How often do we, as teachers, say, “I can’t put another thing on my plate.” What if, instead of adding more things, we can learn to take things off the plate and prioritize what’s most important? Imagine how amazing it would feel to confidently say, “I’m actually managing my teacher workload.” I’m here to teach you easy and effective ways to lessen your teacher workload and get your time back each week!
Create Easy Systems that Work
When it comes to managing the teacher workload, creating easy systems is crucial. When it comes to planning subjects, instead of trying to get it all done at once, aim for a subject or two a day during planning time. For example, Mondays could be designated for literacy planning. Map out the unit, prepare copies for the week, pull materials and books, and organize slides. By assigning specific days to specific subjects, you can ensure everything is ready for each new unit, making daily and weekly planning much more manageable.
Organizational systems are essential for managing the teacher workload, especially when it comes to materials, lesson plans, and copies—there’s always so much to track! One of my favorite hacks for organizing papers is using baskets. Instead of letting things pile up (which they always do), sort them into baskets immediately. Have papers to send home? Put them in a basket. Got permission forms from students? Into a basket they go! You’ll notice how naturally your papers organize themselves once you create a system for them. This way, instead of tall, messy piles, you’ll have neat, organized piles. You don’t have to limit yourself to baskets, either—I love using binders for lesson plans and student data. The key is to give everything a designated spot. Whether it’s lesson plans, student work, or important documents, assigning them a home will make your life so much easier!
When it comes to copies specifically, these can be the bane of our existence. I don’t know about you, but I get really overwhelmed by the number of copies that are needed each week. To help with that stress, I use a system that has proven to be easy and has kept all my copies organized. I sort my copies for the week by day with the cart pictured below. I also have additional drawers for next week’s masters to copy on Fridays, extra copies, and a last drawer for other things I might end up needed to copy throughout the week. The best part is that if a student loses a paper or misses an assessment, you know exactly where to look to find what you need! Want to learn about more easy organizational systems that work? Read more HERE!
Utilize Daily Slides To Manage Teacher Workload
If you’re not using daily slides in your lesson planning, you’re missing out! Remember how we talked about setting aside time for planning specific subjects? That’s the perfect moment to create slides for those lessons. You can include learning objectives, needed materials, and even link read-alouds for the week. Want to make classroom management easier? Add clipart to show students exactly what to do! Daily slides lighten the workload because everything is prepped and ready to go, so you don’t even have to think about it each day. They also provide great structure for students, helping them know what to expect throughout their day. Plus, they’re a lifesaver for substitute teachers—slides ensure the sub can follow the routine, keeping students on track. Daily slides are an absolute must for managing the teacher workload. Learn more benefits of using daily slides HERE!
No Prep = No Stress
As teachers, we know how much daily prep and planning goes into a smooth running week before the students even walk in, and that includes the often dreaded center prep. But what if I told you you could create engaging centers that were ZERO prep?! How’s that for managing the teacher workload?! Last year I made the switch to zero prep centers and I won’t ever look back. I made the simple shift of only changing skills for students, NOT the activity. This means that students complete engaging, differentiated centers at their level, but there are no hours of prep time. Talk about a win-win! These centers are a MUST for literacy time. The students love them, and they are learning and growing. Learn more about this easy system HERE!
No Prep Science of Reading Aligned Centers
Managing Teacher Workload with a Daily Quick Clean Up
At the end of each day, set a 5-10 minute timer, clean off spaces, check things off your to-do list, and quickly de-clutter and re-organize. By spending just a few minutes at the end of each day, you’ll leave so much happier each day, and when you walk in for the morning, everything will be done, organized, and ready!
Since our brains are filled with SO many things to do daily and weekly, I love using a checklist. Simply print and laminate this sheet to write things down as soon as you think of them. It’ll help you stay organized and keep your brain de-cluttered! These checklists are easy to edit and FREE by subscribing below. Grab yours now with the link below!
Fridays Are For Finishing Up
As mentioned before, I like to plan a subject a day. This means that Fridays are for finishing up anything not completed yet. This could mean making copies for the coming week or finishing daily slides for the week ahead. This could also mean grading any assessments that were given during the week. I love using our FREE Friday Checklist above, so don’t forget to subscribe to grab both!
Friday’s plan can become like a catch-all for the things that MUST be completed before the following Monday. Just like with a daily checklist, my Friday checklist is of all the things that need to be prioritized to be done before the weekend so you can truly relax on your days off. If you get yourself into the routine of week to week planning and prep, it helps so much with managing the teacher workload. Your days and weeks run smoother and the stress will begin to melt away. While it does take some time to get these systems together and running, the nice thing is that many of the things can be tweaked and reused each year so that each year becomes a little easier and less stressful!
Managing Teacher Workload Means Don’t Grade it All
Students work on A LOT of things during the week; don’t feel obligated to grade it all! Set aside crucial tasks like reviewing formative and summative assessments, working on specific skills to check student progress, and completing end-of-unit writing pieces. Other than the essential things, send the rest home! This will save you so much time and stress each week. You can also have students self assess with their daily work. This can help students and you! Want to learn more about how this works? You can learn all about this system HERE!
Put the Students in Charge
Students LOVE to help, so let them! It’s okay to let go of the reins and have them help more. They can pass out Friday Folders or clean desks at the end of the day. Let them put out morning work for the next day or assess themselves like mentioned above. If students can do it, let them! I promise when you give things up and let the students take over, they will take more responsibility for the classroom and you’ll have more time to focus on the most important tasks! Learn all about giving students more independence HERE!
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I really hope you enjoyed learning about how to manage your teacher workload! Do you have another great tip to help? Please share what you do to lessen your workload in the comments! Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! Not only will you get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… and of course more fun FREEBIES including the Movement Code Word FREEBIE! You will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.
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