In the Summer of 2007, The Center for Evaluation & Education Policy (CEEP) of Indiana University School of Education published a report titled “The Daily Schedule: A Look at the relationship Between Time and Academic achievement”. The report addresses traditional, block, and trimester scheduling, school start times, school day length, and other components of time that affect the student’s education. An alternative school model was reviewed where the students spend 50% more time in school with many positive results. A few negative aspects were also acknowledged. But it was reported that increased time alone is not responsible for improved academics. Rigorous, relevant, and engaging curriculum was reported as being necessary to a successful education. The report concluded by stating, “A comprehensive review of the research related to school time issues reveals that perhaps it is not simply school time that must be adjusted in the 21st century, but rather our attitudes about education in general.” This report is worth checking out.
I just returned from an Activities Director conference in Reno, NV. While there I heard a speaker by the name of Chad Hymas. His story was touching and encouraging. The thing I walked away with was a side-line of his speech. He talked about personal tragedy, a heartwarming story, but that isn’t what I left with. Chad told a story about his high school days as a top baseball player. He and his buddies were at his house making fun of a girl with Cebral Palsy, (Melanie) who was in a wheelchair. Chad’s dad overheard the stud baseball players and decided to take the time to teach them a lesson. At lunch the next day, Mr. Hymas arrived at school and took all the baseball team out of “their side” of the lunch area to where Melanie was sitting and had them introduce themselves to her. Mr. Hymas told her that he had heard all about her and was very happy to have met her. Melanie smiled. Chad was mortified. Each player walked up to Melanie telling her their name. Again an uncomfortable Chad did what his dad had asked.Melanie typed in her keyboard that she knew who they were. (Many of the boys had classes with her but had never acknowledged her presence.) Chad’s dad than brought Melanie and the team to McDonald’s, where each player was given a spoon and told to give Melanie a bite of milkshake. They again were afraid, but complied. She was very independent, but accepted the gestures with grace. She spoke through her keyboard saying "Thank you”. Chad learned a huge lesson of how little time it takes to make an impact on others. Melanie became known to everyone else at school, not just as the weird girl in the wheelchair, but as the friend of the baseball team. She became a cheerleader the next year. A simple thing to do, giving up a few minutes of time was huge! This was the lesson that I took from his speech. The website gives more info about Chad and his story. It has a cool little video that is worth watching.
This is a touching story about how little time it takes to hurt or help someone that we may come in contact with. I will go to the website to read up on the story and watch the video.
http://www.howtolearn.com/freearticles/article_4.php The article “How to Finish High School in Half the Time” by Rebecca Kochenderfer caught my attention this week as I perused the resources on time, refining my search looking for aspects of time that influence my world. Currently, we have a group of students that drop into and out of course work throughout their high school years. We have more and more home-schooled students that ramp up and into our program to finish high school and align with college requirements. This article promotes ways in which students might finish high school curriculum faster. I agreed with some of it- Secret #1: It will take more time each day. Don’t be afraid to focus on one subject at a time. Secret #2: Look into dual enrollment (not so necessary as it tends to be not as profitable for four year university programs.) Secret #3: CLEP out of Courses… again, not so appealing, as it is a test and doesn’t measure understanding. Secret #4: Become a good test taker. And finally Secret #5: Encourage job shadowing, internships and volunteering to enrich your life and help with determining what suits your nature and interest for future work. This article made me think about what we spend four years in high school doing. On a positive note: At Cabrillo High we encourage job shadowing in a variety of ways, including a senior project to explore an area of interest not currently studied in school. Yet, balancing all the activities, athletics, academics and all else which overwhelm the schedule would send some students and their parents into retreat…opening up the cycle to home-schooling, alternative campuses, and online learning.
I had a difficult time finding an article that I could connect with. So, I found an article that discusses quick tips for time management. It states that time management starts with the commitment to change and a commitment to action. The key to successful time management is planning and then protecting the planned time. It also states that time management enables each of us to improve and be more productive which affects the whole organization.
In my opinion, time management would be a difficult technique to have the whole team to agree upon. Each individual has their on working style and their own rating system of task that needs to be complete in an order of importance. At work their are dozens of people that try to squeeze time into my schedule but my first priority are my students and their parents--everything else is second (at work).
