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Productivity

How to Succeed at Working From Home [3 Educator Tips]

I’ve been working from home for most of the past 15 years… with small kids in the house much of the time. (My children, Clark and Finn are 12 and 10 now, and on Emergency Distance Learning like many students around the world.) So in hopes that I might be able to help some of the millions of teachers around the world now facing similar circumstances, I thought it might be valuable to share the routines, productivity hacks, and collaboration tools that have worked well for me. If you’ve been “working from home” and feeling like you’re “living at work” – I hope this can help. 

Work From Home Tip #1: Routines

In retrospect, the routines I’ve adopted wind up looking quite a bit like the advice you might find elsewhere, but now I’ve lived the benefits of establishing a space for work at home, keeping regular working hours, taking frequent breaks, and getting plenty of exercise.  

I’m lucky to have had a home office (or shared home office) most of this time, but when I haven’t, I set one up in the garage, so I could still close the door. If you’re working at home with kids (or other family or roommates), prioritize a door you can close if you can, even if it’s a bedroom, garage, or a walk-in closet. I usually keep the setup simple and uncluttered; most recently I grabbed a simple 2 foot by 4 foot table (originally from Ikea), raised my external monitor up on a box (for ergonomic reasons), and did away with a keyboard and mouse (using just my laptop to type). But really, a laptop and a clean non-distracting table are all that’s really needed – and the kitchen counter or backyard table make a good change of pace sometimes, especially if others aren’t around for a bit. In my dedicated space, I like a high backed chair, so I can lean my head back and keep from hunching over, which causes strain in my neck and lower back. If you’re going to be on a screen for hours at a time for the first time in your career, don’t underestimate the importance of treating your body right.

From the beginning, I knew it would be important to still keep regular work hours, both for productivity – and for life balance. It’s easy to be distracted by the demands of home or family and to lose your focus on work – and conversely, it can be easy to just keep working well beyond the number of hours that are effective or healthy. When the boys were younger, I had to be more flexible (sleep when the baby sleeps, right?) and I worked more at night to catch up, but even then I kept regular work hours as much as I could, and kept the weekends sacred. By “regular” work hours, I mean “structured and recurring” not “the same as everyone else.” When I had to watch the boys Mondays and Fridays as babies, I did very little work on those days and I worked longer the other days of the week when Eva, my wife, was around to watch the boys. (I know this was a luxury for us to trade off, but working out a shared schedule like that can be one of the benefits of working from home, especially if your partner is too… which is the case for many people right now.)

Even with regular work hours, taking frequent breaks is an important part of treating your body well, especially over the long haul. It took me a long time to get in the habit, but now I know that I need to get up every hour or so (or whenever I notice myself dropping out of flow) to go for a walk around the block. When I’m at an actual office, normal interactions and trips to get coffee and snacks suffice, but at home, I don’t move enough if I don’t make myself get outside and walk. I’ve also done my share of office yoga – I keep a meditation pillow by my desk and even frequently push aside my chair so I can drop down to one knee on the pillow and stretch my hip flexors instead – sitting in a chair all day is brutal on them.

After work hours, it’s important to still get plenty of exercise. If you’re going to be sedentary much of the day (teaching online is WAY more sedentary than teaching in a classroom or leading PD face-to-face), then you have to offset that with vigorous exercise later. For me, I try to workout an hour a day, whether it’s hockey, martial arts, the gym, or just yoga if I need an easy day. Also, I got a reasonably priced Fit Desk a few years ago, and I can now knock out an hour of biking while I work. If I really get in the zone I can go longer and wind up good and sore – happy with my productivity and my fitness. 🙂

Work From Home Tip #2: Productivity

Perhaps the most important way to cut down on your sedentary screen time when working at home is to be more effective with the time you are spending online.  I’ve found great tools to help me with notes, checklists, and email, all with reminders… and an overarching outliner. (What’s an outliner? Read on.)

