Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Spending time to make time in teaching

It is a truth universally acknowledged that in teaching you have to spend time now to make time later for what you want to do.

Today I spent time decluttering the Memorial Cabinet of Classes Past. I thought I'd done a reasonable job of that before, but judging from the old tests I put in the confidential destruction bin, the old notes and handouts I lugged to the recycler, and the transparencies (yes, I still had some!) I tossed out, maybe it's an ongoing process. This freed up a lot of folders. 

Like Bardiac, I like folders for classes, several per class for papers to grade, papers graded, notes, and everything.  Each class has its own color so I can grab the right one easily. They don't need to be pristine as long as they're used folders from my files, and the new old folders now have new labels and are ready to use. 

I spent time writing assignments, too, and instructions, and quizzes, and notes on a novel I'll teach in a few weeks, and lecture notes (which are really just the questions for the class). I also sent a message to the classes about something they need to do that will make an upcoming class easier. I'm teaching another new course this year, so everything is baked from scratch. 

Except for a meeting, this took all day, but it's satisfying to know that I've made some free time on another day.  

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