Practicum Week : 11

Date : 27th October 2022

Topic of Journal : Time Management Skills

1.0 Focused Issue

This week is the eleventh week I am teaching at SJKC Chien Chi. There is no doubt
to say that I gained a lot of skills and teaching techniques during my practicum. One
of the most crucial skills to possess is time management. This can be used in the
classroom by the teacher to maximize the learning possibilities for the students. The
ability to manage your time effectively will enable you to prioritize your tasks.
However, some plans do not work accordingly and cause a disturbance in the
teaching flow. For example, during one of my classes, the pre-stage activity ended
earlier than the expected time. Hence, other stages were forcibly moved forward and
caused the class to have extra time unattended. Sometimes, the class also ended
late due to activities that took too much time. As a result, it shows that I have poor
time management skills during the teaching and learning process.

2.0 Analysis of the issue (Cause and effect of the problem)

Based on the issue mentioned, the problems could occur for some reasons. The first
reason might come from a lack of organization in my lesson planning, disturbing the
lesson’s flow and time. Next, the time alocatted for some activities is not accurate
which causes some activity end either too early or too late.

3.0 Literature Review

Time management involves allocating time to activities that will help achieve goals.
Approaches to time management include monitoring, setting goals, prioritizing,
planning, delegating, and analysis of time spent (Chase et al., 2012). These are
some crucial aspects of managing time. For example, during the class activity
monitor the time that has been allocated to work on a task and, keep a log to identify
how the students actually use their time to finish the task. Teachers also can identify
common examples of class habits, interruptions, and discipline that lead to time
management problems.
4.0 Suggestions and ideas to solve the issue

Based on my research of the issues I've observed, I propose various solutions to the
problems. To create a fun activity:
i) Monitoring the time in each activity
ii) Setting goals for each activity.
iii) Analyze any activity that takes too much or less time.

5.0 Duration to solve the issue

One week

6.0 Follow-up action

During one of the classes, I tried to set a timer for each activity to avoid the activity
from taking more time than it was allocated. I also keep checking the time to track the
duration from time to time. I also need to make sure students do not interrupt the
class by asking unrelatable questions which causes more time to be wasted.

7.0 Date of follow-up action

3rd November 2022

8.0 Effectiveness of proposed measures

The timer not only helps me to track the time but also help the students to be more
on time when finishing their task. They become more aware of the time and be more
serious about achieving the goal that the teacher had given through the task in each
activity.

9.0 Conclusion

I am glad that some activities ended on time and the flow of the lessons was getting
better after some adjustments in the activity. Therefore, I need to carefully balance
and manage time wisely to get everything done, but without putting too much
pressure on myself because not everything will work perfectly all the time.
References

Chase, J.-A., Topp, R., Smith, C. E., & Conn, V. S. (2012, August 6). Time
Management Strategies for Research Productivity. ResearchGate; SAGE
Publications.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230623342_Time_Management_Strategies
_for_Research_Productivity