Like many of my colleagues here, I have a multitude of strategies for time management. I save and reuse DB posts from one term to the next. It is much easier to tweak a post in response to a specific student or comment than start from scratch if it is a technical topic.
I save my gradebook comments in a large spreadsheet that covers just about every eventuality for a student response -- even when the students are allowed to choose a topic. Each term, I just add on any comments for new topics.
I often work early in the morning and late at night. The house is quiet and there are few distractions.
At one time I taught for 5 schools. I needed a chart to organize and prioritize the activities. Now I teach only at one school full-time, but still find that to do lists are beneficial.
Most importantly, I find that I work best with hard deadlines. It forces me to reduce my procrastination and get things done on time. I also find that my students will hold me to a schedule!
I have never tried Jing, but I am going to look into it. Thank you for the recommendation!
--Erin
Erin ,
When you grade written papers as though you are an editor (as it seems you are doing) instead of changing everything for the students, they will learn more. Students need to know what they did wrong and why it is wrong - then they can improve. Have you tried Jing or another desktop/voice recording device that corrects your voice and edits? Students like that in my business communication course and others. Thanks!
My favorite time management technique is using technology to increase my productivity. As an English Composition instructor, I have to grade quite a few papers and provide detailed and specific feedback with resources. Since typing all this information on the papers can be quite time consuming, I use the autocorrect feature in MS Word to post detailed comments related to common errors that I often see. These comments can be placed on the paper with a simple code I've created.
For example, if I see a student has written a paper with a run-on sentence, I highlight the sentence in the paper then type "RO" in a comment in the margins and a detailed comment that I have created pops up. In the detailed comment, I have provided a brief explanation of run-ons, a link students can click for further reading/examples on the subject, and a link to an online quiz students can click to take to practice identifying and correcting run-ons.
Rather than having to type these kinds of comments over and over, using auto-correct helps me give detailed and specific feedback in a way that increases my productivity and reduces my stress because I have time to devote to other teaching related tasks. Bonus -- the autocorrect option creates consistency in the comments and feedback that I give students.
Of course I still provide a personalized end-comment on papers, but the autocorrect strategy works well for in-text comments.
Merle,
Challenging is a great word to describe online learning. Can you give an example of your workday "systems?" Thanks!
The online platform can be a very challenging delivery platform. Organizational skills are essential to developing effective time management. I have developed a schedule that affords me the opportunity to maintain a routine. The routine helps me to be organized. I establish workday "systems" and maintain a to-do list. In addition, I use all tools available such as discussion rubrics and grading rubrics.
I find that these time management skills are definitely beneficial to the online instructor.
Christen,
I'm a "list maker" as well. We have to stay on track to help keep our students on track. Thanks for your input.
I have found that I must make to-do lists if I am going to be successful. I work from home, for two different universities with very different requirements. If I make a list the night before of what I need to do, I am better able to accomplish my goals.
Christen Embry
Dori,
Time management for the instructor is so important. If you can share you strategies with the students to help them develop good time management skills, please do. We can all learn from others expertise. Thanks!
I have implemented my time management skills by allocating proper amount of days/hours per class for tests, discussions, emails, labs and assignments. Certain days are set aside for discussions while other days I grade tests and papers. Everyday, I must answer emails, so I typically do that first, then start on the rotation for each class with grading and responding to discussions. In order to get everything completed and checked, I have a "checks and balance" system.
Traci,
Sounds like you are developing a system that works for you. It helps me to have two email accounts. The university one for work and my gmail for personal. I don't check my gmail account while I am working. Keep up the good work at using your time wisely.
I often find it can be challenging to make specific time to get work done while working as an online instructor from home. I must set aside each time to devote to work and not worry about laundry, dinner, or other obligations. Being at my computer all day can also be a challenge as I must avoid personal emails during the time I have set aside for work.
Stanley,
Nice job. The correct and incorrect examples will be very helpful to the students. It's good to also add additional comments when necessary. Thanks for your input.
Since I teach writing, I have built a database of comments on common writing errors with correct and incorrect examples that I can copy and paste into marginal comments as appropriate.
George,
Thank you for the comprehensive post. Looks like time management is especially important to you and to online teaching. We all need to have the days off. Thanks for your input.
The time management skills that I have developed relative to teaching online are those which have actually evolved over the years since my days in graduate school. The first thing that had to be set was place, then time, then duration of being “in the office.†I treated the time and place to work on the degree as a “job†and this is how I consider telecommuting in general. The good part of that is that I select time and place but to an extent it has to be a routine. I chose a corner of the den for my space. I set up a desktop and laptop at 90 degree angles, obtained a comfortable chair (not too much so) and a small bookshelf. There was a bulletin board (old school) to post notes, a calendar, and space on the desk to open papers and books. Finally I had a small metal file box.
As I chose a living area as the space, the time to be in my “office†was generally set late at night and/or early in the morning. These hours did not interfere with time with my family, my “other job†and so forth. There were literally no distractions and I was not “in the way.†I found it particularly important to spend a predetermined time in the office, usually 2-4 hours, and on days when I did not have that much to do, I would use the time for planning. I would check e-mails as well as other correspondence, and followed the rule to handle the mail or the paper only once. My exception to doing work in the office was and is seeing to voice mail and phone calls. Key here is to provide enough information to students (back then to my instructors) so as to prevent confusion and thus a proliferation of questions. I also use IM so that students can contact me whenever I am online. Although I post me phone numbers and encourage students to call if they are stuck, the number of times that happens is seldom.
Key in time management is knowing the scope of the work so that you can plan. In my degree process it was pretty much the same that it is as an instructor. What must be accomplished by/on specific dates, then how will time and effort be allotted to tasks? Although some time might be “overtime†as far as being in the office completing those tasks, it generally comes out well if there is forethought put into what has to be accomplished and, given my skills, how that will be done and over what time period. I do not procrastinate and loathe getting behind, but on days when I must attend to a family event or just do not feel like going to “work,†I plan a makeup time in case I need to catch up. By using the office hours that I established, I find that I can usually work ahead to afford a day off here and there
Lindsay,
The multiple accounts and tasks and the combination of F2F and online courses can become overwhelming. Establishing those time management guidelines will help. Thanks.
Janis,
Ah - that sounds like a nice time of the day. Thanks.
Wendy,
Good point. You never know how answering one question may help a student move forward toward the learning outcomes or that one answer may help many students. Thanks.
I do something quite similar. Since I use excel for grading and then just copy and paste into the grade book, I have a template that I use each term. Within this template, I have my common responses that I can copy and paste into their grades.
I love the idea of doing the same for the discussion board posts. This isn't possible for some of the units as the students are posting specifics for their own essays, but it could save time in others.
The FAQ/FATQ section is a great idea. I could see setting up discussion board for this, but this does add another "location" for me to check multiple times a day.
I am also interested in ideas for preventing burnout. I teach full time face to face as well as adjunct for online courses. This can get very overwhelming, and I'm struggling to manage the multiple email accounts, administrative tasks, and student interactions on a daily basis.
