Tag: <span>Time</span>

Time Management Tips – 5 Essential Steps to Reduce Stress During Time Crunches

Posted in Education by anshbookstore on December 22, 2021 @ 8:29 pm

Time management tips really help you manage yourself when you are stressed, rushed, and caught in a time crunch. Those are, after all, the times when it’s hardest to make your best time choices.

Here are 5 Stress-Reduction Steps to Take the Crunch Out of Your Time

Work Within Your Limits. It sounds easy. It is not so easy. Take a deep breath. Recognize the reality that you don’t have time to get everything done that you might have hoped to. Straightforward as it sounds, it requires truly relinquishing options you might value highly! In Scott Peck’s classic, The Road Less Traveled, he lists “balancing” as one of the four essential disciplines to solve all life’s problems. At the heart of balancing is letting go. You assume more positive control by reducing demands on yourself to a workable level. Having simplified your demands, you can succeed!

Prioritize Decisively. Quickly make or revise your to do list (on paper) with “must do” items at the top and things that you can let go of at the bottom. This assures that you don’t miss a key task. In fact, recent studies show that your brain is simply not engineered to store lists. Translating your plans into written, easily implemented “next action” steps is a priceless stress reduction tactic.

Assertively Ask for Assistance. It’s OK to ask for help, and it’s important to be calm and clear when requesting it. Being firm and friendly, not frenzied, keeps the stress level at a minimum for everyone (yourself included). If help can’t be obtained, return to step one and reduce your list further.

Give Thanks. Fourth, once everything is done that can be done in the time span available, be sure to thank everyone who pitched in – and if it was just you, be sure to thank yourself and validate the effort that carried you through! Expressing appreciation provides an opportunity for gratitude to restore balance and perspective, and it helps consolidate good will.

Review and Revise. This step, often overlooked, pays rich dividends. When you have a moment to catch up with yourself, review what happened that left you in a situation with too much to do in too little time. Ask yourself these 3 questions:
- Was procrastination involved?
- Were there unexpected changes in your day that threw a wrench in the works?
- What can you do to avoid a situation like this in the future?

Time management skills can’t address every eventuality, and there will be times when you have to squeeze too much activity into too little time. However, doing what you can to forestall stressful crises, minimize their impact, and learn from them is a great gift to yourself.

Now, what is your next move towards stress-free effectiveness?

Source by Paula Eder

23 Sep

10 Must-Have Time Management Tips for Working Students

Posted in Education by anshbookstore on September 23, 2021 @ 7:47 pm

Trying to manage all the demands of working, raising a family and going to school is no easy task, but it is possible. Working students just like you can truly still have it all! Student time management skills are your secret weapon to daily survival and success in reaching your goal!

Working students have lots of responsibilities taking up the majority of their time; but does that mean you’ve given up on your dream of someday having the rewarding career you’ve always imagined? Hopefully not. Read on to find out how to get ahead of the game as a working student.

Follow these ten tips to make working, raising a family and going to school manageable:

Set attainable goals and prioritize.
Create a support system.
Find a job that works around your school schedule.
Find reliable daycare.
Make a schedule, but be flexible.
Stay organized.
Manage your time well.
Delegate household responsibilities.
Control stress levels.
Maintain focus and know that it can be done.

1 – Set attainable goals and prioritize.

Choose realistic goals and stay focused by prioritizing what is most important to you and your desired objective.

Every decision you make should depend on your actual abilities. For example, if you can’t fit a full class load into your schedule, then start with just 1 or 2 classes a semester and go from there.
Once you know how much you can handle with school, you can attempt adding more to your schedule.

A good tip is to break down one big goal into several smaller goals that are easier to manage.

First, write out goals.
Then take note of the progress you’ve made as each goal is checked off your list; this will build up your confidence.

This first student time management tip – “Set attainable goals and prioritize.” – is the most important. Once you master this skill, the remaining 9 tips should be easy to put into practice.

2 – Create a support system.

Get buy-in from your existing support group: Discuss your decision to go back to school with your employer, family and friends. Make sure they understand why you are doing it, and that you – a working student – are going to need their help along the way.
Reach out to your new support group at school: Use your school counselors, join a study group, get to know other working students who have similar daily obligations. Just make sure not to alienate existing friends or family members. You will not believe how much this support will help you in your pursuit of a new career.

3 – Find a job that works around your school schedule.

Find flexible work because school is your priority now.

If there are others that can do what you do at your job, it will be easier to take time off and trade shifts to work around your school schedule.

Look for jobs at the school you go to, at your child’s daycare, or maybe something you can do from home. If your employer doesn’t understand, look for a new one.

4 – Find reliable daycare.

Decide which form of childcare will work best for you and schedule to meet with them. Once you’ve chosen your arrangement, locate a few back-up sources in case anything changes. There are many choices for reliable childcare, such as:

Public and private daycare centers
Preschools
In-home daycare
Parent trade-offs
Babysitting pools
Family members
Nannies

5 – Make a schedule, but be flexible.

If you haven’t already done so, make a schedule.

This schedule should be at least somewhat flexible and contain every activity required of your day.
Once you have it all down in writing and can see it from a better perspective, figure out what can be shuffled and what needs to stay put.
The time between work and family obligations can be used for study and homework.

