12 Productivity Hacks

For Educators By
Educators
A Crowdsourced Anthology of Strategies from
Real Education Professionals

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 A Word From the Editors

Life as an educator can be completely overwhelming with the seemingly never-ending to-do list of tasks that
demand attention each day. From lesson planning and analyzing formative assessment data, to managing
a classroom and keeping up with professional development requirements—it’s no wonder that 61% of
teachers who responded to the 2017 Teacher Quality of Life Survey find their work always or often stressful.

Stress is a known enemy of productivity at work. By implementing simple routines and forming new habits,
you can increase your productivity and hone your organizational skills—which translates to increased peace
of mind.

This ebook was created to provide simple and effective hacks for educators to increase their productivity
and ultimately reduce stress. It’s a compilation of crowdsourced responses from real education professionals
around the country sharing their best productivity hacks to improve your teaching practice.

Try them. You’ll be glad you did.

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 Organizing Your Digital Life
I save all of my digital documents (presentations,
worksheets, project directions, etc.) in Google Drive. I create
folders—and sometimes sub-folders—for each of my units
and label and color code them accordingly. This saves
copious amounts of time when revising and rebuilding my
units for the next year.

Additionally, all of my Schoology courses are archived from

year to year, which allows me to copy entire unit folders into
new courses and simply tweak the course files as needed.
This has been a lifesaver!

By staying organized, I am able to use my time more

efficiently. I spend less time “looking for” items and more
time “looking at” items to prepare quality instruction for my
students.

Upgrade Your To-Do List

Find a tool—like Todoist—that allows you to create lists, set
due dates, and share tasks with others.

I have found that my life is much more simple when I don’t

try to keep a number of tasks in the back of my mind. With
Todoist I can set tasks and have it remind me exactly when
I will need it. Check out the book Getting Things Done: The
Art of Stress-Free Productivity for other great suggestions.

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 Two Fast Passes For Schoology Use
There are actually two Schoology productivity hacks I live by:

Bulk Edit—If you need to check, change, or do anything to

a grade, bulk edit is the only way to go. In this one place
you can publish and unpublish, or change the value, factor,
grading term, category, etc. This truly is a one stop shop. I
also ALWAYS send my teachers here first if there is a grading
problem.

Folders—We all know organizing materials is crucial and

folders are the easiest way to do that. In Schoology, there are
many ways to optimize those folders to make it even easier
to stay organized.

SCRUM Then SPRINT

Coming from a digital production management background
before education, I have continued to use a project
management technique called SCRUM—an individual or whole
team approach to moving a project forward by prioritizing
tasks.

It starts with listing a product backlog of tasks, which is often

kept updated by a producer in consultation with the end
user. The team or individual regularly reflects on the list and
distributes necessary tasks they plan to move forward, as well
as a corresponding time frame.

The team then collaborates on tasks and takes part in a SPRINT—a one to four week push to have that
specific item completed—with regular review meetings as frequently as are required to assure the
backlog is being cleared.

This culminates in a very satisfying visual reminder of task progress, for which I use Trello—a free
collaborative digital production management tool.

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 Visualizing Materials With Unit
Homepages

I like to create ‘homepages’ for each of my units that create

a more visual experience for my students. These homepages
include images that are hyperlinked to course materials in
Schoology including unit materials, assignments, textbook
chapters, lectures, and unit study guides.

I also embed a Google Document on the page that has

a calendar of events for the unit and hyperlinks to the
materials in my Schoology course. I include a link to MLA
resources and comics as well. The pages are set to appear
‘inline’ for the students and include Tool Tips on each image.

Between the unit homepages, the course material folders,

and the upcoming feed, students are provided with multiple
ways to get to course materials via lists, hierarchical folders,
or through visual images.

Engage In A PLN Chatroom

At Schoology NEXT, I met some amazing innovators
who became a strong PLN. This turned into an ongoing
group chat on Twitter and Slack with other Schoology
Ambassadors where we talk all things education
technology. If I have a question on any tech tool, I ask our
group chat even before searching Google!

We question, answer, and grow together in all things

education.

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 Two Is Better Than One
I find that simply having a second monitor for my computer
helps me tremendously.

For example, I can keep my email open on one screen and

work on another. Or I can have a document open on one
monitor and do repeated copy/paste to another document
without having to constantly change windows.

Obtain Teaching Resources

Through Social Media
My time-saving technique involves using social media to gain
new and unique teaching ideas and lesson resources.

I specifically use Facebook and Twitter to learn about new

ideas for my AP Psychology and 9th grade Social Studies
classes. For most AP classes, there is a corresponding AP
group on Facebook. For example, in my AP Psychology group,
there are countless lessons files, posts, and discussions that
inspire me on a daily basis. It is also secure from students, as
the moderators only invite proven educators.

Twitter is also full of discussions and chats—like the Schoology Chat and SS Chat. These resources help
me with my productivity because I can attend them when I have the time, unlike most professional
development teachers encounter.

I can use what works, and skip what doesn’t—I don’t have to sit through a class that has little to do with
my students’ educational needs.

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 Class Period Templates
I have created templates—using the Schoology page
feature—which allow me to post directions for every class I
teach.

In these pages, I can embed Google slides of content that I

want to review with the students, link learning objectives,
and remain organized throughout the class period.

Google Calendar Keeps You On

Your Toes
Great ideas and an ever increasing to-do list seem to pop
into my mind at awkward times—like in the shower—and
pop back out when I sit down with paper and a pencil or my
computer.

I found that by having the Google Calendar app on my

phone, I can quickly add the idea as an “event” and
schedule it for a specific date and time. Then I receive an
alert to remind me.

Today I got the alert to water my plants in the office and

complete at least one Schoology Champions challenge by
the end of the day.

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 So Fresh And So Clean
At the end of every day, straighten and clean up your desk.
Put away all of the extra supplies from the day and file all
of the paperwork that made its way to your desk. Then,
take 5 minutes and reflect on all of the positive things that
happened during the day.

When you come in the next morning your desk will be “fresh
and clean” just like the new day you are about to start.

Sandwich Your Work With Exercise

I workout at the beginning and end of each day.

In the early morning, I box. It helps me release any anxiety

and worries that I have for the day, so I can focus on the
task at hand.

At night, I take a long walk with my 3 dogs to calm down

and reflect on the day.

See why 20 million students and educators use

Schoology’s Learning Management System (LMS) as their
hub for education.

SHOW ME SCHOOLOGY

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