Let’s Not “Fall” Behind: Three Tips to Help You Stay Organized

“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
– Will Smith

It’s about that time of year: the turning of the leaves, the excitement of the holidays . . . the falling behind in your process.

I can’t tell you how many times during my work as a principal that I would frequently come upon new teachers sharing the woes of falling behind. They would hit the ground running in September, excited to be teaching. And by November they’d be feeling completely unprepared and disorganized. This isn’t to say by any means that they weren’t good teachers. It just speaks to the fact that they weren’t as prepared as they thought for the challenges facing them in the classroom. The lesson planning and delivery, tech tool integration and keeping kids engaged in a positive classroom environment are all very hefty and time-consuming goals.

In all seriousness, the need for new teachers to stay focused and organized is going to be critical not only to their own success, but to the success of their students. And in my opinion, finding that organizational balance in his or her work is key to a teacher’s happiness in the classroom.

So how can we support ourselves to stay organized? You may be feeling that you’ve reached the end of your rope with mounting paperwork, parent conferences and that first grading period coming up. But fear not! You can get back on track and feel more at ease, and you can do it soon. Just take a deep breath and consider these Three Tips to regain your focus.

How does a new teacher get started?

1. Create Your Personal Organization Method

Here is an excerpt from David Allen about this process in his book Getting Things Done:

Creating a method for organizing your thoughts and actions depends on five key stages. Remember that trusting your method is essential, so don’t feel pressured to use a particular tool if it really doesn’t work for you. You’ll need to use or create a system that allows you to move between these stages quickly and easily: collecting information; processing that information; organizing the processed results; reviewing those results; taking action.

These are five basic ideas, but they’re great ideas to support us as educators seeking and using our own personalized organization method. David goes on to share that it may take some time to train yourself to take these five steps, but that once you do, it will become second nature to you. Think about how you might begin to develop this in your work, and try using the steps for your next classroom project. See if you aren’t more successful.

2. Write it Down!

Have you ever felt that things were getting out of control in your planning process? Did you take a minute to sit and write it down? And after you did . . . did you feel better?

Here’s what David Allen shares about that simple action:

If you figured out why that works, you probably wouldn’t keep anything in your head ever again! Your brain is not for holding commitments . . . it doesn’t function very well that way. That’s why writing it down didn’t change any thing “out there,” but something changed in how you’re now better engaged with that issue.

Makes sense, right? Isn’t this the whole idea behind why we “write up” lesson plans? In my opinion, it is! Doesn’t it feel great to be able to write up a lesson plan in an organized manner and share it with your students? Why not insure that you do this in all your daily work to increase your organization? Student issues in the classroom? Write them down. Parent coming with a complaint? Write it down. Principal coming to do an observation? Write down all the important aspects that they require. Just by taking the action of writing down the simplest task, you will feel much better when it’s completed and checked off!

Consider using a Web 2.0 tool, such as Evernote, to support you. Evernote is my go-to tool for everything — notes, photos, links and resources — that I want to share. I can also record parts of a speaker’s presentation, colleagues’ messages or an Evernote message to myself to help me to remember the contents. I feel much more organized knowing that I have these items available to share or access at a moment’s notice.

Are you a paper planner person? I am, too. Although I use a Google Calendar, I still keep a Franklin Planner on my desk as well. I also keep a small linedjournal with me at all times for note-taking and capturing ideas that I want to be sure not to forget. As a new teacher, get into the habit of writing down the things that require your attention daily, and you will feel much more organized. I guarantee it!

3. Plan with a Colleague or Mentor

I simply can’t stress this one enough! As a new teacher, it’s such a challenge to stay on top of all the important work that is presented to you. One way to support your resolve to stay organized is to take advantage of planning with a colleague. Developing lessons and getting feedback on their potential success is too hard to do alone. Find a teacher buddy that can do this work with you, and I assure you, the time spent planning will be much more productive. The strongest teams on my campuses were those who planned as grade-level groups. Shared thoughts, ideas and resources never failed to produce happier teachers and excellent results with students. Don’t have a planning buddy? Here is a list of over 100 educators worldwide who have committed their time to mentor and plan with you! Find someone on the list that is a good match, and send an email! Let me know when you connect.

Let’s Not Fall Behind

Staying organized at this time of year will support you in staying focused. It will free you to create great lessons with your students and keep instruction moving ahead. You won’t always be struggling to keep up or feeling like you are behind the eight-ball. In the process, be prepared for potential setbacks on the road to getting organized. Don’t be discouraged. Keep working on refining your process. Get feedback from an experienced teacher who has found the sweet spot for organization.

David Allen’s work is inspiring, and I highly recommend you consider reading his book. In the meantime, check out a recent video created by David if you are interested in learning more about keeping pace with your daily work and feeling less stressed. It’s worth the 45-minute viewing!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Qo7vUdKTlhk]

How do you manage to stay organized during this time of the year? Are you on Twitter? Join us for tonight’s  New Teacher Chat (#ntchat) on November 7th, 2012 at 5PT and 8ET where the topic will be on Tips to Stay Organized!

This post originally appeared on Edutopia, a site created by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, dedicated to improving the K-12 learning process by using digital media to document, disseminate, and advocate for innovative, replicable strategies that prepare students. View Original >

photo credit: lainamarie via flickr

10 Comments

  1. Mayan calender

    Howdy! This article could not be written much better!
    Reading through this post reminds me of my previous roommate!
    He always kept talking about this. I most certainly will forward this information to
    him. Pretty sure he will have a great read. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Lisa Dabbs

      Many thanks to you for stopping by to read and comment!

      Reply
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  3. Teacher Workshop Speaker

    Organization is a topic that will always be talked about! Two tips that greatly help me to stay organized are: 1. Have a set time each day for your task. (ie. reply to emails at 12noon each day, return calls at 2pm, or write out lesson plans a set time per week for the following weeks. 2. I like to keep a 3×5 note card on me daily, as a reminder of the top task that need to be completed for that day. (note cards are written the day before right befor I go to bed.)

    Reply
    • teachingwithsoul

      Thanks so much for your comments! Truly appreciated!

      Reply
  4. Marie King

    This is a fantastic post! I’m sure like any other teacher, I find myself in mass chaos at times between trying to stay organized and on top of everything and racking my brain trying to think of ways to engage my students in ways that I haven’t before, all the while making what we’re learning fun. I just read a great book others might like and find helpful as well, it’s called “Teach Like A PIRATE” by Dave Burgess. You can check him out and get the book right from the website http://daveburgess.com/. Thanks again for the post, every teacher should use these three tips!

    Reply
    • teachingwithsoul

      Thanks Marie for taking the time to leave a comment. I totally know Dave and his Wife and actually just got a copy of Dave’s book sent and autographed by him. I look forward to reading it and maybe doing a blog interview with Dave, soon.

      Many thanks to you for your kind comments…cheers!

      Reply
      • Marie King

        Wow, how exciting!! I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!

        Reply
  5. wilhcarm

    Pinned to my professional reading for teachers board suggesting this is especially good for newer teachers. Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • teachingwithsoul

      Thanks so much for your kind comment my We Teach buddy! Hope all is well with you and yours!

      Reply

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LISA DABBS

Wife. Mom. Educator. Author. She started her career as an elementary school teacher in Southern California. In this role as teacher, she assisted with a grant project and became the Project Director of a Language and Literacy program. Read more

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