As any productivity guru will tell you, the key to taking on something daunting is to break it down into more manageable tasks. Also, the key to not feeling overwhelmed and constantly afraid you’ll forget something is to get it into your system pronto. For the most part, I use Google Keep to capture quick notes, checklists, important websites, and even pictures or screenshots of things that require action. Keep allows me to set reminders and then archive notes so they are out of the way. So when I’m ready to work, I visit Keep and see just what needs doing on that day. I also color code the notes so I can prioritize (red, orange, yellow) and batch tasks (like green for financial, purple for anything requiring paper, grey for random) and so on. It’s great to sit down, start with the right color and dig in.

For email, of course I use Gmail, where I use a similar color scheme with Stars and the Boomerang Extension, so I can practice Inbox Zero. When I check incoming messages I skim them, star them if they require follow up (setting the right color if I’m at my desktop or saving that step for later if I’m mobile) and then archiving them. Then, when I sit down to my starred email, I can prioritize and batch tasks for efficiency. If there’s anything I shouldn’t be working on that day, I use Boomerang to make sure it comes back at a timely point. (Boomerang also allows you to bring a message back to your inbox if others don’t respond to it… just because someone else drops a ball doesn’t mean you have to.)

Though many people don’t know they exist, I’m also a huge fan of outliners and of Workflowy in particular. It’s my top level organization tool where I keep track of all these others… plus longer term ideas, or article and book outlines. I have a personal system where in my outliner I keep the day’s count of Keep Notes and Email (plus voicemail and pinned tabs that require follow up) so I can calculate how many hours I’ll need. (I’ve learned from experience that on average I can act on 10 notes or emails an hour, though of course some take much longer and others are quick.)

Work From Home Tip #3: Collaboration

In 2020, it’s highly unlikely you’re working alone, even if you’re working from home. Even teachers who are often alone “behind the classroom door” can have access to their grade level teams, subject area departments, and a global network of peers and experts. I’ve a developed a toolset with a variety of collaborative apps… for text chats, video calls, shared documents, multimedia editing, and connecting with a personal learning network. 

At EdTechTeam we use Slack for our internal chat, and I’m increasingly able to use it with others as well. Unlike Google Hangouts Chat (or most messaging systems), it has the valuable feature of allowing you to star messages for follow up. This is SO valuable that I’ve developed a habit for doing this even if someone just texts me on my phone… I take a quick screenshot and save it to Keep. In Slack though, there are also features such as channels for specific teams or projects, DMs (group or individual) for private conversations, and LOTS of integrations – with Google Calendar and Google Drive for instance.

When we’re ready to move to an audio or video call, we typically use Google Meet for its tight integration with Calendar. And, for teachers who are now engaged in Emergency Distance Learning, recording is currently free, and new features such as the ability to stop students from muting each other and the ability for a teacher to end a (nicknamed) Meet have shored up some of the tool’s weaknesses. We now use Meet for much of our virtual professional development as well… and the sidebar chat is a great way to get all participants engaged, even during something normally as one-sided as a keynote; hundreds can participate in the chat! 

Naturally, I look to Google Drive for collaborative Documents, Spreadsheets, Slides, and Drawings (not to mention Forms). I love being able to manage sharing easily, edit simultaneously, publish to the web, and have a revision history of all the changes made to a document. But these primarily text based productivity tools aren’t the limit of these features on the web today. Using apps like Soundtrap and WeVideo, you can even collaboratively edit audio and video, working together to create music, podcasts, and movies. Using these tools I’m never worried about a damaged or lost device (or which particular device I have handy at the moment) because all of these store my work in the cloud and work cross-platform (Chrome OS, MacOS, Windows, and Linus), and even mobile on Android and iOS. In today’s world of remote work and remote learning, there is no reason to work in isolation or risk losing your saved files. (Many of these cloud-based services even now have the option of working offline when you don’t have internet access, and syncing up right away once you do.)

I hope sharing this series of tips might be helpful to others just now working, teaching, and learning from home for the first time. I’d also love to hear your tips and your experiences in the comments. Please share below, or find me and the team on twitter. 

