Organization
It is very important to stay organized!
I struggle at staying organized; but admit that things go smoother when I am.
When your organized you definitely not as stress and you feel complete.
Rhonda, So true. It's a lot less stressful when we are organized and we have a greater confidence in our abilities to get things done.
Dr. Melissa Read
agreed but it is hard especially when you are an adjunct places should provide labtops
Helen, Sometimes the technology that we have access to really limits our ability to get the job done. I sympathize about the laptop situation.
Dr. Melissa Read
Staying organized helps determine several things such as whether students are missing any assigned work, any material from lectures has been overlooked, test materials are properly secured, and so forth. Organization is not only good for time management, but it is often critical for maintaining integrity.
I am the same way, but am trying to do better with this. It does make life easier to have good organizational skills.
Keeping things organized and in there place not only helps you, but if you share the classroom with other instructors, it minimizes stress levels when things aren't in there place.
I am an organization junkie, most think I m a clean freak, whatever. My desk is clutter free and often looks unoccupied.I feel more at ease and in control working like this. My lectures are in notebooks with everything I need in them test and handouts included. I can rest til I have it TOGETHER, then all I have to do is open the notebook and begin to teach.
Mark, It sounds like you are really on top of things. That's great to hear. On the other hand, you might experience some challenges with immediacy or feeling like your workday is never finished. You should know that while your organizational style likely serves you well, it's ok to let go every now and then too. Some things really can wait until tomorrow, if they don't end up haunting you too much!
Dr. Melissa Read
As it relates to organization, the single best document ever created for my classes is a calendar of the course so that every day both myself and the students knew what we would be covering, what was due that day, and what would be due the next class period. I always tell them that the calendar may change, but it has helped me to become more organized and has greatly diminised the number questions from students (i.e. "when is quiz #2").
Geoffrey, It's wonderful to frame a curriculum around a calendar. I find this method helps set expectations for what students will be learning and also keeps instructors on track. It's nice to be able to structure your courses around a framework, even if life throws you curve balls which ultimately shake things up a bit.
Dr. Melissa Read
