ten time-saving ideas

1. Check e-mail at specific times of day. It's very possible to check e-mail too frequently and nickle and dime your time. Checking e-mail a only during prep or after school can help save time on tasks.
2. Sort through mail in the staff lounge. Any unnecessary papers can then go straight to the recycle can. That will not only save time, but also give you a chance to make sarcastic remarks about junk mail.
3. Have a filing system. This can include things like "goes to office" or "needs signatures" or "pass out to students." This way, you don't waste time looking through papers.
4. Don't read useless blogs on how to save time. Oops. I take that back. Continue reading.
5. Have a specific time when you do copies once a week and get the entire stack done all at once. This works best if you can come really early, stay really late or if there is a copy machine that actually works.
6. Delegate jobs to students - such as passing out papers, doing bulletin boards, etc.
7. Spend more time on preventative discipline (lesson planning, getting to know students, body language) and less time on discipline conferences with parents.
8. Instead of writing a ton of comments, use a rubric with specific comments to provide more targetted feedback.
9. Ride a bike to work. I know it sounds insane, but you can get to work, excercise and think of lesson planning ideas all in one setting. Plus, it's good for the environment and saves money on gas.
10. Type your lessons so that you can go back and modify the lessons the next year rather than having to re-write them from scratch.