Priorities

The following is a quote from Seth Godin's recent blog entry,

Without a list, you can see how making intelligent decisions is impossible, so we resort to confusing activity with productivity.

I realized how true this is for teachers (and for that, every other profession). If we as teachers want to get more done, accomplish our goals, and figure out what is important, we must start writing things down and then prioritizing them.

One of my priorities is to reply to emails within 24 hours. To the very best of my ability, I try not to email parents/students from home--I try to take care of this at school. Grading papers is up near the top also. It is important to find out what is important to administrators also. Helping them reach their goals and objectives can benefit you in the long run.

I also think this involves NOT doing some things. Not staying at school every night until 7 or8. Not trying to re-invent the wheel by designing every lesson to include all seven learning styles. Not ____.

As the end of the year approaches, one of my goals is to find 15% of my activities that are not productive, and shift my energy and efforts elsewhere. It's time to re-evaluate and do what needs doing right now!