[Katherine]

I preplan weeks as often as I can when I have chunks of time to do so, this way, if I don’t have time to pull together a lesson, I can grab from one, edit one, or use it as inspiration for an easy plan.

[Deb Larsen]

I am an assistant teacher. My lead and I work with a monthly calendar from the administration to guide what topics and crafts we’ll be engaging in with the students. It helps us plan ahead and use the pockets of time we have to efficiently stay ahead, at least most of the time. Unexpected detours do happen periodically but the students adjust with us along the way. We use strategies like turning tasks into games or “racing” a timer.

[Brenda]

planning and structure in the classroom I think if you do not have a plan and pre-prepped your day will usually have stress and chaos. letting the kiddos help with cleaning and prep is a positive for both kids and teacher

[Jill]

I like to have all of my copies made for worksheets and craft projects and I have them organized into files for M-F, so they are easy to grab each day, and especially convenient when there is a sub. I prep a week in advance, but also have my hard copies for the year so I’m not reinventing the wheel every week.

[Christine]

Prepping breakfast and lunches on the weekend or night before helps save time. During free play, getting organized/planning for next step.

[Thelma]

One thing that has saved me is setting up timers for almost everything. If it’s clean up time we have a special sound for that and the children know it’s time for us to clean up and move on to the next activity. It saves me time from going around and telling the group what to do. Another is prepping the activity the night before but also doing some low prep activities.

[Ashley Marasigan]

The place I work does a great job in incorporating lesson planning time into our work day, which we typically get once a week (45 min a week for planning). What has helped me make the most of those 45 minutes is doing a little bit of planning during class time (I do most of my planning during nap time which is 2 hours!). I bought a teacher planner too which helps me do this. I plan out themes for each week (i.e. dinosaur week, 5 senses, etc.) and plan out activities for language arts and literacy, math, art, large motor, and STEM and then when I have my planning time where I can actually print or prepare activities, it makes it easy to do so since I already have an idea of what I want to do that week instead of thinking it all up during my 45 min planning time. Essentially, it’s like making a template during nap time and then adding the details during planning time, making that time way more efficient that I’ve been able to plan out and prepare worksheets and activities three weeks in advance!

[Ana]

Hi Irene,I agree with you that time is our most precious resource,and we should organise our priority task to have time for the most important things!

[Ta’ja Burkett]

I have a list or to-do list on my ipad and i track by checking things off.I have a lot of alarms and i have have my phone up showing my meeting calendar all day eveyrdayI also try and listen to lofi music to help me focus!

[Jill]

I have a daily checklist for me and my assistant. The best thing we have done in the classroom is have the kids help with cleanup and transitions with them getting to have a role. The kids live it and it build confidence in them as well. Win win

[Trainer]

Great strategy, Jill! Involving children in cleanup fosters responsibility and enhances their confidence—truly a win-win approach!

[Elizabeth Palmer]

My best time saving method is to prep and schedule activities at the beginning of the week. Already having an idea of what art projects, we are going to do and having all the materials together and ready to go helps save time during the day to day.

[Ebby]

Something I think that helps with time management is to keep a consistent schedule/routine. That way the day goes as smoothly as possible. I also think that by having my children at work/home help in child appropriate tasks it can help take away some of the load. I also prep my meals/ activities a week in advance to help lessen the load or time. I also really appreciate creating a daily goal list so that I can have small victories and feel successful, even if they are small tasks.

[Melissa]

Something so simple as just sticking to the daily schedule and not veering off task which is so easy to do makes a huge difference in the day. It allows you to actually accomplish what you’re trying to achieve during those time frames.

[ana]

When I planned the activities ahead of time and prepped everything before hand. I also found that creating stations when projects are more involved because you can work with smaller groups. It helps getting things done more efficiently and cleaner.

[Tiauna Castillo]

For my i utilize nap time to do lesson planning,catch up on emails/ parent messges, clean the classroom etc.