Cool Story Sheryl. It reminded me of the Josh and the senior guys last year. The time that they took to reach out had to be modeled and prompted by staff - but then they soared.
http://hub.mspnet.org/index.cfm/9148 Trying to Beat the Clock: Uses of Teacher Professional Time in 3 Countries The study begins by stating “the current educational reform context in the United States makes heavy demands on teachers. Amid national, state, and local concerns about unacceptably low student achievement, teachers are called on to improve student outcomes by revising and enhancing curriculum, learning new instructional strategies, and fundamentally reorganizing school structures and cultures”. This study's ultimate purpose is to describe and analyze alternative cultures of time use that might be helpful to U.S. teachers, administrators, and policymakers as they continue on the road to school improvement. Teachers in the United States often say that one of their biggest constraints in educational reform is the lack of time for professional activities other than direct instruction of students. The specific focus was on professional time when teachers are not in direct contact with students--when that time occurs, how it is created, its functionality, its normative use, and, in the United States, alternatives to the norm. This study compares German, Japanese and the United States in results to work time. Very interesting article comparing the three different countries perception & cultural differences of time.
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_96.htm This resource deals with procrastination. I find myself procrastinating frequently. There are times when I’m waiting for “the mood to strike me” or some other such silly excuse for not getting started on a project or task. This article gives several steps and links to other recourses that will help in beating procrastination. Determining the reason for your procrastination is an important first step in overcoming it. I know that there are times when the task seems unpleasant and that is my reason for avoiding it and there are other times when I just don’t know where to begin because the task is large and overwhelming. Prioritizing and creating a to do list are helpful and simple ways to get the ball rolling. This article also suggests rewarding yourself for completing a portion of the task or even asking someone to check up on you.
Leaders are not only in administrative positions- leaders are in the classroom too! In this article Scott Purdy, author of “Time to Teach,” lists some practical and valuable time management tips. What most people actually need to do is to analyze how they spend their time and implement a few time saving methods that will gain them the most time.
The following are examples of some of the biggest time wasters.
• Thinking about it, worrying about it, putting it off. • Creating inefficiencies by implementing first instead of analyzing first. • Procrastinating • Making unrealistic time estimates. • Unnecessary errors (not enough time to do it right, but enough time to do it over). • Poor management. • Lacking priorities, standards, policies, and procedures.
The following are examples of time savers.
• Managing the decision making process, not the decisions. • Concentrating on doing only one task at a time. • Establishing daily, short-term, long-term priorities. • Not wasting other peoples time. • Ensuring all meetings have a purpose, time limit, and include only essential people. • Keeping things simple. • Delegating everything possible and empowering subordinates. • Using checklists and To-Do lists.
Purdy feels it is imperative to keep the big picture of what you want to achieve in sight. Checklists normally have such items as: “staff meeting at 2:00” and “complete the Anderson Company memo Tuesday.” In addition to these small tasks, ensure you set quality time for the important tasks.
Develop a relationship with Eddie the janitor who may be helpful in the long run.
Meet with all my workers on a regular basis. (It is your workers who will determine if you are a great leader, not you!)
Set aside time for interruptions. For example, the 15 minute coffee break with Eddie may lead to a great idea.
In other words, do not get caught up in short term demands. Get a real life! One quarter to one third of the items on your To-Do list need to contain the important long range items that will get you, your workers, and your organization on its way to excellence.
Have any of you ever wished you had more than 24 hours in a day, have you ever felt that your head is ready to explode as you're trying to assign at least a few check marks to your To Do List? Have you tried every trick in the book to manage your time but you still can't tame the beast? Well, check out this website. This site explores 33 time management strategy links that could help you become more productive with your limited amount of time. This website was produced by some students that were in a group writing project. This group of students collaborated together to learn from each other about how they could manage their time and how to organize their days more efficiently and effectively. They came up with a list of 33 time management links which could be beneficial to anyone with time management problems. Every link takes you to a different site. Some of the links I found interesting were: 1. Lessons in Time management 2. Time Management:Don't sweat the small stuff. 3. Stress can be good 4. dIstressed or dEstressed- Some of the techniques they mentioned were obvious but others were not. 5. A routine shall set you free
I think all of you will find some important ideas that will help you manage time and stress.
