This is an ultimate list of the BEST teacher hacks and tips you didn’t know you needed. Check out all the ways to make teacher life EASIER!
These teacher hacks are brilliant ideas for your classroom that'll make your life so much easier this year. Number nine will change your life!
After spending a week at my alma mater at Penn State Altoona, my heart is full after getting to spend an entire week sharing my story as a teacher turned entrepreneur with student teachers l…
This so actually do creative and cute✨🥰🎥Credit : mrs mcgrady_1stgrade 🍎✏️ Like our page Be Happy Teachers for more teaching ideas and methods. A team of teachers sharing the highs, lows and honest...
I so remember my first year as a new teacher! I wondered why I was even hired! (Did they not know that I didn't have a clue how to do ‘this teacher thing'?!) Yes, I had graduated with a degree, a teaching certificate, and had an idealistic philosophy of education (that had no basis in research […]
These 25 quick and easy tips for new teachers will help you create a positive, engaging, and effective learning environment for your students.
This list of 12 clever teacher hacks will save you time, headaches, & make your teaching life a bit more efficient.
If you are like me, I wanted to be a ROCKSTAR in my first years of teaching but got immediately overwhelmed. I wish I knew half of the teaching tips, advice, and strategies that I do now. I fumbled A LOT, yet learned from every trial and error. Through
Work Smarter, Not Harder {10 Tips for Teachers} 10 comments Just for Teachers, Popular Posts, teacher motivation, Teacher Productivity, teacher self-care, teaching, Tips and Tricks Sometimes people ask me how I get it all done. When they ask this, they are referring to the work that has to be done outside of the actual act of teaching. The planning, the grading, the prep, and so forth. The truth is, I make it look easy because I've learned to work smarter, not harder. Once upon I time, I had a different career. I had many different tasks to accomplish each day. I had daily deadlines to adhere to and people counted on me to be knowledgeable, punctual, thorough, and prepared. The demands of this job required that I work smarter, not harder. Many of the work habits I adopted back then followed me into my teaching career, and along the way, I've added some strategies to my repertoire that are specific to teaching. While I'm no expert in efficiency and work productivity, I hope that the tips that follow help you to make better use of your time as a teacher. Make a list. Every day. Identify what needs to be done and write it down. Then, prioritize it. It doesn't matter what you use to write your list on. Like sticky notes? Great! Prefer a pretty note pad? Super! Don't give two hoots and prefer to use scratch paper or whatever is lying around? Fabulous. Just write it all down! I like to write my tasks down at the end of each day. This way, I know exactly what I need to do when I get to school in the morning. I try to write my tasks in the order they need to be accomplished, but I have also been known to write them down and then number them to the side. This is just my way of making sure I tackle the most important tasks first. And, I'm flexible about my tasks. Anything I don't get to one day (because it was low priority) gets bumped to the next day and prioritized with the next day's tasks. Get it done. Once you've identified the tasks you need to accomplish, and you've prioritized them, do them. Get to work. Quit dilly dallying. Put your phone down, stop chit chatting with your neighbor and get to work. Confession: this can be hard, but you'll have time to stalk your phone and chit chat if you get your work done first. Think of it this way, if you don't get your work done you run the risk of being unprepared, stressed out, and ineffective as a teacher. And our job is too important to chance that! Force yourself to focus and get things done as quickly as possible. If this is super hard for you and you need some external motivation then reward yourself each day/week that you get stuff done. Before you know it, it will become a natural work habit. Establish a daily work routine. Yes, there will be interruptions and disruptions, but you can still create a framework for what your work time will look like each day. Decide which tasks you will attend to each morning before school starts and each afternoon when the students are gone. Write down your thought bombs. You're a teacher, you probably have 25 random thought bombs a day....when you aren't at school. Sometimes I get random ideas or remember small things that need to be done when I'm not at school. To help me remember these things, I carry a small notepad in my purse. And I keep one on my nightstand as well. Sometimes, I email myself from my phone! This way, I can easily record those little reminders and ideas as they come to me and I won't have to waste time trying to remember my thoughts and ideas when I'm back at school the following day. Establish an email schedule. What I mean by that is, pick a time of day that you will read your emails. I tend to read mine first thing in the morning. We don't have a "desk job" so checking email periodically throughout the day is not always practical (or smart). Maybe you opt to check it first thing and immediately after school. Great! The point is, create a routine that works for you and your situation. I also have a policy of responding to emails within 24 hours. Keep in mind that you don't need to respond to every email you get. So many of the emails we get as teachers are FYI type emails. Don't bother with responding to those. Finally, I also have a policy of never checking my email from home. You never know what's