Whether you have been teaching for three months or three decades, it is very easy to get caught up and overwhelmed. In our increasingly litigious and bureaucratic society, educators are expected to dot our metaphorical "I's" and cross our metaphorical "T's" more than ever. In the next few posts I am going to focus on some techniques that I have picked up over the years and used to great effect when trying to bring sanity and structure to my school days. This part will focus on the most obvious technique for maintaining order and sanity, yet one of the most inaccessible for many people - getting organized.
I cannot say this enough, especially for new/newer teachers - you need to get organized if you want to avoid being overwhelmed. The stereotype of the disorganized teacher is one found throughout the world of entertainment - they wear disheveled clothing, you cannot find their desk on account of the mountainous pile of ungraded papers, they are are red-eyed from pulling "all-nighters" in order to meet deadlines, and they are constantly struggling with arms full of papers and folders. It is a stereotype, yet most, if not all of us, have had, work with, or are one of these teachers. There is no single, well-designed path to getting organized, but there are some crucial factors to consider.
Discard the Myths:
My desk may look like a mess, but everything has a purpose/my organizational system may be outdated, but it works for me/I do my best work under pressure. These are the daily lies that disorganized people tell themselves to rationalize the chaos. It is time to be honest with yourself - if you are constantly scrambling to prep for lessons, make copies, meet deadlines, or grade assignments, how much time and energy are you devoting to stress and running around like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off, when you could use it for more productive and creative tasks? Though there are certainly notable exceptions, the vast majority of people who are highly successful in their careers are organized and usually thinking at least three or four steps ahead. The colleague/subordinate who is constantly running late, repeatedly missing deadlines, and/or consistently in a frantic state, begins to "wear thin" even on their most ardent supporters. Being well-prepared and organized is an inseparable part of professionalism
Once you admit the truth to yourself, that being organized is an integral part of being a strong educator, you can actually begin the seemingly monumental task of organizing yourself.
Cut the Clutter:
What is that old proverb? The monumental task of organizing thousands of pieces of paper, starts with a single paper...well, close enough. It is time to prioritize and clear out your existing pile of work. Decide what needs to be done and when; then figure out what needs take priority. Each individual has to decide their own priorities, for example, I put grading student work at the top of the list. Barring unusual circumstances, the promise I make to my kids at the beginning of each semester is that I will have all graded assignments back within a week. My reasoning is simple, the feed back I provide students on their assignments (especially about their writing) is invaluable in helping them improve their skills. Figure out what your priorities are, tackle those first, and move through you list. This may take a few late nights to accomplish, but once you prioritize your "To Do" list, it should be easier to manage in the future.
The next section could probably be considered a sub-category of this topic, but I felt it as important enough to warrant its own brief discussion.
Declutter Your Email
Nothing makes me more likely to break into a cold sweat than seeing someone's email inbox with dozens, if not hundreds, of unread emails. All email servers provide you the tools you need to organize your email in a way that provides easy access to information when you need it. Your inbox should be nothing more than an online "To Do" list. Create folders/labels/files for emails that are simply for informational purposes or that you do not need in the near future, delete those emails that are irrelevant to you (and for goodness sake, "unsubscribe" from junk emails), and only keep emails that require you to take action in the immediate future. Once you act on/reply to an email, place it in a folder or delete it in order to take it out of of your inbox. Having a better handle on your email lessens the chance that you will miss crucial information. Nothing turns an annoyed/concerned parent into an irate parent faster than a teacher neglecting to respond to their email.
Now that the clutter is gone, you can begin to plan ahead to avoid a massive backlog of work in the future.
Plan Ahead
If you are constantly trying to plan one day to the next, all of the other necessary tasks associated with teaching, grading, parent/student communication, and district/state required paperwork, are going to continue to backlog, and they will overtake and overwhelm you.
You should have a curriculum to follow and department/school goals to meet, which should afford you the opportunity to sketch out an entire semester/school year in advance. The first reaction that everyone has to this is that things will happen and being a teacher requires flexibility, so how could you possibly know what will happen in a few weeks or months. My response is simple, the more you keep your overall goals in mind and have a plan prepared, the easier it is to improvise when the situation changes. Whatever your thoughts are on your school's curriculum it is what should guide your course, so you should never be "flying by the seat of your pants", except in extreme cases.
(In no way am I suggesting that you replace creative teaching, for organization and convenience. In later posts I will discuss how you can create interesting and creative assignments and avoid getting caught in a curriculum/standardized test quagmire.)
Map out your courses; put together a calendar with expected lessons/activities, expected due dates, and dates of important day's (early dismissals, end of marking periods, due dates for paperwork/grades, etc.); update the calendar as the school year progresses by making note of any changes; and use this calendar to work ahead in order to avoid any major backlogs. Again, this may take a few late nights up front, but using this method will save you a great deal of time as the semester/year progresses, not to mention saving you from the chagrin of having to explain missed deadlines.
Use Technology Efficiently
It is the age of the Cloud and the Smart Phone, so cut back on the paper. When used correctly, these tools can be a great source of organization. Paper is a major source of clutter, but using technology, such as Google Apps, Edmodo, Turnitin.com, etc., will allow you dramatically reduce the clutter. Paper is far more likely to be lost or get misplaced than files/information on a computer. Using Google Apps for education, you can share documents and create class calendars, reducing the amount of paper you have to tote around and avoiding the use of more archaic educational tools (chalkboards, overhead projectors, paper calendars, etc.).
If you have a Smart Phone that is connected to all of these tools, it is like carrying around a filing cabinet with an infinite amount of space and drawers. Apps that allow you to use your phone as a scanner to create pdf files, also serve to decrease clutter and increase efficiency. The ideal use of technology is any time it is used to speed up your productivity - why take 25 minutes to complete a task that can be completed in 5 minutes? The keys to this step are knowing your own limitations and asking for guidance from colleagues who are more proficient with said technology.
At this point you should have a much better handle on your work load and have a clearer vision for the coming weeks and months.
All Things in Their Time
Take a deep breath...good. Now that you are not drowning in a sea of paperwork and planning, you can truly prioritize all of your tasks and grading. This is very personalized and relies on your individual needs and your strengths and weaknesses. I am one of those people who can zip through bureaucratic paper work with ease, and I can easily put together unit plans with little stress. This allows me to put these tasks off until closer to the due date/deadline. As I mentioned earlier, I like to focus on grading and returning assignments as soon as possible, as well as, focusing on tweaking and improving my previously laid out lesson plans. Take an honest look at yourself and make your own list of priorities. I recommend that you do not put off the most difficult tasks, instead deal with them first.
Congratulations, you are now an organizational Zen master, or, at very least, you are slightly less stressed.
Passion and communication are without question the main components of educational excellence, but far too many teachers ignore the seemingly mundane day to day clerical tasks, which are just as important when honing your craft.
Next up, Keeping Your Sanity - Part 2: Put things into perspective, or "don't sweat the small stuff"
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