15 Ways to Work Smarter (Not Harder) Next School Year

Work smarter, not harder: It’s a common adage for teachers who want to bolster their time management skills by keeping overtime at a minimum and classroom efficiency at a maximum. It's always a good idea to regularly check in with yourself and assess which time management strategies have been the most effective for you so far — and when to implement a few new ones. 

Here, elementary teacher Genia Connell shares 15 tips on how to make the most of your time each day in the school year ahead so that you, too, can work smarter. Some of these ideas (say, those involving parent volunteers) may depend on your school district's policies, so be sure to refer to those before starting.  

1. Archive Your Lesson Plans: Lesson planning takes an enormous amount of time and energy — the first time you do it. By developing a system for saving and archiving your lessons (hint: use binders!), you will be able to easily retrieve a lesson from a prior year, make a few modifications, and voilà: a new lesson for the new school year in a fraction of the time.

2. Day of the Week Baskets: Put all copies, books, and manipulatives you need for the current week in baskets (or hanging file folders) that are labeled with days of the week. Keep your teacher editions right next to them where they are easy to grab. This is also a great setup for a substitute teacher who will then be able to easily find everything they need in your teacher workspace.

3. Use Parent Volunteers: Parents are eager to help out in the classroom, and many hands make light work! Schedule parent volunteers to come in twice a week to make copies, put up bulletin boards, and work with small groups. 

4. Jobs-to-Go: Keep stacking trays right by your door to fill with papers to copy, items to laminate, or work that needs to be prepped for a lesson. You can easily grab the baskets to catch up on work during your planning time. 

5. Paint Your Bulletin Boards: You can save a great deal of prep time by painting your bulletin boards rather than putting up new backings. 

6. Easy Bulletin Board Backing: Using plastic tablecloths on bulletin boards is another way to save time since they don't fade and last longer than other backing materials. Use borders that are brightly patterned, and when you want to change your board, all you have to do is switch out what’s on top, not the tablecloths underneath. 

7. Quick and Easy Daily Assessment: Start the day with morning bell work to regularly assess how your students are progressing. After taking attendance, walk among your students with a grading sheet for a quick check on how they did and what areas may require more focus. 

8. Planning Time "To-Do" List: In addition to planning your daily lessons, you should plan out your release time, too. Connell’s strategy is to list four must-do items each day that take priority and have to be finished before she can move on to anything else.

9. Planning Time “To-Don’t” List: Your planning time is limited, and there is no room for distractions! Post a reminder next to your computer of what you should not do during your planning time. Connell’s number one item is: Don’t respond to emails needing more than a one-sentence reply during the school day.

10. Just Say "No": No matter how much you like to help and be there for people, sometimes enough is enough. When you’re already swamped with to-do’s, saying “no” is vital to keeping your head above water. 

11. Student Helpers: Classroom helpers can keep your classroom tidy and running smoothly. Tasks like emptying the pencil sharpener, putting trash cans in the hall at the end of the day, and sorting and organizing papers are great classroom jobs for student helpers.

12. Clean as You Go: Find a place for everything and put everything in its place! When you clean as you go, your room will be tidy and spotless at the beginning of the day, the end of the day, and at all points in-between. The key to keeping things clean is having a well-organized classroom.

13. Put Students in Charge of Your Class Library: Organizing a classroom library should be a team effort. Assign each student to be in charge of one or two baskets in your class library. This will give them a sense of ownership as they work to maintain the orderliness and organization of their book baskets — so you don’t have to! 

For more classroom library tips, here’s how to care for the books in your classroom library. 

14. Have Consistent Classroom Themes: Instead of changing out your back-to-school and other classroom themes every year, stick with consistent and reusable themes. It might be the fifth time you’ve displayed your Our Healthy, Happy Class Bulletin Board, but the theme will continue to be relevant year after year!

15. Take Care of Yourself: One of the easiest things to skip when you are short on time is self-care. Make time for yourself each day for exercise, meditation, or simply reading a book — whatever you enjoy. Taking care of your body and mind can help you accomplish your tasks faster and with new focus and less stress.  

Shop supplies to keep your classroom running smoothly below! You can find all books and activities at The Teacher Store.