Jenny Edwards - Time to Teach: How Do I Get Organized and Work Smarter?

Do you have projects and tasks that you would like to get to and just cant find the time? Have you ever found yourself saying, If only I had more time in my day? Have you been working long hours just to stay on top of your job, all the while lamenting that you were still not accomplishing what you would really like to accomplish? If so, then this book is for you!

Years ago, I read a Garfield cartoon. He said, Jump into the pillow, Nermal! When Nermal jumped, Garfield pulled the pillow out from under him, and he landed on the floor. Nermal said, You did that on purpose, didnt you? Garfield replied, I do everything on purpose! This publication includes strategies for doing things on purpose in order to help you accomplish even more at work so that you can enjoy your life outside school and come to work refreshed.

You have really been managing time all of your life. You have already developed many strategies that you have been using to get to where you are, professionally and personally. As you are reading this publication and applying strategies that might work for you, brainstorming more strategies of your own, and perhaps remembering and using strategies that you have used in the past, you will be surprised and delighted at just how much more you are accomplishing.

Take the ideas that might be helpful and make them your own. Change them to fit your needs. Use them as springboards to develop your own creative solutions to make your life easier and even more enjoyable. Share ideas with colleagues and learn from them.

The principles and strategies in this book apply to both your professional life and your personal life. Use them at school to enable you to serve your students even better, and use them at home to save time for doing things that you enjoy. There is no correct way to do things, unless it is correct for you. Not everything will apply to everyone. Take what best serves your needs. You are probably already doing many of these things, and others that are equally as good and even better.

To get the maximum benefit from this book, you might find it helpful to use a Time Management Journal, whether paper or digital, for recording ideas, ahas, and brainstorms related to the various topics. Enjoy the journey, and have fun!

For what purposes might you want to use time effectively?

Covey (2013) advised us to Begin with the end in mind (p. 102). Lets do that. You need to know where you are going in order to get there. Then, you can map out a plan to arrive at your destination and know how to best use the precious time that you have.

In order to know even more about how you would like to use your time now, think ahead to the future. Ten, twenty, or thirty years from now, you meet one of your students. You greet the student with excitement. What might you like for your student to remember about you? What kind of a teacher were you? What most stood out in the students memory? Now come back to the present. In order to be remembered the way you want to be remembered,

• What might you be doing now?
• What do you believe about your students and what you teach?
• What messages might you want to send to students about their capabilities, your belief in them, and your passion about what they are learning?

Moving ahead to the end of this school year, what would you like to observe in your students? How did your interactions with them throughout the year contribute to the outcomes? What could be some of the implications for the ways you use time, both in and out of the classroom? Make some notes in your Time Management Journal.

Another reason for using time effectively is to have time for other activities. In addition to continuing to do an excellent job with your students, what are some of the other goals that you would like to accomplish? For a moment, allow yourself to dream big. What might be some outrageous goals that you have always wanted to pursue, yet you never thought they could be possible? Jot them down or cluster them (Rico, 2000) in your Time Management Journal. If you would like to cluster, write, Outrageous Goals in a circle in the center of the paper. Then, draw arrows out from it starting at 1:00. You could also use a mind mapping app such as MindMeister. You might want to learn another language, learn to play a musical instrument, get a higher degree, go to the gym more, hike, spend more time with your family, or travel. By saving time, you will have time for these goals. In addition, by just writing them down, you have already begun achieving them!

Think back to when you first decided to become a teacher. What did you want to accomplish through teaching? What were some of your missions then, and what are some of your missions now? Do you want life to be better for other people who have had life experiences similar to yours? You may be seeking to build students self-esteem and help them to feel good about themselves. You may also be focusing on teaching concepts that are important to you. Perhaps you feel passionate about helping students learn to think at higher levels, or you might want them to develop Habits of Mind (Costa & Kallick, 2008) that will help them to function effectively as adults. Perhaps you want them to protect the environment, or you may be focusing on teaching them certain facts. Brainstorm some of your missions in your Time Management Journal.

You have just brainstormed some outrageous goals and explored some of your many missions. Who are you as you are working toward accomplishing them? By aligning your identities with your goals and missions, you can ensure that you achieve them. Our identities powerfully drive our beliefs, values, and actions. Anytime you say, I am, you are talking about your identity. Take a moment and brainstorm some of your many identities. You may write things such as, I am a father, mother, brother, sister, spouse, wife, husband, partner, friend, student, and teacher.

Now, brainstorm qualities that you have, using I am. You might write descriptors such as, I am a physically fit person, a learner, a fun-loving person, a writer, a hard worker, a reader, a mathematician, a musician, an artist, a scientist, a traveler, as well as caring, attentive, and enthusiastic.

Now comes the fun part! We can intentionally take on new identities and become them! Just the simple act of writing down a new identity can enable us to become that identity more quickly than we ever thought possible! For example, if one of your goals is to be a skier, you could say, I am a skier, even if you have never skied. When I started a program of higher education, a friend advised me to take on the identity of a writer. Just by saying, I am a writer, I was able to gain confidence and accelerate my progress.

Given your goals and missions, what new identities might you like to consciously take on to propel yourself even more rapidly toward achieving them? Write down qualities and whatever else comes to mind. Be sure to write, I am an organized person! Have fun! You will become whatever you write, faster than you ever dreamed!