(or How To Juggle Effectively)
![Drowning in data picture - Creative Commons image](/uploads/1/2/1/0/12102544/1209965.jpg?362)
Deadlines. Grades. Progress Reports. Caffeine. Bloody noses. Staff meetings. Professional Development. Coffee. Recess duty. Bus duty. Parent conferences. Caffeine. Learning. Smiling. Patience. Collaboration. Snow day. Vacation!
So many things happen every day in a school. No two days are alike. "So, what's your day look like?" Um, well, it depends. It's exciting. It's exhilarating. It's crazy. It's wonderful and it's exhausting. (All teachers are nodding their sleepy heads reading this.)
Yet, the joy of teaching comes when that student says, "OH, I get it!" or "I can't do this - YET, but I'll keep trying." Finding joy in the every day moments is important in everyone's life, but it is especially true in a school setting. Our students come to us from all kinds of situations - good and bad. It's our job - and might I suggest that it's also our joy - to educate, inspire and grow these small people into creative, collaborative adults.
The best advice that I can give you, is to find a method of organization that takes little effort to maintain. If you aren't organized now, carve out a few hours somewhere in your busy life and get a plan in action. You don't have to spend a lot of money, but let your technology work for you. Pick one tool to try out and see what happens! You may just find that you have a lot more time and a renewed energy to get it all done.
Here are a few of my favorite tools:
- For a To Do list, I'm a huge fan of Wunderlist. Cross platform, easy to use and clean.
- To organize your documents, nothing beats Google Drive. All the familiarity of your Office products, with most of the features. Stored in the cloud for access on any internet connected device and saved automatically.
- Saving receipts, emails, or well, just about anything, try Evernote.
- Professional development: Twitter and Pinterest.
Not sure how to use these? Do a quick search on the internet for the application and tutorial. There are lots of videos that will walk you through the basics to get you up and running.
Follow me on Twitter! @BarbVinal