A very good friend of mine, who I am a big fan of, always says he is fundamentally lazy. He thoroughly enjoys down time, reading, playing games and listening to music. He is also one of the most intelligent and successful people that I know. Being “lazy” and successful are two things that just don’t seem to run very well together in my mind. So, I called him on it. I asked him how it was that he was able to be so successful and yet at the same time have time for things as light as computer games and music. His answer . . . work smart!
His thinking is that there are a lot of people who work really hard out there but are somewhat counterproductive in what they do. They put in long hours, working to the verge of exhaustion but the time they put in doesn’t seem to yield much in terms of measurable success. They get caught in the trivial day to day tasks without keeping their eyes on what really matters. In teaching, perhaps you know someone who stayed until the wee hours of the morning in order to complete a very fancy bulletin board or make a PowerPoint presentation that is spectacular. That’s all well and good but,as teachers, we have to ask ourselves – what are the benefits to students? Does the learning and engagement warrant the hours that are spent on the preparation? I have memories of cutting out shaped booklets for students well watching television in my first couple years. Well the booklets were wonderful, I very much doubt that they affected the learning of the students.
This idea of working smart is also reflected in a recent study done at the Universität der Künste in Berlin Germany. This study looked at violinists and compared “elite” players as identified by their professors to “average” players. Guess what? When comparing the time they practiced – both groups averaged the same 50 hours per week. The difference was the way they spent their practice time. The “elite” players scheduled two times a day to practice for 3.5 hours each. This scheduled time allowed them to focus on stretching their ability and actually allowed for more relaxation time in the evening. Average players on the other hand scrambled to get their 50 hours in and practiced sporadically through the day. This led to them staying up later and being more stressed out during their practice time and therefore not being as productive.
So, what does that mean to us as teachers? Two tips – spend your time on things that affect student learning and schedule times when you can give complete focus to your work rather than just fitting it in. Work smarter not harder.
Keep on learning,
Dave
I will have to completely agree with this!! Really reflecting on what you are teaching so that your plans will be what affects students learning the most is very important! My problem is that I like to socialize and so scheduling times to “work” is something I need to work on for sure! I like to talk to colleagues about ideas and their days, and while all of that is important, it takes away from what I need to do in my own classroom. I feel like then I am fitting in what I need to do and not spending the time on what I need to do! I know that if I gave myself that time I would not stay so late or be at school so early and I definitely would feel more organized and not be so hard on myself and it would definitley give me more confidence too! I know what I am doing is great and I know that I can plan to work smarter not harder! Definitely a blog I needed to read!!
Thanks for the response Rita. I’m sure glad that this resonated with you. I’m the same way when I am at work, I’m social and I get recharged when I speak to my colleagues. Sometimes that leads to me having “homework” but I guess that is a price I am willing to pay.
Cheers,
D