Formerly a high school English teacher, Dr. Mark Wagner has since served as an educational technology coordinator at the site, district, and county levels. He now serves as President and CEO of the EdTechTeam, a global network of educational technologists which provides professional development and consulting services to learning institutions, non-profits, and for-profit education companies. The EdTechTeam is a California Benefit Corporation with a mission to improve the world’s education systems using the best technology and pedagogy available. They aim to inspire and empower other educators to do the same. They also work with education leaders to address their most difficult problems and reach their highest goals. EdTechTeam was recognized in March 2019 as the Google for Education Partner of The Year.

Mark Wagner has a Ph.D. in Educational Technology and a master’s degree in cross-cultural education. His doctoral research focused on the use of video games in education, and specifically on the potential applications of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) as constructivist learning environments. He is the author of More Now: A Message from The Future for The Educators of Today (2018).

5 Time-Saving Tips Every Teacher Needs to Know

Time. It’s true when people say it’s precious …especially as an educator. We’re constantly balancing data, parent communication and relationships, meetings, testing, and the list goes on (and on). We all want more time to do the things we love, like plan creative lessons and differentiate to meet each and every student in our room. And while it’s impossible to add time to our day, we can find ways to save little bits of it in everything we do. And these little bits can add up, helping us become more productive, creating more time for us to do the things we love.

As a previous classroom teacher, instructional coach, and principal, I have always had to manage a multitude of projects. And for me, it was difficult to juggle until I came up with systems. Systems keep me in line, especially when they include tried and true time-saving tips. It’s amazing how much time one little trick can save you, especially when you use the trick over and over throughout the day.

So, here are my top five time-saving tips that I continue to rely on every day:

TIP #1: Organize Your Chrome Tabs 

Let’s start with Tabs! I feel like the number of Tabs open on my computer at any one time can be a direct reflection of how much my brain is trying to do. It can get overwhelming without a system. Enter, Pinned Tabs. 

Pinning Chrome tabs allows a user to organize tab utilization. When you pin a tab, a few things happen:

  1. The tab narrows and moves to the left of your window
  2. The “X” disappears so you can’t accidentally close a tab
  3. Pinned tabs can only be rearranged within each other, and your group of pinned tabs stays furthest to the left

In order to pin a tab, you simply right-click on the tab and select “Pin.” In order to unpin a tab, you right-click on the tab again, and click “Unpin.”

While in the classroom, I always had my Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Classroom, Gradebook, and class website Pinned. In my position now, I continue to utilize pinned tabs, but they vary between projects and accounts. One thing is for sure, no matter what I’m working on, Gmail, Calendar, and Drive are always pinned.

TIP #2: Easily Access Your Most Important Tabs (Even if You Close Chrome) 

Pinned tabs is always one of the most popular tips in my Google trainings, no matter the audience or specific focus of the training. The first question I always get after I demonstrate the skill is, “How do I keep my Pinned Tabs so they open every time I turn on my computer?” Notice how the question says turn on my computer. Yes, that means that we have to turn off our computer sometimes, actually often. Please don’t fall victim to thinking you can never turn off your computer in order to preserve your systems. This is not good for your device. Here are a few steps you can take so Chrome opens your pinned tabs every time you turn on your device and open Chrome:

  1. Pin your tabs
  2. Go into Chrome Settings (three dots next to your extensions/omnibox, then click “Settings”)
  3. Scroll down to “On Startup”
  4. Select “Continue where you left off”

The trick with this is to NOT close your Chrome window before turning off your device or quitting Chrome. You want Chrome to quit with your tabs open, so that when it reopens, it’s continuing from where you left off – tabs open.

I actually take this one step further. I am always working in at least 3 Google accounts, each in a different window on my computer (for more info on logging into Chrome with multiple accounts click here). I have my device set up to reopen all windows when I start my computer again, on top of choosing “continue where I left off” in all Chrome accounts. This way, when I shut my computer down, I leave all Chrome windows open (pinned tabs and all), so when I go to turn my computer on again, all of those windows will reopen with my tabs right where I left them. It’s a dream and a HUGE time saver for me. The way you complete this step varies, depending on what device you use, but I just wanted to be sure to mention it since it takes the time-saving to the next level.

TIP #3: Take Control …or Command

Don’t let the title of this tip confuse you too much. Most devices utilize the Control key. If you work on a Mac, however, you have a control key, but just to make things confusing, you’ll use the Command key instead of the Control key. 

