No Planning Week
Are you productive when your team comes together for planning or all-staff professional development meeting? For me, I generally am productive. However, there are particular times in a teacher’s schedule when everything comes to a close and you about lose your mind trying to tie all the loose ends together. This generally happens at the end of each grading quarter. The Scheduling Gods built in a “Teacher Work-Day” at the end of each quarter to put grades into the system and get report cards ready to go out. It was a fantastic idea and very well intentioned. Unfortunately, that “work” day rarely happens. Meetings crop up out of nowhere and suddenly a day to myself has become a day without a moment to myself. It is impossible to be productive.
Thankfully my new administrative team graciously understood our request to have time in our rooms devoted to closing out the quarter. Not only do we get a day, we get a whole week! This “No Planning Week” gives teachers all of their free-time back to be used as they wish. For example, each day students attend specials and that time is for the teacher. Reality is after a bathroom break, checking email and staff mailboxes, the time is half gone. Inevitably a staff member wants to meet with the team or some other impromptu event occurs. Either way, the schedule glorifies a break that never is really given and thus productivity is at a loss.
This week is our No Planning Week. Monday is our holiday in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Tuesday is our “Teacher Work-Day.” But, like I said my administration recognizes all that needs to be accomplished and that a day is still not enough. So every day this week when students are at specials, we are FREE!!!!!!! Plus, no after school meetings! NONE. Zero! Zip! Zilch! I can’t even explain what this means to not only me but my colleagues. I am so productive! Not only are my grades entered, but I got to plan ahead in the quarter, reorganize my classroom, catch up on a mile-long “To-Do list” and still have time for me! It reminds me of the good old days when I started teaching.
So for those of you out there that think teachers have nothing but time (especially in the summer months), it couldn’t be further from the truth. A No Planning Week is a gift that I hope all of you can experience.
Does your school utilize a no planning week in preparation for the close of a quarter?
If so, how productive are you?
About the author, Gretchen
I am a teacher trainer and coach. Working elbow to elbow with teachers and teacher leaders to ensure instructional proficiency and student achievement soar lights me up. We have a real need in our nation for strong educators to remain in the field. My blog, book, podcast, courses and instructional materials are geared towards empowering teachers (and those that lead them) to receive the support needed to grow and thrive today, tomorrow and always.
I’m a little jealous of my husband. He works in a corporate culture where it is not unusual to work from home. On the days he needs to produce packs of work, he will do it from home because no one comes to his desks with questions and no one can ask for an impromptu meeting. Why is it that our teacher work days always need to be at school?
One year we had a team work day where we planned and wrote units and assessments. We decided to take advantage of a full hour lunch break and go to a local restaurant. We were asked not to do that again. Our presence at a restaurant sent the message to parents that we weren’t really working that day – event though unit ideas continued to emerge over lunch discussions.
In my perfect world, we teachers would have the freedom to use our work days in a way and in a place that is most productive. The work has a deadline and we will hit the deadline no matter the location from which the work is done.
You’re right- he is very lucky! I wouldn’t mind having a “work day” at home. I really would get a lot done. Great last sentence by the way! Your team work day sounds a lot like our “Quarterly Planning” (I’ll be writing about that shortly), and yes that is super productive and a great way to mingle with the team. Some parents think teachers must work all the time, when in fact we do. So a once-in-a-while lunch break to a local restaurant as a reward for our hard work should be encouraged and supported, not complained about. I am so sorry you had that reaction!