How to Get the Best Return on the Minute. Dufour, R (2002). Journal of Staff Development. 23(1), 60-61. http://www.nsdc.org/library/publications/jsd/dufour231.cfm
This article discusses the responsibilities of a principal, and how there is little time to accomplish all of the necessary tasks. Principals needs to maintain discipline, evaluate teachers, meet with parents, mediate staff conflicts, develop the budget, complete state reports, attend central office meetings, administer board policy, and magage the building. On top of all of this, they need to improve schools.
The author, Rick Dufour, encourages principals to see this last task, that of improving schools, not as an add-on, but as the essence of his or her job. He feels that administrators can get the best return on the investment of their time by helping collaborative teaching teams focus on becoming proficient with formative assessments. He then lists the steps that teaching teams can follow to work collaboratively.
After attempting to do exactly what it says in this article, I find it to be easier said than done. We still need more time!!!!
The Frazzled Principal’s Wellness Plan: Reclaiming Time, Managing Stress, and Creating a Healthy Lifestyle By J. Allen Queen and Patsy S. Queen
I found this book on Amazon. It sounds like the type of book every potential school leader should read before stepping into a leadership position. The author describes the school environment as a “culture of stress”. The stress starts at the central office level. Principals also have to deal with life event stressors that teachers bring to school. They must serve multiple roles, from nurse to counselor. There is a shortage of qualified, willing school leaders and the outlook doesn’t look good, considering the increased responsibility and stress placed on principals today. This book includes the following topics: Educational Leadership in a Culture of Stress, Restructuring Personal and Leadership Priorities for a Healthy Lifestyle, Mastering the Science of Stress Management for Better Health, Using Physical Activity as a Professional and Personal Coping Strategy, Desktop Yoga, Immediate Stress Reducers, Arresting Time Bandits at Home and at School, Using Nutrition to Support a Healthy Lifestyle, What the Literature Says About Stress and School Leadership.
In our teaching professions, there are just not enough hours in a day. Sometimes it feels like we need at least two-three more hours of teaching/ day to get in all the standards effectively and then...MAYBE!This is a reality iin my life as an elementary schoo9l teacher. This article that I read has many great strategies for using your time more efficiently, and it describes in detail, mainy common things we do which are time wasters. What really put things in perspective was an experiment was done by an expert in time management :In First Things First, Stephen Covey tells a great story:
One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students. As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." He then pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table. He produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them one at a time into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes." Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing it to work down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied.
He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand and started dumping the sand in the jar until it filled the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?" No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good."
Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!" "No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point."
"The truth this illustration teaches us is that if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are the 'big rocks' in your life? Your children, your loved ones, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching others, doing things that you love, your health; your mate. Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. If you sweat about the little stuff then you'll fill your life with little things and you'll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff."big
So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the 'big rocks' in my life? Then, put those in your jar first.
I think this will help remind us of what is truly important to us in our lives and that we make sure to make time for it. Rob
Time in Our Lives: The Role of Time in Various Cultures
Time is a fundamental bases on which cultures base their structure upon. Time in its inception was simpler being measured in seasons, darkness, and daylight. Today, time is more complex and important. This article explored three distinct versions of cultures and their views on time: cultures run by time, cultures without time, and cultures with unique perspectives on time. In my opinion, time is an endless challenge because we live in a society controlled by time.
My first thought this week was to time management. I see that others had the same thought. When I discussed this topic with my wife her comment was that I should focus on procrastination because "That is something you are really good at doing." The more I read and researched, the more tired I became. Then the lightbulb went off, napping and relaxation.
The first article talks about the benefits of a "power nap" in the afternoons. The other discusses the benefits and different forms of relaxation techniques. I am a firm believer in this. There seems to be something counterintuitive to using time in the middle of the day to do relaxation or "power nap". I have found that, with practice, 10 minutes can have a very positive impact on my day. I seem to be more productive and the dividend that 5 or 10 minutes pays in effective use of time is much greater than if I had just continued down the same path.
