Organization and Repeating Instructions- Cristal

This week we discussed a lot of really useful information for teachers. While we discussed the usual bilingual education history and policy, we also discussed some tips to make our jobs a little easier. 

ORGANIZATION. I know a lot of my classmates are super organized. They color-code folders and assignments on their planners and have to-do lists, among other organization habits. While I feel that we all know it is very important to stay organized, I think it can be hard for us to maintain it because organization is not something we does once, it is a constant, daily task. Organization of time and of space can help us in our jobs and lives a huge amount. If WE organize our time (as opposed to letting out time organize us) we can get a lot more things done on time without having to sacrifice 'God', 'Family' or 'Me' time. Some tips we've learned about, besides color-coding and to-do listing, were to set timers when we are doing a task. If we set a timer for 25 minutes, we have to force ourselves to use those 25 minutes effectively. Staying on task can be hard when we have the Internet and SmartPhones at our disposal. Making ourselves focus while working will help us use our time wisely. 

Organizing our spaces is also a very important but very hard task. It seems our study spaces become strewn with items of varying importances. We have to keep a clear space to keep a clear mind. I feel the same goes for our teaching space. We read the article, Los hábitos de estudio y su importancia en el éxito escolar, which talked to us about making sure our classrooms are organized. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, but it is a reflection of our mental state and it can impact our student's mental state. If there are supplies falling out of shelves and on the floor, we are offering more distractions to them. On the other hand, teaching them that everything has a 'home' will reinforce organization and facilitate transitioning from one activity to another. This requires planning and explicit teaching on our part.  

A second topic I want to talk about is something that I think a lot of us as teachers, and maybe parents, forget about. We watched a video by John Hattie and he made a point about how teachers don't repeat instructions enough. Many of us will say, "Listen up because I'm going to give you the instructions and I don't want you do ask me how to do this later." We have a million and five things going on and we forget that we sometimes don't make things very clear. If our student doesn't yet understand the material, they will have a hard time understanding the instructions on how to practice the material. We have to repeat instructions, print instructions and have our students repeat the instructions back to us. We also have to distinguish when asking for instructions means, "I don't know how to do this because I don't understand the information yet." 

I hope I have made you reflect and I hope you will give me comments on information that struck you. Also, I would love to hear more tips for making professional and personal life better. 

-Cristal