The Time and Prep Factor

There’s never been a year when I have felt such a time crunch.   With both kids in extracurricular activities and the full responsibility of teacher, wife, and mom, it’s enough to make a grown lady cry over a full basket of laundry and an empty pantry on a Sunday night.

Here’s a few tricks I have adopted over the last two years to help keep me on track make the most of my prep time.

Find a routine and STICK to it!  I know the beginning of school feels like you are riding an untrained unicorn, but by now hopefully you have your daily routine under control.  This is my 16th year.  I don’t think my daily routine has ever been exactly the same.  I always dream up a perfect little plan  in the Summer.  That’s when teaching seems like a dream.  A piece of cake.  A no brainer.  Then the kids show up… My perfect plan turns to tears on my chocolate stained pillowcase.

  I mean I am supposed to RUN this show right?  I am the one with the big teacher badge and cowbell whistle afterall…

I know you know what I mean.  Once you get established in what is going to work for you…well then WORK it!  Milk that baby cow for all it has to offer.  Give Bessie Give -cuz the teachers gotta live…squirt!  {That’s a little inside joke that has been going strong for 18 years between my husband and me–I couldn’t even tell you how it started but we say it all the time when we need something to work better for us}

Here’s a few tricks of mine:
1. Post objectives where they make sense.  This is of course for you and the kids, but also it shows visitors why you have set things up a certain way, and what your purpose is in doing so.

This objective lives in the middle of my word wall.  Once we meet it, I will switch it out for the bigger and better one that follows.

 You can see the objective chart in the middle of the full picture.

This objective chart lives by my math tubs.  As my tubs change, I change this objective.  It may not fit every one of the tubs perfectly, but it does represent the idea of many of them.

This little objective is on the inside of my door next to one of our class graphs.  Now that I look at this one, I can see that the graph needs a little update. 

It’s no trouble to slap up an objective next to everything you post.  Lord knows we have hundreds of them just in first grade alone…{Can I get an Amen?!} 

You can even get those nifty clear sleeves if you don’t want to be crass like me and just tape it up there all willy nilly.

  Tip Number 2
Make sense of what you are teaching for you and your students.  If it feels calm, clean, and ready, then that’s how it will come across in your teaching.  Take the time and space in your room to focus yourself and your lessons.

Here’s my itty bitty math board.  

 On the right I have the essential question for the week.  Under it I have the big idea and an example of what it will look like for the kids during their lessons this week.  On the blue chart I have some sample teaching posters that I will refer to.  I can remember to do that when they are out and ready for me.  Otherwise…well there’s just not enough ginkgo Biloba to keep my memory strong anymore.

 Finally on that itty bitty math board, I keep my guided math rotation chart and simple as possible.  This is the glue of the whole math block right here.

 At my teacher table I have a tub for the week’s guided math small group lessons.   When I change out my tubs I also update my guided math tub at my teacher table.  Many times what is in my small group tub will then go into my math centers the following week.  Kids are successful without me and they enjoy getting to play teacher while they complete the familiar activities.

Tip 3
For whole group lesson prep, I throw down on the carpet of my classroom, get comfortable, and sketch out the week.  Many times this involves making stacks, or searching through cupboards, but once I gather all the materials, props, and charts I need for the next week, I can get myself organized.  One thing will spur on another idea and pretty soon I am excited about the next week and looking forward to teaching it.

I premake and prep what I can and I either put out an SOS for parent volunteers or just pile it up for the weekend.  When I watch TV I almost always have something I am cutting or prepping.
When I sketch out any anchor charts, I just put the day of the week in the bottom corner so I can remember easily.

Grab this pumpkin patch place value activity here

 Another little trick that I have come to rely on is making little charts of whatever our spelling pattern of the week will be.  After we do this on Monday, I place them in a central location of the classroom for kids to refer to all week during centers or writing. 

Well that’s it for now…
A Gigantic pile of laundry and dirty dishes await. I forgot to get coffee tonight at the store and I am completely out.  You do not want to see what the morning is like.  Stand back from the blog my friends…

Here’s to another week of teaching! {and stopping for a BIG cup of sweetened coffee on my way!}

If you saw something in a picture that you are curious about, here are the links to everything that was pictured.