Time Management is the first concept that comes to mind for me when discussing Time in Education. The following website is published by SideRoads a center for quality advice from experts in the field. The article on Time Management for Teachers offers several practical tips for using our time effectively. My advice for time management is to keep going, stay organized, quit day-dreaming and focus on the task at hand.
Robert, Thanks for sharing the mason jar story. I've heard it before, but it was nice to reminded that I need to be putting those rocks in first. I seem to be living "like sand 'rushing' through the hour glass of time" lately, and I'm constantly asking myself if my glass is half full or half empty (of water). Thanks for giving me "pebbles" of wisdom and making me realize that maybe I need to look at life with a new perspective. Debbie
Conscious Classroom Management: Unlocking the Secrets of Great Teaching. Smith, R (2004). Conscious Teaching Publications, Chapter 5-Got Stress, pgs 42-52.
As I was looking through my BTSA stuff for the other resource that I mentioned in class last week, I decided to look at one of the many(!) books that I have rec'd as a BTSA provider. I started to look at this one, and even though it is for teachers, I often find that the same suggestions for success can be applied to administrators. I really enjoyed reading this section on stress, especially the suggestion to just take five minutes a day to have unstructured time for oneself. I don't know about you, but I NEVER have time to just do "nothing." I'm always running behind, and have more on my plate than I can possibly manage at any given time during the night or day. So, this idea to take five minutes of time to just disengage from my roles as teacher, student, wife, mother, daughter, etc. seemed like a priority that I just wasn't going to be able to squeeze in. But, after reading it, I realize that maybe I really am selling myself, and others around me, short. I can certainly refect on a time about a week ago when I was very cranky with my students because they just wouldn't let me alone long enough to think about what I needed to do next. [Cranky probably isn't the word they would use to describe me, either! :)]Taking just five minutes during the day to "regroup" might have really helped. In the future, I will definitely try to "breath" and take five minutes for myself. It's the least I can do to save my sanity and my relationships.
PRIM (Pre-referral Intervention Manual) http://www.hes-inc.com/hes.cgi/00670.html
Here is the other resource that I spoke of in class last Wednesday. The teacher giving the presentation on IEP information said this is an invaluable resource for teachers and admininstrators that contains suggestions for interventions to be used before or after students have been referred to SST.
Sorry I didn't get that into time management, but this was an excellent resource: Wagner, Tony and Kegan, Robert; Change Leadership: A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools. In it, I liked the following idea of the
Seven Disciplines for Strengthening Instruction:
1. Urgency for instructional improvement using real data
Americans Wastes More Than 2 Hours a Day at Work The average worker admits to frittering away 2.09 hours per day. Over the course of a year that adds up to $759 billion on salaries for which companies receive no apparent benefit. The number one way that Americans waist time is internet use. Socializing with co-works was the second most popular. Educators are ranked fourth in the time wasting industries www.salaries.com
Magazine Article Balance and Harmony: How Much Time is Wasted at work?
A study by Basex, a New York research firm, found that office distractions ate up 2.1 hours a day for the average worker. That adds up to $28 billion a year in the United States.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the average U.S. executive wastes six weeks every year searching for important documents lost in clutter. If that executive is paid $100,000, a company could be loosing around $11,500 a year just on the one employee.
In a society where we have too much to do in too little time, stress becomes the natural result.
According to the National Safety Council, U.S. companies lose between $200-300 billion a year due to work related stress.
How to Help Reduce Stress at Work 1. Improve your time management and organization skills - to-do list - learn to say "no" - ask for help when you neen it - stop setting unrealistic goals -the list goes on.....
23 comments:
http://ceep.indiana.edu/projects/PDF/PB_V5N6_Summer_2007_EPB.pdf
In the Summer of 2007, The Center for Evaluation & Education Policy (CEEP) of Indiana University School of Education published a report titled “The Daily Schedule: A Look at the relationship Between Time and Academic achievement”. The report addresses traditional, block, and trimester scheduling, school start times, school day length, and other components of time that affect the student’s education. An alternative school model was reviewed where the students spend 50% more time in school with many positive results. A few negative aspects were also acknowledged. But it was reported that increased time alone is not responsible for improved academics. Rigorous, relevant, and engaging curriculum was reported as being necessary to a successful education. The report concluded by stating, “A comprehensive review of the research related to school time issues reveals that perhaps it is not simply school time that must be adjusted in the 21st century, but rather our attitudes about education in general.” This report is worth checking out.
