Dr. Christopher,
Ha! "Hide and work" - interesting phrase. When you do respond immediately, too, you are training your students to always expect a response immediately and that is definitely not always possible. Thanks!
One skill I use is communication. Mainly to let students know the time line and expectation for things like responding to emails, grading assignments and answering forum questions. Once the the timelines are laid out it makes it easier for me to prioritize and such.
I have found great places to hide and work, mainly a home office. I can focus and then take short breaks, and then come back and focus. By doing this I work in small chunks of dedicated time. The one thing that I am very bad with is putting email away and scheduling my email use. I am trying to work on that. I have a tendency to want to reply to everything as soon as I get it, but in reality that is not always possible.
-Chris
Steven ,
It's good to have some sort of agenda or outline to follow to ensure you get to everything. Can you also record your live chats?
I created a outline manual that I follow when doing live chat sessions. I use it to be certain I don't miss any information concerning that week's topics.
Todd,
But, there are 7 days in the week, so you take a day for yourself/family. That's important.
I have set aside time in the morning for Discussion Board response, 5 to 6 days a week. Some days are heavier on the responses than other but I’m always checking the DB. Email is also checked 6 days a week in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon also. Grading is set on days that have been established for faculty to have the grades due. I have an office that I use to complete my work without distraction which helps complete the tasks more quickly and efficiently.
Victor,
Good job. We all have to find that time that works for us so that we have time to dedicate to whatever the task may be. Thanks!
Victor,
Can you NOT accepts late work? I have over 200 students in my class and I simply can't accept late work. Thanks for your input.
Victor,
We all have our "high" times. I'm a morning person, but there are times I have to get work done at night and I make that happen too. I think we all do. Thanks!
Setting aside a specific time to grade, for me it's Sunday night and nothing gets in the way of it. I think this has helped organize the grading for me.
Oh, I like the speed reading idea! I wanna do that. One of things that I do for students that are falling behind is remind them that they can't be late all the time, I'll send them an email asking them to turn in the assignment. Mind you, this is for a few that are always late, I don't do this for the whole class. It works pretty well, not always though.
I think I'm more of a night person, I work before I go to bed, not sure if it's the best. Morning would be good but I'm more focused at night and in the morning it's busy. My time management techniques include calendar reminders in my cell phone, a regular planner to write in and making a conscious effort not to procrastination. I liked how the course said 'turn off email chimes', too.
Scott,
Great idea. I use Outlook Tasks and also make my weekly schedule. It helps a lot. Thanks!
Every Sunday I make out a weekly schedule for all my work and personal items.
Cameron,
Sounds like you have found some strategies to save some time. That's always good!
I have recently discovered that daily participation in the classroom discussion boards to be very helpful. Spending more time reading and responding to discussion boards actually saves time throughout the week since I am able to make better use of live chat sessions. It makes better use of lecture time because I get a better grasp of my student's comprehension of the subject matter which gives me insight on where I need to focus or where I need to adjust my teaching strategies. It saves time during the grading process because I have already read most of the student's posts by the time I actually start recording grades.
Good rubrics also help and I also find that it takes a lot less time to grade a perfect project than it does to grade one that is missing requirements.
Kerstin,
I have asked our institution to develop some professional development for instructors so we can all learn how to more effectively use Outlook email, tasks, etc. We can never know enough.
I concur with Denise, both in terms of utilizing Outlook, and the benefit of having a laptop.:-) I utilize both pretty heavily.
I am finding that setting reminders in particular for things like live chats and office hours, as well as allocating time specifically for grading is very beneficial to me.
KU
Chris,
It sounds like you are very organized. Planners, smart phone, etc., are key tools we can use to help us be more organized. Don't forget to plan down time! ;-)
