Kirsten 0:00
This is the social studies teacher podcast, a show for busy elementary teachers looking for fun and engaging ways to easily add social studies into their classroom schedule without feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time. I'm curious to know if you southern teach an educator and mom who is passionate about all things social studies, I love sharing ideas and strategies that are low prep and easy to implement. So let's dive in together.
Running out of time, oh, sorry, guys, it's time to wrap it up. We have to finish this tomorrow. I hate to cut this discussion short. But we need to go to PE. If you find yourself having said these phrases, and maybe a little bit more frequently than normal. You might, this episode might be good for you. Whether it's teaching face to face or virtually, it's so hard to find the time to make these required minutes that we're supposed to have for ELA and science and math and social studies fit seamlessly as seamlessly as possible in our daily schedule, we might end up selling ourself and our students short, and it leaves everybody stressed in the process. Time management can be a huge task to accomplish. And I'm with you when I can say that sometimes there just doesn't seem like there's enough time in the day. For me time management can be hard as far as I really have to purposefully make sure I get to things on time because I am perpetually late, usually not too late. But just like late enough where I'm always running behind and I make it just after when I need to be. And that was very problematic. In my first couple of years of teaching, I really had to make a very, very strategic effort to make it and leave as early as possible so that I can make it on time. What does help are small time saving tricks that not only keep your class schedule on track, but are also easy to implement. I'm going to be sharing with you today, some time management hacks that can help save some time but also can be easily implemented into your classroom.
Alright, so tip number one is to utilize digital slides. Digital slides are created through a slideshow program like PowerPoint or Canva. And they can be customized iced and tailored to fit your classroom theme and needs, you're able to add as much or as little as you want. You don't have to be a graphic designer. And there are tons of templates online that you can choose from. I have editable slide templates that I've created. And I'll make sure to link those in the show notes. And I think Christina is Yukino has really cute ones as well. One way to use digital slides is at the beginning of the day, when students come in the slides on the board would tell them what they need to do and easy steps that are broken down. That way you can save your energy for getting ready for the day. Another way to use digital slides are during your stations time, you can display groups on your board with the station that they're at for the day. And you can also use digital slides to guide your class or morning meetings, I've done all of the above. They're so helpful for students who are visual and they just kind of need to see the process. The slide can be used as little or as much as you want to. But I recommend starting with at least a morning slideshow. While it might take some preparation beforehand, the template that you create can be used over and over again, you just have to plug in the date and specific activity that you're doing.
The second time management tip I have for you is utilizing a daily agenda. This one is my favorite. I'm a big fan of using an agenda. This can be used on a regular whiteboard or on a smartboard. If you're teaching virtually, you can make it digital with a slide and refer to it throughout the day. There are different types of students of course, as we all know, who liked to know what they're doing and when they're doing it. So having a daily schedule or agenda with times, or you know, where you a little spot on the board where you can post a schedule with a brief synopsis of what's happening in each subject every day is super helpful. This helps me also just because it helps me keep us on track me and my students on track throughout the day. It's easy to reference as we go through the day's routine. So even when I'm coming in the classroom for the day, I quickly glance because I always set up my daily agenda for the next day before I leave the school. And I can see oh, we're doing this, this this and I can quickly know what I need to get.
The third time management tip would be to use a timer for everything. This can be done physically or virtually. But using a timer or an alarm can maximize your day tremendously when you're strapped for time. If you're teaching face to face, you can display a timer for transitions independent work time stations, I would set alarms for everything like when it's time for lunch when it's time for specials when it's time to pack up recess. And even like taking a restroom break. I had a timer for pretty much everything. A timer before I needed to pick up my kids, I would set a timer 10 minutes before that was my 10 minute alarm. And using your phone can be just perfect to use. But there are a lot of great easy tools to use. I had alarm set on my phone that would go off. And that was what worked for me it helped so much.
The fourth time management tip I have for you is to model and reinforce expectations. This one requires some front loading and reinforcement at the beginning. But in the long run, it can help save a lot of time, stress and headache. If you're teaching and modeling expectations from the very beginning of school, that might take a lot of work and time. But the more you do it the more you practice and model those transitions, the easier it will be for students to work efficiently on their own. The best thing about this time management hack is that if you see it starting to slip it like if it's getting longer to transition to line up, or students aren't able to self monitor themselves like normal, you can always bring them back in to model and reinforce expectations. This tip might be the most arduous, but I think it is also the most worthwhile in the long run just because when students are self sufficient, you're able to teach what you need to when you need to and students are also able to maximize their own learning.
The best thing about all four of these strategies is that you can combine as much as you want. So you should let me know on Instagram at the seven teach which ones you're going to be implementing this week. I do have more tips not only on time management, but also parent communication and student learning styles with the free classroom community mini course. This is a free podcast series for upper elementary teachers, you'll get access to a special course hub with the audio. And at the end of the series, you'll get a PD certificate that you can utilize. It's super helpful has a lot of great documents to guide you through the different parts of an essential classroom community, which I promise you is not too late. You can go through this course, anytime of the year. It's always a great refresher. You can do it over winter break, New Years, however you want to go about it.
All right, well, that is the end of this podcast. I hope you have a great day and also a wonderful rest of your week. Thanks for listening to the social studies teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, hit that subscribe button and leave a review. I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I can't wait for you to join me in the next episode for more teacher tips and strategies.
