Making teacher tasks easier and more efficient

It feels kind of laughable to share efficiency tips at the moment because I’m definitely still trying to get back in the swing of things after an extended holiday break – I feel anything but organized and efficient! That being said, there are definitely some tools that I use to help make life easier even when I’m not feeling like I’ve got it all together. I consider myself to be a very organized person, so these resources are things that I’ve created to make my planning process a little more streamlined and to help save time. These are all available in my TPT store, so make sure to click the links to see even more about them!

Preschool Teacher Organization and Planning Pages – These are the pages that I keep within reach, either on my desk or my clipboard so that I can always make a note when something pops in my mind. Then I make sure to have them with me when I sit down to plan so that I can easily remember what I wanted to put in the monthly newsletter, what I was thinking for materials as I switch out centers, and special dates and events that I need to share with families. They help me keep all of my thoughts organized, so that I’m not searching through a notebook when I really need to be compiling documents quickly.

Project Work Planner – This teacher planner is specifically designed to support the project approach. It includes sample open ended questions, tips for observing children, web templates, note pages, and observation pages for field work experiences. This gives me all of my planning and observation notes in one place so that I don’t have to carry multiple planners and notebooks.

Circle Time Mega-Pack – I like to be intentional with my large group time. We do have a routine of certain things that we do each day (calendar, question of the day, singing), but I also try to add information or games that will help use introduce what we’re doing that day. Since this is usually the first part of our day it’s really important that I have this prepped and ready to go so that I’m starting the day on the right foot. This has all of the songs that we typically sing so that I can pull out a song for each day and not have to think about it. It also has everything that I need for calendar, daily questions already identified, and materials for the most basic games and dismissal activities. The less I have to think about, the better!

Lesson Plan Templates – I firmly believe that lesson plans should work for you, not create more work that you need to do! These free templates are all formats that I’ve used over the years, based on the needs of my group and the way that my brain needs that information to be organized. I often change my template throughout the year as I reflect and identify strategies and solutions that support both me and the children. They’re free, so download them now – you never know what might work for you!

Month of Preschool Pre-Planned sets – I used the January set in the image above, and these are available as monthly sets OR you can get the 12 month set to really knock all of the work right off your to-do list (and save some money)! When I put together these sets I took all of the resources I’ve created for my own classroom and pulled everything that would be appropriate for each specific month. Then I created lesson plans for each week, using those materials. It truly is everything you need to teach preschool for an entire month. I have a video that shows what these look like, and you can see a list of everything included in the January set here!

If you’re still struggling to really find your pace after the break, or looking for some new systems as we start the new year, then please please please take a look at these resources. My ultimate goal is to help make your life easier!