Introduction

I once saw a video clip of the Stephen Covey rocks, pebbles, sand in a jar demonstration of time management, and that illustration has stayed with me ever since. I have found that applying the principles behind the demonstration first to tasks in life and then to teaching tasks helps tremendously. Here is the rock, pebble, sand story in Word or PDF format.

I learned through baptism by fire that if you are a teacher, efficiency is a must. Here are some possible steps towards efficiency. Website links and downloadable documents are included.

Some Steps Towards Efficiency as a Teacher

Step 1

Communicate efficiently by having a class website. Post news, secure grades, and handouts (in alignment with copyright laws) at your site. This step is important so that your time is not—and therefore you are not—“divided and conquered” by the requests of 100+ students and their parents . . . requests that could have been handled through a website.

See www.gradebookwizard.com to see a good start for the type of information to provide on your class website, if not to purchase the service. Also, there is a free website service for teachers at http://teacher.scholastic.com/homepagebuilder/index.htm, at www.schoolrack.com, and at other sites.

Step 2

Seek, search out, develop, and implement your own special collection of time-saving strategies. Each teacher will have unique needs in this area. At an interactive teacher site such as www.teachers.net, post a request for a time-saving technique to accomplish _________ (whatever your need). Visit sites about classroom management and time-savers for teachers, such as

• www.mspowell.com
• www.teachertools.org/index.html (see especially the forms there)

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