Here's a blog post version of my Spark Talk from Digicon. Why More Time Won't Fix AnythingHow many times have you heard someone say “I;m so busy” or “There's never enough time!”. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve heard it. And I’d comfortably put money on it that you’ve heard it too. It’s become so normal that it is NORMAL. Teachers never have enough time. I am convinced technology can help us save time in the classroom. The only problem, with this idea, is that to learn how to use technology that can benefit us requires time. And this is an issue, because we don’t have enough time do we?
Scott Pape, the Barefoot investor has some interesting ideas about time in relation to investment. He suggests people should take performance management more seriously. We should invest time into it because the work we do now will eventually lead to leadership or further opportunities to rise up the ranks,. Which in turn leads to earning more money.I think we should be applying this same principle of investing time in regards to the issue of teacher workload. It might take a little more time initially to learn about a new technology . Whether it be a new app, website, or program. But if that app/website has the potential to save us time, then surely it’s worth the investment? The question is, how do we invest time we don’t have? An Investment in Time4 years ago, I made an investment with my time. Turns out it was the best I've made in my teaching career. I walked into my Principal's Office towards the end of Term 3 2013 and asked him if I could go on Sabbatical Leave? He looked at me, narrowing his brows and asked. “You really want to work for 80% pay for 4 years?”. I shook my head, grinning and replied. “Nope, just for one year?”. To this, he frowned. “You can do that?” Long story short, he supported me and said yes to it. The idea was simple. I would work for 4 terms at 80% pay & get the 5th off (Term 4 of 2014). It equated to something like 18 weeks paid leave! If you’ve never considered it, I strongly recommend it. Before finishing up in Term 3 of 2014, I remember noticing that a distinctive negative vibe was beginning to cling to the fabric of my school. (Which was then, and still is, an amazing school). It was probably the first time I really took notice of the workload becoming a big issue. People were stressed, they were tired and complaining about their workload. I sympathized with them but didn’t get caught up in it. How could I? After all, my mini retirement was looming. I couldn’t get out the door quick enough. I spent part my 4 month Sabbatical travelling through ASIA. Despite the amazing experiences I saw, what struck me the most was not just the poverty, but the sheer number of people and how they lived. The enormity of the challenges these people faced every day was confronting. I remember walking through a street in Varanasi. In the middle of the road was a median strip. On either side of the strip was a line of beggars that stretched for seemingly ages. The little squares they occupied were like their homes. I remember quite clearly having this profound moment of thinking... Man, I am never going to complain again about working late after school again, or writing reports. … Any feelings of ill will I had towards my life, and my job as a teacher, just suddenly seemed insignificant into what these people lived with every day. The point of discussing my Sabbatical Leave was not to talk about Gratitude. But because it illustrated the power of investing time. 4 MONTHS PAID. LEAVE. Although that years investment rewarded me with an amazing overseas experience, the greatest reward was the reminder that despite it’s challenges, teaching can be an incredibly rewarding job. And is something we seem to forget in the day to day struggles of our teacher workload. When I came back to school in 2015 really refreshed and rejuvenated about my love of teaching. I was teaching Pe and Grade 5 2 days a week. It was an awesome role and one I was looking forward to after teaching PE full time for three years. But not surprisingly, those negative vibes and stresses I’d left behind in the previous year before I left were still there. And almost instantly, I noticed how prevalent it was. How people would engage in conversation about being busy, overworked and undervalued and complaining about it, quickly surrounded me. The only thing was this time around, I was engaging in the conversations and feeling the stresses. The profound revelations discovered by Sabbatical Leave Steve meant stuff all to overworked, tired & stressed Steve. I realised after a few months I didn’t want to live every day feeling overworked and stressed. Except, other than applying for Sabbatical leave again, I didn’t really know what to do about it. Other than complain of course. At the time, our school had adopted the use of Google Drive for our staff. Early that year, I attended a session at an ACHPER conference run by a teacher named Andy Hair. He demonstrated how awesome Drive could be in relation to PE.I was so pumped afterwards because of all of our Phys Ed admin hours that would be wiped out. I was seriously blown away. And I remember, going home and for the first time in my life watching videos on youtube and teaching myself more about what I’d seen. I knew if I started investing more time into learning about these little tools and tricks, I could save time for myself and my colleagues and ultimately decrease my workload. The challenge was and still is making others see the value in this type of educational technology. Particularly when lack of time such an issue. And in the two years since then, I’ve come to believe that there are three specific challenges that are increasing teacher workload, which in turn stand in the of people being able to invest more time into this type of technological PD. MultitaskingDaniel Levitsen in The Organised Mind (2014) claims the following about multitasking:
I don’t know about you but Leviton's research contradicts a lot of what I’d heard about multi tasking. We boast about it all the time right. How good they are at multi tasking. I remember reading and just thinking. Isn’t being able to multitask a good thing? BusinessLevitson research to highlights another obvious reason why teacher "workload" is such an issue. Because we are overloaded with so much multi tasking, it creates a feeling of constant busyness. And when we’re busy guess what, there’s never any time to do anything. If you live in America in the 21st Century, you’ve probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It’s become the default response when you ask anyone how they’re doing: “Busy!” “So busy.” “Crazy busy.” It is, pretty obviously, a boast disguised as a complaint. And the stock response is a kind of congratulations: “That’s a good problem to have,” or “Better than the opposite.” I suppose it’s comforting to know it’s not just teachers who are busy. According to Tim Krieder, who goes on to explore this idea more in Tim Ferriss' (2016) Tools of the Titans, it’s a cultural thing. I couldn’t help but laugh. 1: Because I would say this all the time… And 2: Because every teacher I know or have met says the same thing. Not only do we say we are busy… we always say “I never have time for anything!” The stats highlight that it's an issue, but I'd argue that it's developed into a culturally grained idea to the point of becoming normal. TEACHERS ARE BUSY! |
1. The next time someone TELLS YOU they’re busy… Or you think about saying you're busy. Restrain yourself from getting sucked in. 2. Next time you’re multi tasking - stop and focus on one thing and doing it well. 3. The next time a colleague posts a meme or video… ask yourself before you like and share it, are you contributing to the normalisation of this business “epidemic”. |
This video kind of sums up everything...
No time. There’s never any time. Again, it’s real but are we making it more real? Are we doing something about it?
Managing our workload can be assisted by learning investing more time into technology. I can guarantee that down the track… you will find yourself spending less time feeling stressed and overworked.
And more days of not only making a difference with our students, but having FUN!
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This blog has been created to share my thoughts on Teaching. It uses my experiences, thoughts and ideas about a whole range of things related to education.
Hopefully you will find somethig here to help develop your teaching.
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