LITMIR.BIZ

       ____________________ Average (Mean) Score

       Score:

      Take a few minutes to reflect on your score. Use the questions below to guide your thinking or share with a friend or colleague. Taking some time to reflect and ask questions can reveal to ourselves the decisions we are subconsciously making day to day regarding how we spend our time.

      Your Turn

      Strategy #2 Be Tuned in to the Advice Other Teachers Give You About Time Management

       Nobody has made it through life without somebody else’s help.

       —Heather French Henry, veterans advocate, fashion designer, and former Miss America

      Some teachers make teaching seem easy. They float around their classrooms with a smile on their face, making gentle, quick, and genuine connections with students as they deliver their lessons with grace and wit. The students are on the edge of their seats eagerly awaiting the teacher’s next words.

      Let us pause for a second. It’s so important to understand how much preparation goes on behind the scenes for this to happen. This teacher most likely had years of figuring out how to grade piles of paper and still get enough sleep to be present to teach the next day. This type of teacher most likely has really effective time management skills. The point is that all teachers have their own personal time management strategies, but there are a few strategies that usually work most, if not all, of the time. You’ll find many of those strategies in this book. When speaking to other teachers, listen to the advice they give you and give it your own personal twist. If it doesn’t work, try something else because eventually something will work really well for you.

      [Serena] One of my very first professional developments as a year-one teacher occurred the first time I realized that some advice will work for you in the classroom and some will not. I was teaching thirty-eight sixth graders in an inner-city charter school in West Philadelphia. They were often unengaged, yelling at each other and at me. I did everything I could to get them to stay in their seats. I considered myself more of a circus ringmaster than a teacher. Furthermore, even though my credential was in English, I was teaching mathematics. It was a recipe for disaster. On top of my classroom management being *cough* subpar, my time management skills were lacking dramatically. I found myself often focusing on the wrong things in the classroom. My health was deteriorating. I felt tired, chugging coffee all day just to be able to make it to dismissal. Piles of papers were growing by the minute on my desk. I usually planned the following day’s lesson around 7 p.m. the night before, after I had had a second to eat a warm meal after each hectic day. I was a hamster on a wheel.

      My principal had invited in a veteran teacher from another school, Ms. Lilac, to provide professional development. I remember her flowy bright colors, large earrings, and the vibrant personality of her hair. Students loved her warm smile, graceful way of talking, and the way she half closed her bright eyes when she sang her next words. She spoke about the importance of connecting with children as you are teaching. Yes! I thought. This is what I have been missing. I need to connect to my sixth graders.

      Ms. Lilac talked about the importance of gentle touch. She walked up and down the rows of teachers, gently touching each one of us on the shoulder as she delivered her message. I felt connected to her and her warmth. Her gentle touch was effective as it made me feel more connected to her and how she was teaching us to connect with the students in our classrooms.

      The next day I started mimicking Ms. Lilac. As I robotically explained a long division problem, I walked up and down the rows and gently poked each child’s shoulder with my cold finger. The reaction was the exact opposite of any sort of connection. There was a lot of “What the heck?!?” and confused looks, and one student even slid under his seat before I reached his desk to avoid my cold prod.

      The point is that all teachers have advice for what works for them. Touch worked for Ms. Lilac but not for me. But she did teach me other useful strategies that helped me in my journey to becoming a better teacher.

      [Ed] Like Serena, I had my Ms. Lilac. In fact, I had two. I was the “rookie” junior high teacher, teaching social studies and civics, and they were the veterans—Andy teaching mathematics and science; Alice teaching English/language arts. For three years, Andy and Alice gave me advice, suggestions, and, at times, counseling.

      One day during my first year, the other teachers and I were getting our classrooms ready before school began the following week. Alice and Andy walked into my classroom, introduced themselves, and shared a little with me about the school, the kids, the parents, and the administration. I will never forget this. Alice said, “Ed, we are a team. The better you do, the better Andy and I do. After all, the three of us are teaching the same kids and dealing with the same parents. We are here to help you be a good, successful teacher.”

      I kept a notebook of their recommendations.

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