This simple little key can save you loads of time by creating keyboard shortcuts: combinations of keys that provide quick access to a particular function within a computer program. Much to my students’ dismay, I was not big into keyboard shortcuts. If I had a dime for every time I heard, “But Mrs. Christie, another way of getting there is to hold CONTROL plus…” Ha! I loved learning their systems – it was great to show there’s always more than one way to get somewhere in Google. 

Even though I’m not an avid keyboard shortcut user, there are a few I could not live without. (If you are a Mac user, just substitute the Command key wherever you see Control):

  1. CTRL C will copy highlighted text and CTRL V will paste the highlighted text (think of Velcro)
  2. CTRL SHIFT V will paste your text to match the destination formatting. I am embarrassed to admit how long it took me to learn this one. I guess I didn’t know what I was missing until someone taught me. And if you think about it, the automatic formatting can save loads of clicks since it’ll change the font, size, color, etc. automatically. Try it. You’ll be amazed at how often you use this one!
  3. CTRL X will cut text so that it’s deleted from the original location, and paste it in a new location once you hit CTRL V.
  4. CTRL F will open a search box. This shortcut alone has saved me hours of time searching on the web. For example, I’m searching for how to do something online, and I come across a blog post. While I appreciate the author’s attempt to inform me on lots of content, I only have time for the one skill I’m in search of. I click CTRL F, type in my keywords, and then the search box will find those words throughout the page. I can use the arrows in the search box to jump from result to result quickly. CTRL F is an incredible time-saver, allowing you to find exactly what you need quickly.
  5. CTRL P will allow you to print. And while printing can be handy in some situations, I use this shortcut the most for saving to Google Drive. Just change the destination from your printer to “Save to Google Drive.” This is super handy when trying to keep track of webpage content, for example, an order confirmation, receipt, etc. 

TIP #4: Turn Gmail Into a Time-Saving Virtual Assistant 

No matter the position, email is a huge part of what we do. If we can save bits of time whenever we email, this time can add up real quick. 

One of my favorite, newer features of Gmail is the “Schedule Send” feature. You find this feature by clicking on the little sharktooth triangle next to “Send,” at the bottom of the compose window, and then choose the date and time you’d like your email to be sent. 

    

This feature allows teachers to respond to an email whenever they read them, say 9pm at night, but not have the email go out until 8am the next day (or whatever date and time you choose). This helps teachers avoid setting the expectation that they are going to respond to emails all day and night. 

TIP #5: Slash Grading Time in Half with Google Classroom 

Google Classroom has come a long way since I was in the classroom. But I actually use Classroom as much as ever running our online courses. It is such a powerful tool, and Google is adding new features all the time. Because of its increasing capability, I’m sure if you asked your colleagues about their Google Classroom workflow, you’d find that we all are unique. 

When grading in Classroom, I always add a private comment, for every student, in every assignment. And while some assignments require unique comments for each student, others allow for me to repeat comments. The comment bank in Google Classroom’s grading tool (read more here) is super helpful, but I have found that sometimes even just 3-4 clicks to insert a comment can add up, especially when working with many students. This leads me to my time-saving Google Classroom tip: send a private comment to multiple students at once. Here’s my flow for this:

  1. I go through the students’ assignments in Classroom’s grading tool, one by one. If the student requires a unique comment, then I grade, comment, and return that student’s work from the assignment tool area.
  2. For the students that meet the expectations for an assignment, I only enter their grade on this assignment page, no comment, yet. 
  3. Once I’ve gone through all student work, returning all assignments that required unique comments, I then head back to the Assignment student work page – the page where you can see all of the students’ assignments in one place – with the list of who has turned in, who’s still missing, and which have been graded. This is where the time-saving magic happens!
  4. With one-click, I select all of the turned-in assignments (that all have drafted grades from my work in the assignment tool), and then hit “Return.” At the bottom of this pop-up box is an option for a private comment. I type the positive feedback, then click return, and Google repeats this private comment for each student AND returns all assignments…in one click!

