001 | Productivity for Teachers: Podcast Trailer

Are you a teacher who feels like there's never enough time in the day? Do you struggle to balance lesson planning, grading, and administrative tasks while still maintaining a life outside of school? You're not alone, and there's hope on the horizon.

Welcome to the Productivity for Teachers podcast, where we understand the unique challenges educators face in managing their time and energy. As a high school teacher, ed tech coach, and self-proclaimed productivity enthusiast, I'm here to share practical strategies that work specifically for educators like you.

The Teacher Time Crunch

•  Why traditional productivity advice often falls short for educators
• The real-world struggles of balancing teaching, planning, and personal life

Simple Steps for Big Results

• How small, consistent changes can lead to significant improvements in your workflow
• Practical tips for organizing both physical and digital materials

Building a Supportive Community

• The importance of connecting with other educators on this journey
• How sharing our experiences can lead to innovative solutions

Here's what you can expect to gain from this episode:

• Insights into why teachers need tailored productivity strategies
• An introduction to a step-by-step approach for taming classroom chaos
• Inspiration to start your own productivity journey, no matter where you're starting from
• A preview of future topics, including email management and efficient grading techniques
• An invitation to join a community of educators committed to working smarter, not harder

Whether you're a new teacher drowning in paperwork or a veteran looking to refine your systems, this podcast is designed to meet you where you are. Let's work together to create more time for what truly matters – both in and out of the classroom.

Are you ready to take control of your time and rediscover your passion for teaching? Join us as we explore practical, teacher-specific productivity strategies that can transform your professional life, one episode at a time.

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Transcript

Hi teacher friends. Welcome to the Productivity for Teachers podcast. The show where I teach educators how to organize materials, curate activities, and save time by creating simple personalized systems. If you are looking for quick action steps you can take to gain back valuable time, you are in the right place. I am your host, Dr. Sarah. I am a teacher, ed tech coach and productivity enthusiast. I understand just how valuable your time is and how short those planning periods are. Join me as we talk about strategies you can implement today to free up time so you can focus on what matters. Hi teacher friends. Welcome to the first episode of the Productivity for Teachers podcast. I am Dr. Sarah, your host and I am so excited to bring you this show. If you feel like there are never enough hours in the day to create meaningful lesson plans, give detailed feedback, stay on top of your inbox and remember everything else you have to do, then you are in the right place. We teachers never have enough time, but I am here to help you develop simple, no nonsense routines and strategies so you can gain back valuable time and focus on what matters most. I am a high school teacher, ed tech coach, and productivity enthusiast. I can tell you from personal experience that when I share organization or time management tips with the teachers at my school, that is when I receive the most enthusiastic feedback. We teachers are talented in so many ways. We are creative, entertaining, original, strong, determined, and so much more. But many of us struggle with organizations after the lesson has been taught and the students have gone home. We're exhausted from being on all day. Sound familiar? I invite you to join me as we build a community for K12 teachers, aides and support staff who want to tame the chaos and get their lives back one small step at a time. And over time, those small steps really turn into big wins. And I cannot wait to hear your success stories. Have you ever struggled to remember what went well and maybe more importantly, what didn't go well from one year to the next? When you teach a lesson, how many of us tell ourselves that we will remember to fix that worksheet or add better directions, only to forget all of those things and assign the same bad activity year after year? I've been there. So frustrating. Nobody teaches us how to track these things in teacher school, right? Or do you struggle with disorganized paper files and digital files that are in several different locations like Dropbox and Google Drive and OneDrive, your desktop and maybe even flash drives? And do you feel like you're just spinning your wheels trying to find that activity you spent so much time creating last year? I've been There too. Are you ready to create simple steps to track and organize your lesson planning? Are you ready to spend less time in your email inbox and more time on what matters to you? If so, you are in the right place. I cannot wait to help you find what works best for you and your unique situation. I'm here to help you get your life back, one simple strategy at a time. Together, we will learn how to tame your email inbox. Take simple steps to speed up grading while still giving meaningful feedback, track your creative lesson ideas or organize your files. And much, much more. Now, you may have already figured out that I am a productivity enthusiast. Well, let's just call it what it is. I'm a productivity nerd. It's obvious. But here's the thing. When I listen to productivity podcasts or read books about getting organized, one thing always stands out to me. The ideas and strategies are great, but they are meant for people who work in an office all day, not for teachers. I first started consuming time management advice when I was working on my master's in education. I became a teacher later in life, you know, like in my 40s. And before then I had other careers like being an airline pilot, a professional classical singer, and a stay at home mom. But here I was in my 40s after spending a decade at home raising my kids. I was now a single mom of those three young kids and their dad lived far away. I knew I wanted to be a teacher, so I had to get that degree. But how in the world was I going to manage a full time job? Being a full time single mom and going to school full time, I just couldn't figure it out. It was overwhelming. And that is when I first turned to productivity experts for help. And they really did help. That is until I was an actual teacher and realized that most conventional productivity strategies do not work for teachers. So my goal for this show is to take those strategies I learned and show you how you can adapt them to your specific circumstances. One simple step at a time. Being a teacher means that your planning period is never long enough. Let's face it, we're lucky if we even have enough time to get to the restroom during the day. Am I right? And some of us teach block schedules, while others have crazy rotating schedules where one day is never like the last or the next and we end up taking work home with us every night and try to catch up over the weekend. The burnout is real. So let's work together to find ways to be more efficient. Along the way, we'll share a few laughs, commiserate, and above all, build a positive community where we can learn from each other and change our mindset. So whether you are a new teacher or are the veteran in your building, or are somewhere in between, this podcast has something for you. If you feel like you can't even find your coffee in the morning for all the chaos, I've been there and I want to help. If you already love all things productivity and want to level up, this show is also for you. So if you're ready to take your life back, lean into an organized mindset and feel better about your profession, join me on this journey. Together, we'll learn how to streamline lesson planning and grading, get out of our email inbox and free up our time and creativity. I can't wait to get started. We'll see you next week. Thanks for listening, teacher friends. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe or follow the show. Show so you don't miss a thing. Have a great week and I hope you will consider implementing one thing you heard today. Small steps have a big impact over time. Happy, productive teaching. See you next week.