“I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.”
John 17:4
So much to do yet so little time! We all get our textbooks or curriculum for the year and wonder how we could possibly teach so much in the amount of time we have.
How do we teach so much information in such a short time? It starts with the day-to-day activities and the holes in the way we conduct our lessons.
Today you will list the events and activities that waste the most amount of time in your classroom. It may only be a few minutes here or there, but these moments add up during the course of a given year. Reference page 72 of 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator for examples of the most common time-wasting activities in classrooms. Identify the ones that waste the most time in your class, then reference the teaching strategies listed in the book on pages 73-75.
Time-Saving Teaching Strategies
Here are some links for some further reading about effective time-saving teaching strategies:
- Bell Work Activities–They Save Time and Keep Student Engaged
- Why Advance Organizers are a Crucial Learning Strategy (and 5 Examples)
- Do an 80/20 Analysis of Your Lesson Plan
- How Do You Manage Students Talking Out in Class?
- Classroom Procedures for the First Weeks of School
- Getting Things Done (GTD) for Religious Educators
- Read about more strategies in The Religion Teacher’s Guide to Lesson Planning