At the end of the day, we only have so much time in a day, so why not free up as much as possible to spend it on what we love? In education, it can be extremely difficult to free up an entire day, afternoon, or even an hour of time. We have to be time scavengers, claiming minutes along the way, and if we’re deliberate, these minutes will add up to hours. 

These 5 tips have been true game-changers for me, as a teacher and a trainer. Which will you try first? I’d love to hear how these tips work out for you. And please, share other time-saving tips you might have by commenting below! 

As Director of Education Partnerships at EdTechTeam, Christina brings a passion for rethinking education to ensure experiences are learner-centered, with a focus on developing the capacity of others to lead and implement transformational work. Christina has worked in various roles in elementary, middle, and high school environments, as Associate Director of the Institute for Personalized Learning, and as a Manager of Partnerships at Discovery Education. She uses her experience as a classroom teacher, instructional coach, principal, and professional development specialist to understand the challenges districts face, and partners with them to create a design that works toward the district’s vision and goals. From Design Thinking to STEM to apprenticeship experiences, Christina is always looking for ways to further empower educators and engage learners in real-life experiences that impact their future.

 

6 Strategies for Using a Zero-based Calendar for School Leaders

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Every day we come to work as leaders, we have the opportunity to advance our schoolwide or district goals…or stay in the same place. It’s a daily choice that is often complicated by the realities of leading a school or district office. You never know what will happen on any given day and this often means working on your goals can fall by the wayside due to the tyranny of the urgent. 

Over the years, one thing has become clear to me. If we don’t utilize our calendars effectively, then there’s a really great chance that we’re going to not allocate the time needed to actually achieve our goals. This is why I operate from a zero-based calendar every single day. I even do this on weekends despite my partner’s misgivings.

The philosophy behind a zero-based calendar is that you schedule EVERYTHING. You schedule your morning routine. This might include exercise, breakfast, mediation or whatever is important to you. You schedule appointments/classroom visits, time to connect with your staff, time to work on projects, time to work towards inbox zero, and so forth. 

If a task or goal is not planned and on my calendar, then there is an EXCELLENT chance that it won’t get done. Just ask my partner 🙂 On the other hand, if you plan for your time, then you will see visible progress on your important goals and projects.

Below are some best practices with a zero-based calendar that I have discovered over time. 

First, you should start small and pick just one or two days a week where you operate from a zero-based calendar. By doing this, you can find a rhythm and identify which times work best for varying tasks. I have also found that starting small avoids feeling “overscheduled” and instead gives you an opportunity to dip your toes in the water. I suggest trying this for the first week and then keep adding on days.

Second, for tasks that require creativity or deep thinking, you should overestimate how long something will take when just getting started. Reality dictates that you probably won’t be very good with time estimates in the beginning. For example, I initially blocked out an hour to write this blog post. And by the time this gets published, I will have spent 2-3 hours through various edits and modifications. My aspiration was to write this in an hour, but I know that I will probably spend upwards of three hours writing a great blog post. At least, I hope you’ll think this is a great post 🙂

Third, with a zero-based calendar you will often find small pockets of time in your day that need to be filled. I suggest using those times for tasks or steps toward a goal that don’t require deep thinking. Examples might include reflecting on your goal progression, organizing and responding to email, returning phone calls, taking a break to walk your campus, check in with staff, or even listening to a podcast. The key is to mix up the activities based on what works best for your day and when you work best. 

My fourth strategy is to actually schedule time for social media check-ins. It’s really easy to go down the rabbit hole of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn and lose track of time. I find that by scheduling the time I will spend on a platform, I am more intentional and seek out better content and interactions. 

A fifth strategy is that you have to be willing to be flexible if an emergency, real or otherwise, comes up. The ‘emergency’ could take the form of a phone call with an upset parent, a student meeting, or a sick spouse or child. Those are things that you would and should deal with in the moment. If your blocked out time is taken up by something like this, then you should take the opportunity at the end of the day to schedule it for your next available time that week. 

