Tips and Ideas / Dec 21, 2017

18 Ways to Achieve More by Working Less in 2018

 

You told us your number one wish for 2018 was to be more organized… and we listened!  Many teachers take a break for holidays but never fully “switch off”, thinking about how busy January is going to be. Not this year. Take a deep breath… and try these 18 ways to save time next year and achieve more by working less!

1. Take advantage of automated translation.

Save countless hours in translation and allow families to seamlessly communicate in the language their prefer (here’s how).

2. Automate your weekly newsletter.

ClassTag automated Weekly Summary (or Weekly Newsletter) aims to replace labor-intensive paper newsletters. An email with an overview of all upcoming activities will be sent to parents weekly, and you can easily print paper copies for those not online.

3. Automate RSVPs and reminders.

4. Streamline parent-teacher conferences with automated scheduling.

5. Get cash-back for your classroom. 

With ClassTag Rewards, you can stop worrying and requesting donations… and stop spending money out of pocket!

6. Communicate to parents through multiple channels at once.

Rather than sending emails, writing text messaging and sending home papers separately, send one announcement via ClassTag and parents will receive it according to their preferences. We will even tell you who didn’t read it to send a paper home right from ClassTag!

7. Don’t be afraid to ask for support – request volunteers using your parent communication system.

8. Schedule key events at the beginning of the year.

Get everyone informed well ahead of time to avoid confusion and frantic follow-ups.

10. Assign homework that doesn’t require checking.

Get started with these alternatives to homework that get parents involved in student learning.

11. Allow e-submissions.

A great way to reduce the number of papers floating around, and grade faster, for example using Google Drive commenting feature.

12. Explore student-led conferences as an alternative to traditional conferences.

Empower students to take an active part in assessing their progress and communicating it to parents, making your job easier.

13. Facilitate grade-level sharing.

If there isn’t an existing practice of sharing materials and exchanging best practices, you can be the one to initiate it.

14. Limit your lesson planning time.

Experienced teachers say that as rule of thumb, materials should take no more than half the time to create that they’ll be used for. If you’re taking longer, you might be a little bit of a perfectionist!

15. Organize parents’ contact details to reach everyone faster.

Add parents’ details to ClassTag Directory. No email address? No problem – they can receive information by text if you add a phone number. Keep your contacts neatly organized with pictures that will make it easier to remember who to reach out to. You can also quickly start a private Conversation with individual parents straight from the Directory.

16. Keep track of readership and volunteers automatically with Stats

Use ClassTag Statistics to free your mind and stop wondering who is reading and engaging with your messages.

17. Post instructions for everything.

If you feel like you’re repeating yourself to students, use shared documents to post instructions for lessons and daily tasks in one central location. You can use this method for tests and assignments to keep everyone on task.

18. Call roll while everyone’s on task.

Why not wait until students are at work on their first task to quickly scan the room and note who’s absent? This way there’s no need to waste valuable time calling roll.

Do you find these tips useful? Share the list with other teachers in your grade.

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