Introduction

Trust me having a system to deal with all your “to do’s” to tame your weekly teacher to do list is a must! I know because it is the end of August and I am “in the thick of it”. I just finished up the first full week back to school. And all of us teachers know what that means, YOU ARE TIRED! There is nothing like teacher tired, sigh! 

Once the first full week is done, I really have the realization that things are starting to pile on. That systems for the school year must get in place! Because no one wants to do the school year feeling the way you feel during the first full week back to school.

 If you have read some of my other blog posts about preparing for the school year then you know I am a planner!

And I try to truly be proactive to make sure I am ready for the school year. I also try and make sure I am setting my year up to be successful at work while not allowing it to take over my life. But the transition from summer break to going back to work is a challenging task. It takes time for systems to get in place and begin to work.

Multitasking and Your To Do List

With teaching, we know that we are always multitasking. Not that we want to multitask but it just happens often throughout the day. We are constantly making decisions. We need to have a way to organize it all.  

My suggestion instead of having a billion sticky notes all over your desk (end of day nightmare!). Have a way to organize your tasks. Having a weekly task to do list will help you to sort out what needs to be done in an organized way. The moment when you find out you need to call a parent or attend an upcoming meeting, put it on your weekly to do list!  Write it under the correct category and then assign it to a day. Or you could have a daily tasks to do list. Where you assign tasks to certain days in the correct category and day.

Batching Your To Do List

I recommend batching your tasks to be done. This way you can take care of what needs to be done for the week. You can also take care of upcoming things. For example, if you know you are going to copy things you will use for the week. Why not also copy upcoming things you will use during the following weeks.

If you read my blog post “How To Plan For The School Year”, you know I create a yearly outline. I loosely know what I am teaching week to week. This helps because I can make copies for two weeks at a time or even make all copies for the month. Batching frees up time and combines tasks.

Theme Days For Your To Do List

I have used a “theme” day method for years and have found it to be very successful. For me when I’m at work, one of my goals is to finish everything I allotted to do that day before I go home. So that means the 5 minutes here or that 10 minutes there, is plenty of time to continue to work on something. Add up all the 5 to 10 minute “spare” moments you have during the work day. You will be surprise to see how much it amounts to. If students are working on something for 15 minutes independently then you have time to gather up materials in the classroom for tomorrow’s lesson.

I know when I first started teaching I tried to save everything until I had a large chunk of time to complete it. Guess what, I never had a large chunk of time to complete things. This is why it’s so important to use small segments of time throughout your work day. Also, use any planning time you have to get work done! This is where your weekly tasks to do list comes in handy!

Example Theme Days

Here are some example “theme” days I have used over the years. Mondays- Grade Last Week’s Work, Tuesdays- Grade Last Week’s Work, Wednesdays- Write Next Week’s Lesson Plans, Thursdays- Write Next Week’s Lesson Plans, Next Week’s Copies Done, Fridays- Schedule Weekly Email For Mondays to Parents, Miscellaneous Work 

But of course, we are teachers and know there are always “other” things to do. Your “theme” day is your main focus but please know that urgent things may come first. Which may mean you arrive early or stay after (no more than 30 minutes) to get things done. It also may mean the grading didn’t get done like you planned and maybe you’ll take an hour on Saturday and do it.

Free Teacher Weekly and Daily To Do Lists

You can grab this Free Teacher To Do List. It contains a weekly to do list form and a daily to do list form. Both can help you organize your weekly tasks or daily tasks. 

To use the weekly to do list, fill in the date. Determine tasks ahead of time while planning or write on the spot when things come up. Organize your copies, emails, phone calls, work to be graded, lesson planning ideas, upcoming due dates, meetings, and miscellaneous things.

To use the daily to do list. Write out what tasks you will do each day. The categories are copies, emails/phone calls, work to be graded, lesson planning ideas, upcoming due dates, meetings, and miscellaneous things. 

These to do lists are available in pdf form. I have included two types of to do lists. One is for using by the week with tasks grouped together for batching and theme days. The other to do list has tasks grouped by days.

Conclusion

Making the transition from summer break to going back to working full time in the classroom can be a challenge. But with systems in place, you can help tame your weekly teacher to do list!