lurking in that inbox, so I err on the side of caution and refuse to even log into my email from home. Work emails get read when I'm at work. End of story. Collaborate. Whether it's with a like minded individual or your grade level, collaboration can make your job so much easier. Keep in mind that collaboration isn't dolling out or splitting up responsibilities. It's discussing and evaluating the material you plan to/are expected to teach your students. The point of collaboration is to help you perfect your craft and effectiveness as a teacher. So, make sure you confer with people who will help you achieve this. Set limits. Leave your work at school. Teaching is demanding. It demands your energy, focus, and your time. Time is the biggie. And let's be honest, there isn't that much time in the day. How do some teachers cope with this? They take their work home. Even I have fallen victim to this, but in the past several years, I have set limits on what/when I take work home. See, I'm not just a teacher. I'm also a mom, and a wife, and human being with interests outside of my job. When I'm at work, that is my priority and when I'm at home that is my priority. It has to be. Now, as I said, there are times when I bring work home, such as when I am *seriously* behind on grading (it happens, friends) or need to work on report cards. This is something I need to do free of distractions (and on a computer that works more efficiently than my ancient desktop at school). I can bust out more report cards at home, once my little one has gone to bed, than I ever could at work. Other than that, my work pretty much stays at school. It all boils down to prioritizing your workload at school and sticking to a routine. When you find what works for you, you won't feel the need to regularly bring work home and when you do bring it home on occasion, you won't feel as guilty. Grade like a boss. Say what? What I mean by that is, know what you're going to grade. Mark it in your lesson plans, or put a sticky note on those materials to remind you so that when you give that assignment you know you're planning to use it for a grade. Then, set aside a day or two each week to enter grades. This way, you are able to enter them without spending huge chunks of time doing so (and parents knocking on your door pestering you as to why you haven't entered grades in the past month). Remember, you don't have to grade everything. If you've completed an assignment together in class, don't even collect it from students. Send it home! If you want to look over class work (and you probably should), you could spot check certain assignments, depending upon what it is. Or, you could go over it in class so your students are able to see how they did right there on the spot, saving you time in the long run. Take a break. Or two. During the school day. No, I'm not suggesting you run out into the hall and hide from your students, but just like your students, you need a brain break here and there too! Last year, our second graders endured an extremely long afternoon in the classroom. Most of that three hour chunk of time was core curriculum. It was a challenge for all of us, but thank goodness for brain breaks! On most days it was obvious that the kids needed a break, and some days, so did I. Go Noodle to the rescue! After our brain breaks, we were ready to refocus. The brain clutter was gone and the students were able to move onto the next set of learning tasks with a fresh mind. More importantly, I was able to tackle the next lesson with a fresh, decluttered state of mind. NOTE: While Go Noodle is a super easy way to facilitate brain breaks, I know that some people have extremely hard core firewalls and can't access this site. No worries. Play a game of Simon Says, or lead your students in some stretching exercises. You could even line up your class and walk a few laps around the school. If anyone asks, tell them you're practicing your hallway procedures. ;) The point is, it's OK to take a break, it's natural! Doctors, police officers, and everyone in between take them. And, it's a well known fact that breaks refuel and recharge the the body and mind, and teachers shouldn't think that breaks are off limits. You're the professional, use your judgement to facilitate breaks as needed in your classroom because you will all benefit in the long run. Make time for you. Find time in your day to focus on YOU! Focus on something other than teaching. Yes, we love what we do, and yes, we are passionate about it, but it isn't healthy to focus on teaching all.of.the.time. Read a book, find a hobby, get your nails done, binge watch Netflix. Whatever! Just make sure you carve some time out for you to focus on other things. Otherwise, you fail to take care of yourself and run the risk of burnout and/or unnecessary stress. Plus, you're worth it. ;) Read more about Teacher Self-Care HERE. Do you have any favorite "work smarter, not harder" tips to share? Comment below! DON'T FORGET IT, PIN IT! Share It:
Free On-Demand Webinars Build up your teacher toolbox for classroom management, help your students be successful with centers, and gain confidence teaching Preschool-Kindergarten with our FREE on-demand webinars! Have you ever attended teacher trainings that were not really designed for early childhood, and weren’t all that helpful? You won’t find that here! Each webinar is […]
Start the year out right.
Every teacher needs a few fun, fast, easy, tricks up his/her sleeve. Here are a few easy classroom management tricks I've picked up over the years. Need a Second to Get Ready for the Next
Teacher hacks can be life savers so the Lucky 2nd Grade Teachers Facebook Group came up with a list of 25 teacher hacks to make your life so much easier!