Now that your schedule is complete, don’t forget to communicate your daily obligations to your family, employer and friends. Once everyone knows what to expect of your time, things should run smoothly.

6 – Stay organized.

To succeed as a working student, you must stay organized in all aspects of your life. You will notice that when your spaces are organized, your thoughts follow suit. Knowing where everything is at any given moment will also save you valuable time that can be put towards more important tasks.
Keep your schedule up to date. Any changes that must be made should be updated immediately. This is especially important at the start of a new semester, when class times tend to change and new arrangements need to be made.

7 – Manage your time well.

Successful student time management is all about preparing and making every minute count. For example, use the valuable time before you go to sleep to:

Lay out clothes
Pack up lunches and backpacks
Set out keys, coats and shoes (weather appropriate)
Get the coffee ready to brew
Take a shower
Decide on a breakfast menu

This will save you precious time in the morning and insure that you won’t be late to anything.

8 – Delegate household responsibilities.

Delegate, delegate, delegate! If you have children over the age of 4, they can probably lend you a hand around the house and lighten some of your load. Make sure that everyone contributes to the family and has a job that they can actually do. In doing this, you will teach your children valuable skills for living independently in the future. And don’t forget to use your support system.

9 – Control stress levels.

Keep stress in check. For a working student or parent going back to school, relieving stress is just as important as keeping it at bay.
Take breaks often. Take a night off from studying and plan something fun to do with the family, friends or on your own.
Make sure to take time each day to do at least one thing that you enjoy, such as reading for pleasure.
Stretch, exercise or meditate. This can be as simple as going for a short walk.
Remind yourself why you are doing this and reward yourself for your hard work and accomplishments.
Enjoy the little things that always made you happy and incorporate them into every day activities.

10 – Maintain focus and know that it can be done.

Focus on the subject at hand. Manage one task at a time and don’t think about anything else.

If you’re with the family, be with the family and hold off on balancing the checkbook.
If you’re at school, focus on your assignments and put work responsibilities on hold.
When fixing meals, don’t stress about who is getting the kids to their activities.

Remind yourself why you’re doing all of this: little sacrifices can lead to big rewards. Try not to be too hard on yourself if not everything goes the way you planned; that’s life.

Know that lots of people make the decision to go back to school every day and do it successfully. If they can do it, so can you! It just takes a little compromise and a lot of drive. Find a vocational school near you today and start reaping the benefits of convenience.

Source by Shivaun Martynes

12 Aug

Teaching High School Mathematics in One Hour Time Slots

Posted in Education by anshbookstore on August 12, 2021 @ 7:24 pm

In the mid-1990s, the administration of the school in which I taught decided to change from using 40 minute teaching periods to 70 minute periods. It allowed the administration to gain extra teaching time from each teacher within the industrial award provisions. In fact, it allowed the administration to have English, Science and Mathematics teachers teach an extra class without having more time in the classroom.

My school became one of the first to do this and became an example for other schools to follow in the following years. As a result of this, I was asked to present a workshop to a nearby high school Mathematics Department explaining how my Mathematics Department had gone about adjusting to this major change.

Below is a synopsis of what I spoke about during this workshop.

For the teachers, personally:

It is hard work.
The class time must be regarded as “untouchable” and you must fight to prevent it being “borrowed” even by the administration.
Detailed planning is essential. It is easy for the teacher to waste/lose time without realising it is happening.
They need to develop a strategy to cope with absent students as even one period missed is a great chunk of their learning time.
Additionally, teachers need to develop a strategy for any absences they may have. In fact, teachers would be tempted to teach on even when they are not well so as to not lose valuable teaching time.
Their lessons must become a series of mini lessons to cover the course and to survive physically.
It is possible to teach a whole unit in one period.
They need to work smart. They must use every available tool or pedagogue to get the message across to the students.
Group planning by teachers will improve the quality of lessons presented to the students.

For the teachers and students:

There is a lack of continuity created by less teaching periods spread over the week. (In some schools, there was a two week rotation of periods.)
It is difficult to create a work ethic when you see the class less frequently.
Learnings skills must be taught more thoroughly because students must become more accountable for their learning, homework and study.
Learning to think mathematically must become a priority to help the students accept more accountability for their learning.
Mentoring becomes a useful tool to consolidate learning.
Learning the basic skills and procedures is paramount to gaining worthwhile success in their learning.
There is time to pursue problem solving in unfamiliar contexts provided the teacher’s planning covers the mandated learning.

Many of the ideas raised above had become part and parcel of Mathematics teaching since the late 1980s brought about by the introduction of new syllabuses in Mathematics that opened up the teaching of Mathematics moving away from the traditional “Chalk and Talk” Maths lesson to lessons using a variety of pedagogue.

Personally, I found teaching with 70 minute periods challenged me to use a greater degree of teaching pedagogue. Initially, I found I was rushing to cover the course. I did find that teaching had become more stimulating.

As head of Mathematics in my school, I did not see any significant change in the standard of the work produced by teachers and students. It just goes to show how adaptable teachers and students can be.

Source by Richard D Boyce