WWW.chadhymas.com
I just returned from an Activities Director conference in Reno, NV. While there I heard a speaker by the name of Chad Hymas. His story was touching and encouraging. The thing I walked away with was a side-line of his speech. He talked about personal tragedy, a heartwarming story, but that isn’t what I left with. Chad told a story about his high school days as a top baseball player. He and his buddies were at his house making fun of a girl with Cebral Palsy, (Melanie) who was in a wheelchair. Chad’s dad overheard the stud baseball players and decided to take the time to teach them a lesson.
At lunch the next day, Mr. Hymas arrived at school and took all the baseball team out of “their side” of the lunch area to where Melanie was sitting and had them introduce themselves to her. Mr. Hymas told her that he had heard all about her and was very happy to have met her. Melanie smiled. Chad was mortified. Each player walked up to Melanie telling her their name. Again an uncomfortable Chad did what his dad had asked.Melanie typed in her keyboard that she knew who they were. (Many of the boys had classes with her but had never acknowledged her presence.) Chad’s dad than brought Melanie and the team to McDonald’s, where each player was given a spoon and told to give Melanie a bite of milkshake. They again were afraid, but complied. She was very independent, but accepted the gestures with grace. She spoke through her keyboard saying "Thank you”.
Chad learned a huge lesson of how little time it takes to make an impact on others. Melanie became known to everyone else at school, not just as the weird girl in the wheelchair, but as the friend of the baseball team. She became a cheerleader the next year. A simple thing to do, giving up a few minutes of time was huge! This was the lesson that I took from his speech.
The website gives more info about Chad and his story. It has a cool little video that is worth watching.
This is a touching story about how little time it takes to hurt or help someone that we may come in contact with. I will go to the website to read up on the story and watch the video.
http://www.howtolearn.com/freearticles/article_4.php
The article “How to Finish High School in Half the Time” by Rebecca Kochenderfer caught my attention this week as I perused the resources on time, refining my search looking for aspects of time that influence my world. Currently, we have a group of students that drop into and out of course work throughout their high school years. We have more and more home-schooled students that ramp up and into our program to finish high school and align with college requirements.
This article promotes ways in which students might finish high school curriculum faster. I agreed with some of it- Secret #1: It will take more time each day. Don’t be afraid to focus on one subject at a time. Secret #2: Look into dual enrollment (not so necessary as it tends to be not as profitable for four year university programs.) Secret #3: CLEP out of Courses… again, not so appealing, as it is a test and doesn’t measure understanding. Secret #4: Become a good test taker. And finally Secret #5: Encourage job shadowing, internships and volunteering to enrich your life and help with determining what suits your nature and interest for future work.
This article made me think about what we spend four years in high school doing. On a positive note: At Cabrillo High we encourage job shadowing in a variety of ways, including a senior project to explore an area of interest not currently studied in school. Yet, balancing all the activities, athletics, academics and all else which overwhelm the schedule would send some students and their parents into retreat…opening up the cycle to home-schooling, alternative campuses, and online learning.
www.businessballscom/time
I had a difficult time finding an article that I could connect with. So, I found an article that discusses quick tips for time management. It states that time management starts with the commitment to change and a commitment to action. The key to successful time management is planning and then protecting the planned time. It also states that time management enables each of us to improve and be more productive which affects the whole organization.
In my opinion, time management would be a difficult technique to have the whole team to agree upon. Each individual has their on working style and their own rating system of task that needs to be complete in an order of importance. At work their are dozens of people that try to squeeze time into my schedule but my first priority are my students and their parents--everything else is second (at work).
Cool Story Sheryl. It reminded me of the Josh and the senior guys last year.
