!

WOW where did the year go?

It seems to be that time of year again where I find myself freaking out about the year ahead and my list of "things to do" keeps growing. 

It has been almost a year since my last post. As you can imagine, the year fills up and you find yourself drowning in various commitments. 2014 was a HUGE year for me. I had a great time teaching Year 5 and I also had a great year personally. I found out in September that I will be expecting a bundle of joy in May 2015 and so my priorities around work and life have shifted dramatically.

I will be going back to work for 2015, however, this time I will only be working for one term. Over the next couple of weeks I will share how I've set up my classroom spending the least amount of money as possible and how I will hand-over my class to someone I haven't even met yet. I want to be kind to this next teacher, but I also don't want to do their whole job for them. It will be a balancing act. BUT I already have a plan and *fingers crossed* it works :)

Like any year it's important to start the year off with a diary. For me, this choice was far harder than usual as I will only be working for one term. I needed a diary that would suit me in my professional and personal life. So this year I decided to go with a kikki.K A4 Weekly Leather Diary. It's a weekly diary (which I love) and it has plenty of space to write down notes and anecdotal comments from the teaching day. There is also a significant amount of space for the weekends (the most important days of the week) and it has monthly planners. Click on the image of the diary to be redirected for the kikki.K website. If you buy from the store, they also throw in a free pen. I LOVE BARGAINS! 

That's it for now… I will be back shortly with MORE amazing Back to School ideas! 

THREE back to work helpful tips!

Sometimes I think we can waste our time on the wrong things. We'll sit there worrying over tiny little things, we'll spend too much time laminating things and freaking out about the perfection to which we cut the pieces out, and we spend too much time surfing the net for ideas that we may not need at that present time.

So I've come up with THREE helpful tips for wasting as little time as possible while getting ready to start the new year.

1. I don't know if you're like me but I waste a lot of time searching for a diary for the new year. I love all things digital, but there's something nice about handwriting out your day and making a quick note here or there in pen. When I first started teaching I came across this amazing diary. Since that first year, I've bought it every year. You can shop online for one or in store. They're usually around $25 each.

They're called 'Teacher's Weekly Planning Mate' and they're published by Educational Supplies Pty Ltd. 

The diary is broken up into weeks, and each day is broken up into sessions: morning, middle and afternoon. I love it. It also comes with these cute little stickers/labels and it covers most major events (parent teacher interviews, camp, NAIDOC week, etc.)

2. I find that I spend a lot of time searching the internet for cheap (or better yet... FREE) digital resources. However, I have come across an amazing website. Every year I tell myself I do not need a subscription, yet every year I find myself renewing it only days after it has expired. TEACH THIS (http://www.teachthis.com.au) is an amazing website filled with resources for Primary Teachers... and the best part is... they're constantly updating them!

3. LAMINATING... Don't get me wrong... I do love a little laminating from time to time... But I cannot tell you HOW MANY TIMES I've laminated things only to find I've gone through the whole year without using them. So I've started to ask myself the following questions:

• What is it that I've laminated and haven't used? 
• What do I need now... and what can wait until next term?
• Who can I speak to who has experience and may know what I will and won't need?
• Who can I recruit to help?

My friends and I have had 'School Days' for a couple of years now. We'll meet up during the holidays and work solidly for a day, getting our resources organised. During this time I find that it is constructive to chat with them and get a second-opinion on some things. I know that I can't possibly do everything at once, so I need to prioritise. I know that I'll need this this term, so I'll do this now. But this other thing can wait a little longer because I don't need that until next term. 

I find that we're all happy to help each other because we know it will all work out evenly in the end.

So question... chat... prioritise... recruit... help others and stress less!

This is my job... it isn't my LIFE!