Teacher Batching Part 2: How to Define Your Goals and Use Your Time Efficiently
As classroom teachers, our plates are always full and it seems nearly impossible to get caught up in our ongoing to-do list. With limited time and growing responsibilities, no task ever seems to be quite finished, and tasks always seem to take much longer than they should.
As a first-year teacher, I was trying to do every single thing, every single day. Grading, planning, making copies... it was all happening on a daily basis and I really was just surviving day by day.
I got to school nearly an hour before the day began, always stayed at least an hour late, took school home nightly, and came in on the weekends. But it really wasn’t a big deal, because we get summers off. Haha, just kidding. It really wasn’t a big deal though because I was wholeheartedly invested in doing whatever I possibly could for my students.
As first-year teachers, we want to do it all. As passionate as I was about teaching, I had to remember that I am a human first and a teacher second. Although I loved that my whole world revolved around teaching, something had to give and I needed to find a sustainable balance. I needed to find systems and processes that would cut down on the time I was spending in my classroom.
It took me quite some time to finally get a system down that worked for me, and once again, you can read about that journey here, but I know you don’t have that kind of time, so let’s get right to it! Let’s start putting some systems and processes into place so that you can work smarter, not harder, and get your life back!
The Benefits of Teacher Batching
Last week, I talked all about the details of Teacher Batching. I discussed how batching is one of the main blocks of efficient time management.
Quick recap: Teacher Batching means we are going to take a specific amount of time and get one specific thing done in that sitting. We are going to focus on doing one thing really, really well one day per week or maybe only one day a month.
No More Multitasking
If you’re asking, “Is multitasking really possible?” Let me tell you, my husband always says that multitasking is a lie. When we are trying to work on multiple things at one time, either something gets missed, overlooked, or isn’t quite to the standard it maybe should be. This isn’t good for us, and it surely isn’t good for our students.
Our goal today is to get you to a place where instead of multi-tasking and trying to do every single task every single day, we are working ahead and allowing ourselves to focus our time and energy on one specific task at a time. For those of you saying, “But Kayla, I can’t focus on one thing, I’ll never get anything done!” Think of it this way:
You are no longer going to be grading papers every single day of the week.
You are no longer going to be making copies every single day of the week.
You are no longer going to be lesson planning every single day of the week.
You are no longer going to be making bell ringers every single day of the week.
Do you get my point here? No more doing every single thing every single day.
Simplify Your Job
Instead of trying to do so many things at once, we are going to choose one task to do each day. When we work on that task, we are going to “batch it'' so that the work is done for one to two, or even three to four weeks at a time. An example of this would be bell ringers.
Instead of coming up with a bell ringer on the fly every single day before your students enter the room, you are going to sit down and create your bell ringers for the entire month at one time. This is going to allow you to use time efficiently. Once that task is created for the month, you don’t have to think about it again for an entire month!
Here are a few more examples:
Instead of printing off the spelling list each Monday, try printing every spelling list for the next 6 weeks at one time. Paper clip them together and set them aside to be used in the weeks to come.
Instead of planning your morning meeting five minutes before your students arrive each morning, try mapping out your morning meetings for the entire month.
Instead of planning your math lessons day by day. Begin with the end in mind - map out your entire math unit at one time. This will allow you to know your content and standards better, allow for pre-assessments, be able to batch the lesson planning, and print/gather resources for the entire unit all at once instead of scrambling day after day.
Instead of sending one or two positive emails every single day, try sending 5-10 positive emails once a week.
But Kayla, where do I even begin?
Don’t worry, I am here to walk you through step-by-step teacher batching and show you how to define your goals!
First things first,
Making An Outline of Responsibilities
Teacher Responsibilities - Think of all of your teacher tasks and responsibilities. Create a list of every single thing you do in your classroom on a weekly basis. From creating your morning meeting lessons and activities to filing paperwork, working through standards, entering grades, sending positive emails, making your bell ringers, etc. List out every single task.
Sorting Responsibilities - Using highlighters or symbols, start sorting responsibilities. Which tasks can be grouped into similar categories?
Define your Focus - Align responsibilities to days of the week - Which days make the most sense for each task to be completed? What makes the most sense to complete on Mondays? Tuesdays? Wednesdays? etc. For me, our eligibility reports are pulled on Wednesdays, which means all grading needs to be up-to-date by Wednesday morning. With this, Tuesdays quickly became my grading days. I knew I couldn’t keep up with grading every single day of the week, so eventually, I just gave up. It wasn’t sustainable for me. Check out this blog post to dive into how I cut down on the time it took to grade papers and how I kept all of the homework organized until I graded it.
Here was my schedule:
Monday - Batch Planning + Miscellaneous day - Positive emails, filing, organizing (Podcast - always a go-getter on Mondays)
Tuesday - Grading
Wednesday - Finalize following weeks’ lesson plans
Thursday - Copies + prep all supplies needed for next week
Friday - Post following weeks lesson plans online, layout all materials for Monday, clean classroom
Keep in mind, when you’re planning for a month at a time, your responsibilities won’t always look the same. You don’t have to plan your bell ringers every single Monday if you plan them for four weeks at a time. If you’re teaching elementary or multiple content areas, each Monday might be devoted to a different item that you are batching for the next month. One week it might be morning meetings, the next Monday you plan out art for the quarter/trimester, the next Monday might be your math, reading, science, or social studies unit, etc.
Now You’re On Your Way
Once you get into the groove of planning for extended periods of time you’ll never look back! This definitely goes back to curriculum mapping, which c-h-a-n-g-e-d my life! If you’re ready to map out your entire year at one time, be sure to check out this curriculum mapping workshop.
Overall, your teacher plate is full and if you keep trying to balance every single item on your plate, something is going to break. And honestly, it might just be you. We know teacher burnout is a real thing. The expectations for teachers are out of this world. If you’re looking for permission to slow down, to process what you’re doing, to be able to look at the weeks ahead and know what’s actually coming up, you need to start batching your teaching responsibilities.
Be sure to head on over to the Let’s Talk Teaching Podcast episode to hear more about how you can work smarter not harder and get to a sustainable point in your career where you aren’t working during every single second of free time that you have. It’s okay to be passionate about teaching and also want time for your friends, family, and hobbies outside of school. You’re worth it, I promise!