The time that they took to reach out had to be modeled and prompted by staff - but then they soared.
http://hub.mspnet.org/index.cfm/9148
Trying to Beat the Clock: Uses of Teacher Professional Time in 3 Countries
The study begins by stating “the current educational reform context in the United States makes heavy demands on teachers. Amid national, state, and local concerns about unacceptably low student achievement, teachers are called on to improve student outcomes by revising and enhancing curriculum, learning new instructional strategies, and fundamentally reorganizing school structures and cultures”. This study's ultimate purpose is to describe and analyze alternative cultures of time use that might be helpful to U.S. teachers, administrators, and policymakers as they continue on the road to school improvement.
Teachers in the United States often say that one of their biggest constraints in educational reform is the lack of time for professional activities other than direct instruction of students. The specific focus was on professional time when teachers are not in direct contact with students--when that time occurs, how it is created, its functionality, its normative use, and, in the United States, alternatives to the norm. This study compares German, Japanese and the United States in results to work time.
Very interesting article comparing the three different countries perception & cultural differences of time.
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_96.htm
This resource deals with procrastination. I find myself procrastinating frequently. There are times when I’m waiting for “the mood to strike me” or some other such silly excuse for not getting started on a project or task. This article gives several steps and links to other recourses that will help in beating procrastination. Determining the reason for your procrastination is an important first step in overcoming it. I know that there are times when the task seems unpleasant and that is my reason for avoiding it and there are other times when I just don’t know where to begin because the task is large and overwhelming. Prioritizing and creating a to do list are helpful and simple ways to get the ball rolling. This article also suggests rewarding yourself for completing a portion of the task or even asking someone to check up on you.
www.writetimepub.com/teacher-workshop/WT-700.php
Leaders are not only in administrative positions- leaders are in the classroom too! In this article Scott Purdy, author of “Time to Teach,” lists some practical and valuable time management tips. What most people actually need to do is to analyze how they spend their time and implement a few time saving methods that will gain them the most time.
The following are examples of some of the biggest time wasters.
• Thinking about it, worrying about it, putting it off.
• Creating inefficiencies by implementing first instead of analyzing first.
• Procrastinating
• Making unrealistic time estimates.
• Unnecessary errors (not enough time to do it right, but enough time to do it over).
• Poor management.
• Lacking priorities, standards, policies, and procedures.
The following are examples of time savers.
• Managing the decision making process, not the decisions.
• Concentrating on doing only one task at a time.
• Establishing daily, short-term, long-term priorities.
• Not wasting other peoples time.
• Ensuring all meetings have a purpose, time limit, and include only
essential people.
• Keeping things simple.
• Delegating everything possible and empowering subordinates.
• Using checklists and To-Do lists.
Purdy feels it is imperative to keep the big picture of what you want to achieve in sight. Checklists normally have such items as: “staff meeting at 2:00” and “complete the Anderson Company memo Tuesday.” In addition to these small tasks, ensure you set quality time for the important tasks.
Develop a relationship with Eddie the janitor who may be helpful in the long run.
Meet with all my workers on a regular basis. (It is your workers who will determine if you are a great leader, not you!)
Set aside time for interruptions. For example, the 15 minute coffee break with Eddie may lead to a great idea.
In other words, do not get caught up in short term demands. Get a real life! One quarter to one third of the items on your To-Do list need to contain the important long range items that will get you, your workers, and your organization on its way to excellence.
http://www.inspirationbit.com
Have any of you ever wished you had more than 24 hours in a day, have you ever felt that your head is ready to explode as you're trying to assign at least a few check marks to your To Do List? Have you tried every trick in the book to manage your time but you still can't tame the beast? Well, check out this website. This site explores 33 time management strategy links that could help you become more productive with your limited amount of time. This website was produced by some students that were in a group writing project. This group of students collaborated together to learn from each other about how they could manage their time and how to organize their days more efficiently and effectively. They came up with a list of 33 time management links which could be beneficial to anyone with time management problems. Every link takes you to a different site. Some of the links I found interesting were:
1. Lessons in Time management
2. Time Management:Don't sweat the small stuff.
3. Stress can be good
4. dIstressed or dEstressed- Some of the techniques they mentioned were obvious but others were not.
5. A routine shall set you free
I think all of you will find some important ideas that will help you manage time and stress.
