invest time to make time
Following the Notosh workshop I was incredibly inspired and motivated to start "design thinking". After 7 years of teaching the same program, the prospect of doing things in a completely different way was very exciting. However, that UGLY word called (lack of) TIME kept bursting my bubble and silencing my enthusiasm. During one of those CRAZY brainstorming frenzies (when we had to come up with 100 ideas in two minutes to overcome the obstacles we saw in curriculum projects ) I came up with a motto for myself "INVEST TIME TO MAKE TIME". This motto, which I have since repeated to myself daily, has been my ticket to FREEDOM. It has given me the courage to change the way I do things as it has taken the guilt and anxiety away from "wasting" time in class (and on my own at my desk) to plan topics and projects WITH my students.
Yes, I may spend two entire lessons with my students planning a learning project, but the earnings on this relatively small investment are so high (and not only time wise). I get through more topics in a shorter amount of time (tick, tick, tick goes my virtual pen on my syllabus document), the students are more engaged and consequently put MORE time and effort themselves into the project.From the workshop I have also held quite tightly onto David's (our head of maths) image of the curriculum being like a 3D matrix, which I shared with many colleagues on Wednesday during David Price's workshop: instead of working through our syllabus in a linear manner, we could visualise all the student outcomes in a three-dimensional matrix and tick them off at different points in time as the students meet them through their various projects. This is also a great way to help us see that interdisciplinary teaching through project based learning is DOABLE.So, INVEST TIME TO MAKE TIME... in any area of your life, really. Invest the time to teach your 4yr old to put toys away, resisting the urge to do it all yourself in 5 seconds flat (4yr olds are incredibly s-l-o-w at packing up toys and it is incredibly painful to watch them as they grab one little toy at a time and get distracted by the object before it even reachers the toy box, and all you want to do put them to bed and collapse on the lounge) and eventually you will never have to pack up the toy room again (or am I kidding myself?).
Yes, I may spend two entire lessons with my students planning a learning project, but the earnings on this relatively small investment are so high (and not only time wise). I get through more topics in a shorter amount of time (tick, tick, tick goes my virtual pen on my syllabus document), the students are more engaged and consequently put MORE time and effort themselves into the project.From the workshop I have also held quite tightly onto David's (our head of maths) image of the curriculum being like a 3D matrix, which I shared with many colleagues on Wednesday during David Price's workshop: instead of working through our syllabus in a linear manner, we could visualise all the student outcomes in a three-dimensional matrix and tick them off at different points in time as the students meet them through their various projects. This is also a great way to help us see that interdisciplinary teaching through project based learning is DOABLE.So, INVEST TIME TO MAKE TIME... in any area of your life, really. Invest the time to teach your 4yr old to put toys away, resisting the urge to do it all yourself in 5 seconds flat (4yr olds are incredibly s-l-o-w at packing up toys and it is incredibly painful to watch them as they grab one little toy at a time and get distracted by the object before it even reachers the toy box, and all you want to do put them to bed and collapse on the lounge) and eventually you will never have to pack up the toy room again (or am I kidding myself?).
