3 Tips for Teachers for Staying Productive in the Summer

What are the two primary reasons that I became a teacher? June and July! 

It does make for a great punchline, but the truth is that teachers work during the summer holidays. And most of us do it without pay.

So, how do we balance our much-deserved extended break with the urgent need to plan for next year? I use the following basic planning formula: List, Prioritize, Action.

For this planning activity and summer productivity plan, you will need a notebook devoted mainly to the Productivity Plans for your Summer. I use the digital mind mapping program MindMeister. A spiral notebook works fine. I titled mine "Summer Productivity 2016."

List

Make a list of all of the tasks or goals that you feel that you must finish before the next school year begins:

• Bellringers for beginning of class
• Posters and decorations for the classroom
• Learn new subject/curriculum
• Create a syllabus
• Create class rules/type them up for class and students
• Update/refresh web page
• Create grading policy
• Create/type up essential learning

*This is not a complete or accurate list of all of the tasks that I want to do by the beginning of the new school year, However, you get the general idea of what to do. This step takes anywhere from fifteen minutes to half an hour.

Prioritize

What task do you need to get completed first? The next one? For me, creating the bellringers for the school year is the most important task. There is no right-or-wrong answer for this one; it is what you feel is important.

Take five to ten minutes to prioritize your tasks:

1. Create Social Studies Bellringers for the school year (can be used across grade levels).
2. Learn the essential learning standards for my new subject (social studies).
3. Create a Syllabus (outline for me; hard and digital copy for the students)

Action

Now, what do I need actually to do to get the task done? In my action plan, I name and briefly describe the task. I ascribe the task a due date (be reasonable, it is summer time). Then, I list the specific actions that I must take to complete the tasks on time:

Task: Social Studies Bellringers
Description: 180 bellringers for middle school social studies in a presentation format
Due Date:
June 22, 2016 (three weeks)
Actions:

1. Mind Map or Outline the general idea for the resource
2. Create the basic template (180 slides)
3. Number each page
4. Create the bellringer for each day (create at least 10 per day; write on notebook first, then transfer to the presentation)
5. Revise the presentation for RADAR.
6. Edit the presentation for GUMS.
7. File under "B" in Google Docs.

Remember, it is summertime, and the living should be easy. But it will only be easy if you list what you need to do by summer's end, prioritize those tasks, and create a list of doable actions to get the tasks done.