What can't I teach without?

by Mohsina Kantharia,
Teacher of Science

 

During my PGCE and NQT year I realised that to make my life easier as teacher there were a few things I needed in my toolkit. I find that good organisation leads to working smartly and efficiently.

 

These things have helped me be more organised and less stressed (!)

 

 

 

 

 

Teacher planner - this is my life saver. If there is one thing I would be lost without in school; it would be this. My planner contains all the information that I would need as a backup if I ever lost my pen drive or the public drive went down. I have printed out and stuck in a year plan of topic for each of my classes, medium term plans, important dates for meetings, CPDs, reports and a log of when parental contact has been made.

I prefer a five or six lesson per page diary as this allows me to quickly bullet point my lesson plan and jot down reminders for homework that has been set or due to be collected in.The notes section acts as my to do list. Here I jot down things that get added on during the day like phoning a parent or copying an exam paper for a student to work on at home.

 

Plastic button wallets, trays or file holders

I find having one for each class I teach is the best way for me to organise paperwork and lesson worksheets. Usually, I try to pre-plan a few days ahead and get worksheets for each lesson sorted and filed in advance. This way I am not running around trying to photocopy last minute or get frustrated when the printer jams. Also, having work printed in advance for the lesson allows me to have the work ready for any students who will be absent.

 

An Electronic Mark Book

As well as a mark book in my planner I prefer to keep track of my students’ marks electronically; using a document saved online that can be updated from either work or home. This does takes time to set up but it is very useful: you can use it to produce graphs that track your students’ progress over time, for example, so you can see quickly and easily how they are making progress.

 

A To-Do list

As teachers we usually find ourselves saying to students do your homework the day it is set, not when it is due. I find that this is not just applicable to students but to teachers too.

I find writing a to-do list of tasks and prioritising the jobs based on when they are due and their importance allows me to stay on top of things. I usually find doing list and ticking off jobs as they have been done also makes me feel productive as I am organised.

 

I am a big believer that working smartly and efficiently not only maintains work-life balance, but also makes me a better teacher.