Finally, one of the daily activities that I recommend completing with a zero-based calendar is to:

  1. spend a few minutes at the end of the day reviewing what you were able to accomplish and identify if anything wasn’t handled that is a priority and part of your goals.
  2. look ahead to the next few days on your calendar and identify any available time slots
  3. reschedule anything you weren’t able to complete during the day

I hope you find these strategies useful in your day to day work as a school leader. If they are helping, I’d love to hear how these strategies are enabling you to reach your goals. Tag me on Twitter or LinkedIn and use the #leaderhacks hashtag and join the conversation!

Best-

Chris

P.S. If you’re looking for more productivity hacks, then I suggest checking out my colleague Dr. Mark Wagner’s digital workshop that’s all about getting the most out of your time. 

3 Ways Teachers Can Use YouTube To Save Time

When it comes to time, teachers just never have enough.

Time was one of my motivations for writing “50 Ways to Use YouTube in the Classroom”. YouTube is an extremely powerful, creative, and social platform that can and should be harnessed for learning. And the bonus? Productivity. YouTube works for teachers, saving them precious time and automating pieces of their teaching lives. These three tips will get teachers started:

Increase the Playback Speed

I rarely watch a video at normal speed. If a talking head is explaining something, I pick up the pace. When I observed students working in flipped classrooms, they cut 30-minute lectures into half the time and then repurposed that extra 15. They asked me to avoid offending their teachers by keeping this a secret, but it’s not devious—it’s genius! There’s nothing to hide in finding a pathway to an efficient consumption of info. Our students are smart, and we should be too. If we can speed up the time it takes to inform, then we can get to the application and synthesis of learning. Give yourself the gift of a few minutes back:

Use the Watch Later Playlist for PD on the Go

I have a physical inbox on my desk where I toss magazines, articles, and mail to peruse later. I do the same with email. Why not video? Teachers can personalize their own learning with the “Watch Later” button.

Just like a bin for your classroom desk, the Watch Later feature lets you deliver videos you know you want to see to a list you can view when you’re ready. Teachers are busy folks with multiple priorities, and curating your own professional development resources for the moments when you have time to view (commute on public transport, waiting in line, sitting on the soccer sidelines), helps you track new learnings, save important info, and also clear out the clutter.

Saving videos you want to view at your convenience is simple: From the YouTube homepage, simply hover over any thumbnail and click on the clock icon that appears. From a video watch page, click the Add To icon and choose the Watch Later playlist. From your phone or tablet, tap the More Options icon (the three dots that look like a caterpillar). Watch Later is always at the top of your playlist options, and thus, you can save resources at any time from any device and also soak up PD in the moments that work for you.

Broadcast a Classroom Event with YouTube Live Streaming

Good things are happening in your classroom. GREAT things are happening in your classroom. Sharing them has never been easier.

You don’t need fancy AV equipment. Gone are the days of rolling in the tripod from the library. Or transferring video from one device to another. Editing? Out the window. Showcasing and sharing the events in your classroom takes literally–no time at all. Have a presentation parents would want to view? Have absent students that would benefit from watching your instructions? Hosting a guest speaker that other classrooms would like to watch too? Grab your laptop or Chromebook and head to youtube.com. Look for the camera icon with a plus on it and click “Go Live.” Enter a title for your video, smile for a quick thumbnail pic, and click the “Go Live” button while pointing the camera at what you want to broadcast.

If you’re concerned about privacy, you can set the video to “private” and still have a recording archived in YouTube that you can choose to share later. It’s auto-archived and available when you’re ready.

While YouTube may not be able to add time to your lunch break (sorry), these three tips are part of many that trim minutes where they don’t matter so that teachers can spend more time where they do. Let YouTube do the work for you.

Check out these Top Tips for Getting Started with YouTube

About the Author: Patrick Green is the author of “50 Ways to Use YouTube in the Classroom” and “Classroom Management in the Digital Age.” He is also Chief Adventure Officer at Raising a Maker. After two decades working with and learning from students, parents, teachers, and administrators in stateside and international schools, he is living location-independent in the pursuit of extraordinary personalized learning opportunities for himself and his family. A YouTube Star Teacher, Google Certified Innovator, and Apple Distinguished Educator, you can follow how work, school, parenting, and play blend for Patrick at @pgreensoup on Twitter and Instagram and can visit his YouTube channel for more tips and tutorials.

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