Working Smarter Not Harder

At the beginning of last school year I was asked to lead a training for teachers on how to work smarter instead of harder in the classroom.  If you are like me, you are already one of those teachers who pours themselves into your learning, planning, and teaching.  In essence, you already work hard.  For the purpose of this training, my job was to discuss ways that teachers could work smarter in order to be more efficient and get the most out of their work.  Here are a few of the things I suggest for working smarter as a teacher:

#1 Establish Routines and Procedures

As Kari mentioned in her blog post "Expectations for a New School Year" routines and procedures are important and necessary if you want to work smarter.  When your students know what to expect and how to navigate your classroom, things get much easier as the year goes on.  So, establish those routines early and set procedures from day one.  The same holds true for technology.  Treat technology tools, procedures, and instructions just like you would every other aspect of your class.  Don't assume that students know how to utilize Google tools or Schoology just because they have been on campus. Walk them through how to use these tools and your expectations.  Create your technology routine over the course of the first few weeks, and you will have much smoother sailing later in the year.

#2 Prioritize

You can't teach everything and you certainly can't cover every standard or GLE on the list every day.  As you prepare for each lesson, begin by figuring out what your students need and which standards or skills need to be focused on the most.  You can do this by analyzing any standardized assessments your students must take at the end of the year or course. Revisit this along the way as your students improve and meet these standards.  Re-prioritize as needed throughout the year.

#3 Plan

I was taught the Backward Design method of instructional planning one of my first years on the job.  This means that you should always consider the final assessment your students will be taking before you begin to plan your lessons and activities. Think about it.  Would you rather teach all unit and then give an assessment hoping your students have mastered the content and standards necessary to show that learning has occurred and standards mastered or would you rather know what is expected of students on the unit test and then work to ensure that you give them ample opportunities to encounter the content and practice the standards before you get there?  Some argue that this is teaching to the test.  In some ways, it might be.  I believe, however, that we hide way too much from our students.  We are not called to be the Wizard of Oz hiding behind a curtain and hoping kids get it.  Lay it out there for them from the beginning.  I tell my students that these are the standards for this lesson--talk about them, show them, model them, question them.  When it comes time to take the unit assessment or standardized test, they go in knowing they have been given the information to be successful.

#4 Collaborate

Don't feel like you have to do it all by yourself.  There are great teachers out there.  Some may even be on your staff.  Work with those teachers to ensure that you have the best resources and practices in your classroom.  Reach out to educators online through Twitter.  Find resources that work and bookmark those websites.  Finally, establish a professional learning community at your school to share successes and failures.

#5 Technology Tools and Best Practices

Technology is often more intimidating for the teacher than the student, but here is where you can get the most impact out of working smarter.  Choose a few technology tools that will work in your classroom.  Learn them, use them yourself, talk to others about them, and go to training on how to integrate them into lessons. You don't need every tool--choose a couple and stick with them.  Once you and the students have mastered those tools, then learn something new and integrate when appropriate.

Remember, as a teacher, you can work smarter by following these simple rules.  Get your work done before class begins in the planning and preparation stages.  Once you hit the classroom, it should be the students who are working hard.  

Here are a few ideas for technology tools to help you get started.

Presentation Tools

Non-Interactive

• PowerPoint
• Prezi

Interactive

• Nearpod – allows you to embed questions, quizzes, documents, websites, etc.
• Google Slides – allow students to ask questions during the presentation that can be fielded at the end.

Videos

Non-Interactive

• YouTube
• Vimeo
• Explain Everything – create screencasts from your iphone or ipad.  Use as an interactive whiteboard.
• ScreenCastOmatic – create videos using your voice and computer screen.

Interactive

• EdPuzzle – insert youtube videos and add quiz questions or notes throughout the video to assess learning.
• Playposit - same as EdPuzzle

Assessment Tools

• Quizlet
• Socrative – create exit slips, bell ringers, or simple quizzes.
• Google Forms – create surveys, polls, or multiple choice quizzes that grade themselves.
• Nearpod – can be used for multiple choice and short answer quizzes.
• Kahoot – fun way to review for tests or do fun assessment of content. 

Reading and Writing

• Word
• Google Docs – easier to share and collaborate. Teacher can leave audible feedback.
• AR360 from Renaissance Learning – import PDF’s, create class reading libraries, track student progress, embed questions and constructed response prompts, give feedback along the way.
• Blogger/KidBlog – students can publish work visible to the teacher and other students.