How to Give Teachers Time

Nothing ruins a classroom climate like a stressed out teacher. Harried, rushed and worried feelings are absorbed by all of the little minds surrounding the adult. Behavior and learning problems naturally result, stressing out the teacher and students in ever perpetuating downward spirals. Allowing teachers to feel less rushed in their day is something that can change a school culture and increase teacher retention.

Here are 5 solutions that can give a slower, more sustainable pace to our schools :

1.Remove the pressure of extreme “bell to bell instruction” expectations.

Teachers have been heavily conditioned to believe that allowing downtime in class is a recipe for disaster. So, many teachers will make extra work in the form of bell-work, exit tickets and more for the sole purpose of keeping kids busy from bell to bell. This is not only time consuming, it is actually counterproductive. If students feel pressure from the moment they come in the door to be on-task, and teachers feel they must be performing every minute, it saps classroom culture and relationships. Instead, go ahead and spend 5 minutes talking about that weekend football game with the class or the new movie that is coming out before cracking the textbook or starting the PowerPoint. Being genuine apart from curricular conversations makes teachers human and relatable and makes their classes enjoyable. Similarly, if the class is done with the lesson and you have an extra 5 minutes in class, it should not be a stigma to allow students to socialize near their seats (I don’t let them crowd the door) with their classmates and their teacher. What is the real harm in that? Exit tickets have their place, and no class should have entire blocks of downtime, but work should not be done every day just for the sake of checking a box.

Teachers should also feel free to grade during the school day when their classes are well managed. No other profession shames employees for completing work during the actual workday rather than from home. Allowing students to work on some independent practice shouldn’t preclude the teacher from checking work from earlier in the day from the comfort of their desk. Teachers can still be easily accessible if the students need assistance and still keep their eye on the class. (Teachers may need to model how students ask for help if this style of independent work is unfamiliar to the students).

2. Allow your teachers to sit down.

More schools are implementing policies where teachers are reprimanded if the principal walks in and the teacher is sitting at their desk during instruction. The theory is, if you aren’t standing, you can’t possibly be on top of student learning and classroom management. And while this might be good for the orthopedic footwear business (online forums are full of teachers seeking advice for comfortable shoes), constant standing is exhausting. Moreover, the demand to stand ratchets up the anxiety of both teachers and students. How did you feel as a student, when a teacher came to stand by your desk, or was constantly hovering and moving about? The atmosphere in a classroom will change if the teacher can sit still, even if it is on a stool in the front of the room for part of a lesson. Everyone will breathe a sigh of relief and students will start to mirror a more relaxed, less antsy behavior.

3. Extend passing periods, lunch and breaks a few more minutes.

If the sacred cow of the bell schedule is at all changeable in your school, advocate for longer passing periods, longer lunches, and longer recess periods or breaks. At one middle school where I taught for about six years, the passing periods were reduced from 5 minutes to 3 minutes. Granted, it was a small campus, but you can’t do much in 3 minutes. And I suppose that was the idea, three minutes is less time for students to get into trouble. But it also created a situation where there wasn’t enough time to stop at the bathroom between classes, talk to a friend, or just re-collect your thoughts from the crazy incident that happened moments ago in 2nd period. Tardies went through the roof. Students and teachers need that pause, a little downtime, a walk to the next building in the sunshine without having to run, and even some socialization between classes to reset their thoughts and get ready to learn again. And multiple studies show the benefits of play for younger, elementary students. Schools need to slow down periodically so we can endure the entire race. If that adds 15 minutes to the end of the day, it will at least be a much better day.

4. Leave hall monitoring, recess, cafeteria, crossing guard and bus duty to the classified staff.

I sat in my car in front my own child’s school, and watched my daughter’s teacher run a full sprint from his room to the front office to collect his green and yellow fluorescent jacket and stop sign. He dashed back out the office door, continued to run across the patchy lawn just to miss the first group of kids crossing in the crosswalk, blowing a whistle and shouting at them to return to the safe side of the road until he got there. All the while, I imagine he is thinking about the student he told he couldn’t help to understand the math problem at the end of class because he had to hurry to duty, or about the parent he needs to call. As if our actual duties aren’t enough, teachers are often expected to step into the hall and watch students switch classes, make sure the students don’t have food fights in the cafeteria, and don’t shout out of waiting bus windows. For the love of education, please find a way to hire a couple of people to do all of these duties throughout the day. Extra duty responsibilities add an incredible amount of unnecessary stress and anxiety to teacher’s plates, and actually rob them of time for doing some of their most important duties when class is not in session. If schools are not sure what to have extra personnel do between recess and lunch, have them make photocopies for teachers' next lessons to help reduce long lines at the copier. Money is flowing in from Covid related government aid to school districts right now. Hiring staff for these extra duties is a well-spent investment.

5. Give a smooth, time-filled, stress free start to the year, and the rest of the pieces will fall into place.

Save the pedagogical professional development for a few months into the school year. Yes, schools probably do need a staff meeting to start the year to cover the nuts and bolts. And as much as it chagrins me to admit, we probably do emotionally benefit from those annoying icebreakers to introduce new staff and get to know each other. However, beyond that, what teachers need in the week leading up to the first day of school, is time in their classrooms, getting ready. Paid time, on the clock. Several days worth, too. Teachers have been thoroughly “developed” in pedagogy ever since their college education. There will be time to continue to grow in expertise a few months down the road. Don’t take valuable time and expect teachers to volunteer additional time late into evenings or weekends for the preparations for the year that are actually essential to a smooth running classroom.

Relax. Slow down. Enjoy the school experience by making it enjoyable and easy to be at school.