Work Smarter, Not Harder {10 Tips for Teachers} 10 comments Just for Teachers, Popular Posts, teacher motivation, Teacher Productivity, teacher self-care, teaching, Tips and Tricks Sometimes people ask me how I get it all done. When they ask this, they are referring to the work that has to be done outside of the actual act of teaching. The planning, the grading, the prep, and so forth. The truth is, I make it look easy because I've learned to work smarter, not harder. Once upon I time, I had a different career. I had many different tasks to accomplish each day. I had daily deadlines to adhere to and people counted on me to be knowledgeable, punctual, thorough, and prepared. The demands of this job required that I work smarter, not harder. Many of the work habits I adopted back then followed me into my teaching career, and along the way, I've added some strategies to my repertoire that are specific to teaching. While I'm no expert in efficiency and work productivity, I hope that the tips that follow help you to make better use of your time as a teacher. Make a list. Every day. Identify what needs to be done and write it down. Then, prioritize it. It doesn't matter what you use to write your list on. Like sticky notes? Great! Prefer a pretty note pad? Super! Don't give two hoots and prefer to use scratch paper or whatever is lying around? Fabulous. Just write it all down! I like to write my tasks down at the end of each day. This way, I know exactly what I need to do when I get to school in the morning. I try to write my tasks in the order they need to be accomplished, but I have also been known to write them down and then number them to the side. This is just my way of making sure I tackle the most important tasks first. And, I'm flexible about my tasks. Anything I don't get to one day (because it was low priority) gets bumped to the next day and prioritized with the next day's tasks. Get it done. Once you've identified the tasks you need to accomplish, and you've prioritized them, do them. Get to work. Quit dilly dallying. Put your phone down, stop chit chatting with your neighbor and get to work. Confession: this can be hard, but you'll have time to stalk your phone and chit chat if you get your work done first. Think of it this way, if you don't get your work done you run the risk of being unprepared, stressed out, and ineffective as a teacher. And our job is too important to chance that! Force yourself to focus and get things done as quickly as possible. If this is super hard for you and you need some external motivation then reward yourself each day/week that you get stuff done. Before you know it, it will become a natural work habit. Establish a daily work routine. Yes, there will be interruptions and disruptions, but you can still create a framework for what your work time will look like each day. Decide which tasks you will attend to each morning before school starts and each afternoon when the students are gone. Write down your thought bombs. You're a teacher, you probably have 25 random thought bombs a day....when you aren't at school. Sometimes I get random ideas or remember small things that need to be done when I'm not at school. To help me remember these things, I carry a small notepad in my purse. And I keep one on my nightstand as well. Sometimes, I email myself from my phone! This way, I can easily record those little reminders and ideas as they come to me and I won't have to waste time trying to remember my thoughts and ideas when I'm back at school the following day. Establish an email schedule. What I mean by that is, pick a time of day that you will read your emails. I tend to read mine first thing in the morning. We don't have a "desk job" so checking email periodically throughout the day is not always practical (or smart). Maybe you opt to check it first thing and immediately after school. Great! The point is, create a routine that works for you and your situation. I also have a policy of responding to emails within 24 hours. Keep in mind that you don't need to respond to every email you get. So many of the emails we get as teachers are FYI type emails. Don't bother with responding to those. Finally, I also have a policy of never checking my email from home. You never know what's lurking in that inbox, so I err on the side of caution and refuse to even log into my email from home. Work emails get read when I'm at work. End of story. Collaborate. Whether it's with a like minded individual or your grade level, collaboration can make your job so much easier. Keep in mind that collaboration isn't dolling out or splitting up responsibilities. It's discussing and evaluating the material you plan to/are expected to teach your students. The point of collaboration is to help you perfect your craft and effectiveness as a teacher. So, make sure you confer with people who will help you achieve this. Set limits. Leave your work at school. Teaching is demanding. It demands your energy, focus, and your time. Time is the biggie. And let's be honest, there isn't that much time in the day. How do some teachers cope with this? They take their work home. Even I have fallen victim to this, but in the past several years, I have set limits on what/when I take work home. See, I'm not just a teacher. I'm also a mom, and a wife, and human being with interests outside of my job. When I'm at work, that is my priority and when I'm at home that is my priority. It has to be. Now, as I said, there are times when I bring work home, such as when I am *seriously* behind on grading (it happens, friends) or need to work on report cards. This is something I need to do free of distractions (and on a computer that works more efficiently than my ancient desktop at school). I can bust out more report cards at home, once my little one has gone to bed, than I ever could at work. Other than that, my work pretty much stays at school. It all boils down to prioritizing your workload at school and sticking to a routine. When you find what works for you, you won't feel the need to regularly bring work home and when you do bring it home on occasion, you won't feel as guilty. Grade like a boss. Say what? What I mean