One sunny Saturday afternoon my wife and kids were outside enjoying one of the last warm days of fall. Guess where I was. I was sitting in my classroom with a to-do list on my white board as long as the Amazon River. Teaching is not supposed to be this way! What could I do to cut down on time spent working on schoolwork outside of school hours?! Here is a list of 9 things I’m implementing in my classroom and lab as I work toward working smarter instead of harder.
- Set a timer for labs. I bought a really big one with a red area that becomes a smaller and smaller wedge as the clock hand draws nearer to the end. As soon as the timer goes off I make the clean-up announcement and students have time to put their things away. This way I’m not on clean-up duty because I lost track of time.
- Get rid of everything you don’t use. I had a parent donate a really nice telescope to our class, but it just sat gathering dust in my lab room—we just didn’t use it. I donated it. It’s really hard to get rid of things that, “I might need or want to use someday” but getting rid of the things you don’t need opens up your cupboards for more efficient organization.
- Organize all the things. Recruit help from a family member or friend who cares enough about you to sacrifice their time and enjoys organization. My wife was that person for me. Our kids are old enough now to be home alone, so we didn’t have to spend money on a babysitter to make this happen. Organize everything that is left after pitching the stuff you don’t use. The key is to MAKE IT EASY to put things where they belong. CLEAR PLASTIC bins are my hands-down favorite. The size I use varies on the type of items I’m putting in them, but I use a lot of shoebox sized bins. Use Labels. These bins are easy to label and let you see what is in them as well. I have separate cupboards for different classes and have them organized mostly by unit or type of subject. I have a cupboard for general supplies with labeled bins as well. This makes it easier for students to help put things away.
- Organize digital files. Just like taking the time to organize your lab/classroom takes the clutter out of your surroundings and makes things easier to find, deleting unneeded files (or putting them into a specific “old files” google drive folder) and organizing the ones you have left will make your life SO MUCH EASIER. Depending on the current state of your files, this could take anywhere from several hours to several days. This sounds super-daunting, but it will save you a TON of time and stress in the long run. THEN, keep them organized by intentionally saving files to the correct folders EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
- Grading presentations in real time. We’ve integrated creative collaboration activities into our science curriculum. One of these projects involves students creating a movie that uses chemistry concepts for special effects. Being organized to assess these movies and make solid notes during class saves a TON of time. Remembering every video is nearly impossible, so without solid notes and general assessments of each group’s project, I have to go back and watch all of the videos again. I’ve made this mistake—NEVER AGAIN.
- Task snowball. I’m stealing the “debt snowball” concept from a popular talk show host here. Sometimes getting started is the biggest challenge and starting with a small task can build momentum to plow through the bigger tasks, like a little snowball rolling down a hill.
- Setting a task timer. That same timer I’m using with my students, I’ve started using for myself. I will say something like, “I’m going to get as much cleaned up in my chemical storage area as possible in 15 minutes”. It makes this task seem doable because I know that I will only have to do it for a set amount of time. Usually I’m working faster because I’ve challenged myself to get as much done as possible during this time. It often spurs me on to finish the job since I’m already in the groove. Even on my list, instead of just writing, “clean up chemical storage room” I write, “spend 15 minutes cleaning up chemical storage room”. That way I can still put a checkmark on that item.
- Use rewards. Sometimes when I get through an item on my list I let myself take a quick break to check the news or social media. It’s important to also set a timer on breaks because it’s really easy to get sucked-in and end up wasting time. Keep end-goal rewards in mind as well. The other day my son cleaned up his room in record time because he wanted to get to his friend’s house to play Minecraft. What fun thing will you get to do as soon as you get your work done at school?
- LET GO of some things. The longer I teach, the more I realize that I’m actually never going to get everything on my list accomplished. There are things on my list that I WILL NOT get to. Identifying these things and “letting them go” makes completing my list doable.
What ways are you succeeding in using time wisely and organizing your science workspace? Where do you need to improve? I hope this list has inspired you to take control of the time you have so you can spend more doing the things you love with the people you love to do them with.