How to Get the Best Return on the Minute. Dufour, R (2002). Journal of Staff Development. 23(1), 60-61. http://www.nsdc.org/library/publications/jsd/dufour231.cfm
This article discusses the responsibilities of a principal, and how there is little time to accomplish all of the necessary tasks. Principals needs to maintain discipline, evaluate teachers, meet with parents, mediate staff conflicts, develop the budget, complete state reports, attend central office meetings, administer board policy, and magage the building. On top of all of this, they need to improve schools.
The author, Rick Dufour, encourages principals to see this last task, that of improving schools, not as an add-on, but as the essence of his or her job. He feels that administrators can get the best return on the investment of their time by helping collaborative teaching teams focus on becoming proficient with formative assessments. He then lists the steps that teaching teams can follow to work collaboratively.
After attempting to do exactly what it says in this article, I find it to be easier said than done. We still need more time!!!!
The Frazzled Principal’s Wellness Plan: Reclaiming Time, Managing Stress, and Creating a Healthy Lifestyle
By J. Allen Queen and Patsy S. Queen
I found this book on Amazon. It sounds like the type of book every potential school leader should read before stepping into a leadership position. The author describes the school environment as a “culture of stress”. The stress starts at the central office level. Principals also have to deal with life event stressors that teachers bring to school. They must serve multiple roles, from nurse to counselor. There is a shortage of qualified, willing school leaders and the outlook doesn’t look good, considering the increased responsibility and stress placed on principals today. This book includes the following topics: Educational Leadership in a Culture of Stress, Restructuring Personal and Leadership Priorities for a Healthy Lifestyle, Mastering the Science of Stress Management for Better Health, Using Physical Activity as a Professional and Personal Coping Strategy, Desktop Yoga, Immediate Stress Reducers, Arresting Time Bandits at Home and at School, Using Nutrition to Support a Healthy Lifestyle, What the Literature Says About Stress and School Leadership.
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadtime.html
"Time Management and Leadership"
In our teaching professions, there are just not enough hours in a day. Sometimes it feels like we need at least two-three more hours of teaching/ day to get in all the standards effectively and then...MAYBE!This is a reality iin my life as an elementary schoo9l teacher.
This article that I read has many great strategies for using your time more efficiently, and it describes in detail, mainy common things we do which are time wasters. What really put things in perspective was an experiment was done by an expert in time management :In First Things First, Stephen Covey tells a great story:
One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students. As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." He then pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table. He produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them one at a time into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes." Then he said, "Really?"
He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing it to work down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied.
He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand and started dumping the sand in the jar until it filled the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?" No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good."
Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!" "No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point."
"The truth this illustration teaches us is that if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are the 'big rocks' in your life? Your children, your loved ones, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching others, doing things that you love, your health; your mate. Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. If you sweat about the little stuff then you'll fill your life with little things and you'll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff."big
So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the 'big rocks' in my life? Then, put those in your jar first.
I think this will help remind us of what is truly important to us in our lives and that we make sure to make time for it.
Rob
http://Library.thinkquest.org/06aug/01010/timeCultures.html
Time in Our Lives: The Role of Time in Various Cultures
Time is a fundamental bases on which cultures base their structure upon. Time in its inception was simpler being measured in seasons, darkness, and daylight. Today, time is more complex and important. This article explored three distinct versions of cultures and their views on time: cultures run by time, cultures without time, and cultures with unique perspectives on time. In my opinion, time is an endless challenge because we live in a society controlled by time.
Great resources everyone! Robert, make SURE I don't forget to mention the mason jar example tonight...
http://www.talkaboutsleep.com/sleep-disorders/archives/insomnia_drjacobs_benefits_of_naps.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/relaxation-technique/SR00007
My first thought this week was to time management. I see that others had the same thought. When I discussed this topic with my wife her comment was that I should focus on procrastination because "That is something you are really good at doing." The more I read and researched, the more tired I became. Then the lightbulb went off, napping and relaxation.