by that is, know what you're going to grade. Mark it in your lesson plans, or put a sticky note on those materials to remind you so that when you give that assignment you know you're planning to use it for a grade. Then, set aside a day or two each week to enter grades. This way, you are able to enter them without spending huge chunks of time doing so (and parents knocking on your door pestering you as to why you haven't entered grades in the past month). Remember, you don't have to grade everything. If you've completed an assignment together in class, don't even collect it from students. Send it home! If you want to look over class work (and you probably should), you could spot check certain assignments, depending upon what it is. Or, you could go over it in class so your students are able to see how they did right there on the spot, saving you time in the long run. Take a break. Or two. During the school day. No, I'm not suggesting you run out into the hall and hide from your students, but just like your students, you need a brain break here and there too! Last year, our second graders endured an extremely long afternoon in the classroom. Most of that three hour chunk of time was core curriculum. It was a challenge for all of us, but thank goodness for brain breaks! On most days it was obvious that the kids needed a break, and some days, so did I. Go Noodle to the rescue! After our brain breaks, we were ready to refocus. The brain clutter was gone and the students were able to move onto the next set of learning tasks with a fresh mind. More importantly, I was able to tackle the next lesson with a fresh, decluttered state of mind. NOTE: While Go Noodle is a super easy way to facilitate brain breaks, I know that some people have extremely hard core firewalls and can't access this site. No worries. Play a game of Simon Says, or lead your students in some stretching exercises. You could even line up your class and walk a few laps around the school. If anyone asks, tell them you're practicing your hallway procedures. ;) The point is, it's OK to take a break, it's natural! Doctors, police officers, and everyone in between take them. And, it's a well known fact that breaks refuel and recharge the the body and mind, and teachers shouldn't think that breaks are off limits. You're the professional, use your judgement to facilitate breaks as needed in your classroom because you will all benefit in the long run. Make time for you. Find time in your day to focus on YOU! Focus on something other than teaching. Yes, we love what we do, and yes, we are passionate about it, but it isn't healthy to focus on teaching all.of.the.time. Read a book, find a hobby, get your nails done, binge watch Netflix. Whatever! Just make sure you carve some time out for you to focus on other things. Otherwise, you fail to take care of yourself and run the risk of burnout and/or unnecessary stress. Plus, you're worth it. ;) Read more about Teacher Self-Care HERE. Do you have any favorite "work smarter, not harder" tips to share? Comment below! DON'T FORGET IT, PIN IT! Share It:
Learn how to create digital resources for your classroom or for Teachers Pay Teachers using PowerPoint & Google Slides.
These life hacks for teachers are sure to help any busy teacher reduce stress and live a happier life by planning meals, using a life planner, and leaving work at work.
Time management can be tough for teachers, and getting everything done can seem impossible. Here are my top 10 tips for saving time in the classroom.
Try these 100 Prompts for Teachers to Ask ChatGPT. Using ChatGPT effectively can not only save you time, but help you to innovate teaching.
It works...to some degree.
Grab their attention, keep it, and have a great day!
Short on time? Feel like you need an assistant? I was sceptical at first but in this blog post I'll share 10 ways teachers can use ChatGPT to save time.
One of the most difficult tasks of any new year school year is planning your classroom schedule. Creating a schedule that fits all the core subjects, specials, push-ins and pull-outs, school initiatives (like character education), lunch, and recess, and still has a little bit of flex time built in for fun activities, classroom birthdays, and
Make worksheets using programs you probably already have! These 6 steps will get you started creating your own resources today!
Classroom tips,teaching ideas, and resources for the upper elementary classroom. Teacher Giveaways
Even if you're not a naturally organized person, you can overcome! These organizing tips from a vet are brilliant and time-saving!
Teacher hacks can be life savers so the Lucky 2nd Grade Teachers Facebook Group came up with a list of 25 teacher hacks to make your life so much easier!
Teaching job interviews can be intimidating and many struggle with them. These 8 teacher interview questions and answers will help you practice.
Do you currently have "that" class? Here are eight tips to help you better handle them, get through the year, and grow quite as an educator too!
Ready to get more sub jobs and keep your income steady? Follow my substitute teacher tips to be a requested substitute teacher and make teachers LOVE you!
While using your fingers is not the fastest way to recall a multiplication fact while doing a problem, finger tricks can help kids figure out how to answer ...
In this inspiring interview with Dr. Catlin Tucker, the blended learning guru, we chat about blended learning strategies and models, and what's working right now!
No, I don't have an Amazon Prime addiction ... why do you ask? 🙈
Over the years, I have cultivated a laundry list of tips and ideas for using Google Docs in the classroom. In this episode, I will share with you 10 Google Docs Tips Every Teacher Should Know. We will cover basic skills, as well as, some tips to help you become a power user.
Why was the math book so unhappy? Because ... it's got problems!
Canvas is a learning management software that allows each student to access material and submit assignments. Read more tips and tricks here!
Corkboard Connections is a blog written by Laura Candler who enjoys connecting terrific teachers with amazing resources!
