Tena:
I grab a coffee and start early in the morning. when the house is quiet and I am fresh from a good night's sleep!
I go into each class every day if only to answer questions. I find if I miss a day it really does cause me to get behind. I also let my students know generally what time of the day I am online as it helps them to plan. I also generally grade and provide feedback at the same time each week. I live by a schedule.
Robert,
Structure is good - especially in an online course. And, it sounds like you have a way of letting your students know how your system works. Nice job.
I'm rather structured. Consulting with 12 hospitals, a patient practice, and teaching requires as much time management as possible. This isn't always perfect but having my email and phone system connected to the university lets me stay in contact fairly well. My grading is done every Monday, as the students know. Emails are responded to three times per day. And postings are usually done in the evening.
It helps to not have children and a supportive wife who is a nurse. So although my hours can be flexible, discipline is key as much as possible.
My students are very important to me. I view them as the future in the industry and deserve as much time as possible. They also have access to me by phone on most weekends.
megan,
Time management, priority management and setting the rules/regulations for communication are essential. Nice job.
For me, in addition to teaching online, I am a nurse and I work nights. I have two little kids, so free time is not a luxury I have! For my time management, I use various access methods for logging in to my courses & email (smart phone, tablet, computer) so that regardless of where I am physically, I can be available to the students.
Julie,
Prioritizing if the key. It's not time management anymore, it's priority management. Keep up the good work.
I have learned to prioritize the tasks for every day and plan ahead. When I know I will have 20 written assignments come in for grading, I carve out a block of time to do that. Sometimes, I will wake up at 5 am and grade since my brain is clearer and the house is quiet.
I participate in the discussion forums, grade assignments and respond to emails on a daily basis.
With the help of Yahoo calendar synced to my email, I get notifications about pre-planned tasks.
denise,
It's great to put things on your calendar and actually block out that time. Ah - and you can do your grading outside. How nice.
I have time set aside in my Outlook Calendar to grade and to post in the DBs. The weather is so nice outside, I have been getting up before my family and grading assignments outside at the picnic table.
Jennifer ,
Nice job. When you help the students see the themes/threads in the dicussion you can go deeper. And, your point about planning ahead is well taken. For the email burnout, try this - Set up a Frequently Asked Questions discussion board. Tell students NOT to email you but post their question on the discussion board so that all students may benefit from the question and answer. Then, provide a little extra credit for students who answer the posted questions correctly and completely. You'll be surprised how your email overload will lessen. Thanks!
One strategy I use is to compile a Word document for each of the unit Discussion Board activities. Because I like to interact with the students daily, I find that there are common themes and “comments†that I can make that deepen the discussion. I save my replies to students in this Word document so I can easily re-use them each session. These posts might provide a link to related research, some personal experience tied to the discussion, etc. I then personalize the response to fit the post of the student (adding a few comments to make it specific to him/her, such as using his/her name).
Another time management method I have used is taking time at the start of each class to prepare materials and plan out my announcements, supplemental materials, etc. By planning ahead I am able to save time during the course so I have more time for student interaction.
One area I REALLY struggle with that I am hoping this course will address is how to prevent burnout from checking my emails and for submitted work too often. If I could limit this to a couple of times a day I think it would help my sanity ïŠ
Guerda,
I log in daily and I tell the students they should log in daily. I also tell them that if the post a question on the FAQ discussion board between Sunday and Thursday it will be answered in 24 hours. If they post Friday or Saturday, it will be Monday before the post will be answered. It's a system that works for me.
I have learned how to log into the course on an daily basis to avoid the overload at the end of the week. I participate in the discussion forums, grade assignments and respond to emails on a daily basis.
Emily ,
And, it's not even time management any more - it's priority management. We have to know what we must do first to stay ahead. You bring up some very good points. I think you have thought about this for awhile. ;-)
Scheduling my time effectively is one of the greatest factors for me to be a successful instructor. The first thing I did to create an effective time management plan was to figure out what are the best times of the day when I work the most effectively and efficiently. (I also encourage my students to find the best times of the day that they work best. I encourage them to stick to this time!) From here, I blocked out specific hours in the day and week that I would dedicate to grading, posting comments on the discussion board, writing lectures, answering emails, etc.
I would be lost without my day planner, as it’s up to date with tasks that need to be completed each day. I often rate my tasks in terms of importance. In addition to keeping close tabs on what I need to accomplish each day, I also strive to stay ahead of myself. I try to stay ahead of deadlines in case an unforeseen interruption in my schedule occurs. It certainly pays to think ahead, but most of all, to be flexible!
David,
Good point. I also see now in my job as well that is it not only time management, but priority management that is essential. Thanks for your input.
Overall understanding of what needs to be done is critical. Only when one understands what needs to be done can one create a time management strategy. Else the strategy will have flaws and time will be wasted on insignificant items.
Thomas,
Right on. I had a student email today to see if she could do everything early. I said, "Why not!" ;-) Love students like that. Thanks for your input.
Thomas,
Planning ahead is a big factor in time management. This is a good skill we can help our students develop. Thanks for your input.