The first article talks about the benefits of a "power nap" in the afternoons. The other discusses the benefits and different forms of relaxation techniques. I am a firm believer in this. There seems to be something counterintuitive to using time in the middle of the day to do relaxation or "power nap". I have found that, with practice, 10 minutes can have a very positive impact on my day. I seem to be more productive and the dividend that 5 or 10 minutes pays in effective use of time is much greater than if I had just continued down the same path.
Time Management is the first concept that comes to mind for me when discussing Time in Education. The following website is published by SideRoads a center for quality advice from experts in the field. The article on Time Management for Teachers offers several practical tips for using our time effectively. My advice for time management is to keep going, stay organized, quit day-dreaming and focus on the task at hand.
http://www.sideroad.com/Time_Management/time-management-for-teachers.html
The article's author is Denise Landers.
David
Robert,
Thanks for sharing the mason jar story. I've heard it before, but it was nice to reminded that I need to be putting those rocks in first. I seem to be living "like sand 'rushing' through the hour glass of time" lately, and I'm constantly asking myself if my glass is half full or half empty (of water). Thanks for giving me "pebbles" of wisdom and making me realize that maybe I need to look at life with a new perspective.
Debbie
Conscious Classroom Management: Unlocking the Secrets of Great Teaching. Smith, R (2004). Conscious Teaching Publications, Chapter 5-Got Stress, pgs 42-52.
As I was looking through my BTSA stuff for the other resource that I mentioned in class last week, I decided to look at one of the many(!) books that I have rec'd as a BTSA provider. I started to look at this one, and even though it is for teachers, I often find that the same suggestions for success can be applied to administrators. I really enjoyed reading this section on stress, especially the suggestion to just take five minutes a day to have unstructured time for oneself. I don't know about you, but I NEVER have time to just do "nothing." I'm always running behind, and have more on my plate than I can possibly manage at any given time during the night or day. So, this idea to take five minutes of time to just disengage from my roles as teacher, student, wife, mother, daughter, etc. seemed like a priority that I just wasn't going to be able to squeeze in. But, after reading it, I realize that maybe I really am selling myself, and others around me, short. I can certainly refect on a time about a week ago when I was very cranky with my students because they just wouldn't let me alone long enough to think about what I needed to do next. [Cranky probably isn't the word they would use to describe me, either! :)]Taking just five minutes during the day to "regroup" might have really helped. In the future, I will definitely try to "breath" and take five minutes for myself. It's the least I can do to save my sanity and my relationships.
PRIM (Pre-referral Intervention Manual) http://www.hes-inc.com/hes.cgi/00670.html
Here is the other resource that I spoke of in class last Wednesday. The teacher giving the presentation on IEP information said this is an invaluable resource for teachers and admininstrators that contains suggestions for interventions to be used before or after students have been referred to SST.
Sorry I didn't get that into time management, but this was an excellent resource:
Wagner, Tony and Kegan, Robert; Change Leadership: A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools. In it, I liked the following idea of the
Seven Disciplines for Strengthening Instruction:
1. Urgency for instructional improvement using real data
2. Shared vision of good teaching
3. Meetings about the work
4. A shared vision of student results
5. Effective supervision
6. Professional development
7. Diagnostic data with accountable collaboration
Americans Wastes More Than 2 Hours a Day at Work
The average worker admits to frittering away 2.09 hours per day. Over the course of a year that adds up to $759 billion on salaries for which companies receive no apparent benefit. The number one way that Americans waist time is internet use. Socializing with co-works was the second most popular. Educators are ranked fourth in the time wasting industries
www.salaries.com
Magazine Article
Balance and Harmony:
How Much Time is Wasted at work?
A study by Basex, a New York research firm, found that office distractions ate up 2.1 hours a day for the average worker. That adds up to $28 billion a year in the United States.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the average U.S. executive wastes six weeks every year searching for important documents lost in clutter. If that executive is paid $100,000, a company could be loosing around $11,500 a year just on the one employee.
In a society where we have too much to do in too little time, stress becomes the natural result.
According to the National Safety Council, U.S. companies lose between $200-300 billion a year due to work related stress.
How to Help Reduce Stress at Work
1. Improve your time management and organization skills
- to-do list
- learn to say "no"
- ask for help when you neen it
- stop setting unrealistic goals
-the list goes on.....
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