Being a teacher means that you have many things to juggle, and if anything tips the scales, you may find yourself backlogged in a hurry. There are things that you can do to make sure that you stay on schedule, and complete tasks in a timely manner. Situations will come up that are beyond your control, but implementing some of these ways to speed your day will make your job as a teacher, on the whole, a lot better.
Organization
The key to staying calm and in control is to stay organized. Specifically:
Organize your room: Make sure that your room is accessible for the materials and supplies that you need. You will feel more in control if you can find the things that you need quickly. This may mean a day that you set aside to organize your room by reducing clutter, adding bins, if necessary, to store materials and supplies, and rearranging in an effort to make your room more accessible.
Organize your students: Some teachers opt to seat children in certain ways that make it easier to remember their names. For instance, you might consider seating your students by last name in alphabetical order. This will help you to be able to call on a student correctly. During the year, if you desire, you can let the children sit where they want because by that time you will know them very well.
Organize your classroom operations: Plan your lessons ahead of time, instead of putting them off until they are just about ready to begin. Using your summer vacation is a good time to get a jumpstart on your upcoming years' lesson plans. Have the supplies that you need to complete lessons ready to go. Another way to organize your classroom operations is to create lists and charts for daily procedures, such as listing what children are assigned to particular duties in the classroom, what the schedule is for each day of the week, and posting what is for lunch each day of the week so children are not constantly asking you, and you have to dig around to find out the information. Think of other ways that you can organize your classroom operations to run a tight ship.
Activities
It is a good idea to have review activities on hand that are ready to be used, especially if you find you have extra time in the classroom with nothing else planned for the day. Some of these activities might include:
Miscellaneous Advice