Joel Zehring

As computer projectors trickle into some schools (and flood into others), many teachers are wondering: What am I supposed to do with this thing? Our staff did a pair of seminars to share ideas and find some new resources for use with projectors in the classroom. Whether you use one to replace your old-school overhead or dive head-first into Web 2.0, there’s a little bit for everyone. Check out the wikis to find some new tech tricks, or add some cool sites of your own.

Projector Activities (K-3)

Projector Activities (4-6)

You’ve captured everything that might possibly grab at your attention. Now it’s time to sift through that pile in your inbox and make some basic decisions about what each item means to you. Here are some questions to help you give meaning to each piece of stuff you’ve captured.

Is this actionable? If the answer is no, then it belongs in the trash, or in a filing system where you can get to it at the right time.

For actionable items, the next question: Is this an isolated task or part of a project? Teachers are project managers, therefore many items can be categorized into different project folders. Here are some suggestions:

• Every student is a project.
• Every committee is a project.
• Planning lessons is at least one project.
• Preparing grade reports is a project.
• Special events like parent nights, field trips, and holiday parties are all projects.

Another question for actionable items: Will it take less than two minutes? If the answer is yes, then complete the task and move on. Make sure to capture any stuff that results from completing the task. If the task is going to take more than two minutes, then it needs to be deferred or delegated.

Deferring the task funnels it into one of three places: the calendar, the next action list, or the “waiting on” list. Each of these holders has a different relationship to your time. The calendar lists future events, the next action list quickly shows you things to do when you have moment free (like in a planning period). The “waiting on’ list quickly shows you what you should not be doing (because you’re waiting on some one else to complete those tasks).

Vicki Davis shares her implementation of David Allen’s Getting Things Done with multiple inboxes:

I have an inbox at home and one at work. I also have an “inbox” in my planner as a place for any papers I collect “on the go.” When I go home, they go in the inbox there.

Check out her full post for more about her system and her thoughts on GTD.

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Make Life Easier: Callwave, Email Tricks, and more

Next in our series on Getting Teaching Done, Google hosted a talk with the man who sparked the GTD fire. It’s 45 minutes long and it’s a great way to learn about the process and the inspiration for Getting Things Done.

A new series on the blog, Getting Teaching Done is all about
enhancing productivity in the classroom. From planning to teaching to
assessing to meetings, teachers have plenty to do and extremely limited
time to get it all done. By capturing, processing, organizing,
reviewing, and acting, we can keep our classes running smoothly and our
students learning.
Much of what we will cover is inspired by the book Getting Things Done by David Allen. His strategies and ideology
promote low-stress productivity and creativity through the use of a
trusted system of capturing and processing things to be done.
Other sources of inspiration include:

The title says “New Teacher”, but the topics and suggestions are useful for grizzled veterans, as well. Dr. Glen Moulton and Michael Kelly of the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence talk about the challenges of teaching and answer questions from new teachers around the country. To top it all off, Moulton and Kelly keep things light with a healthy dose of wit and sarcasm.

New Teacher Hotline