Introduction

Save yourself huge amounts of time by reusing your own work! Teacher Marguerite Rendelfs has developed a plan to create reusable resources that saves her between five and ten hours every week.

One major shift in my mindset that she learned through the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek program that has helped her in many situations is this:

We often focus on saving time right now. Considering how we can use our current work to save time for ourselves in the future can be a game-changer.

Marguerite shares, “Last school year, I’ve realized I can build templates while I’m doing my daily work, which saves time and batches the work I’ll be doing in the future. Now I love templates. They boost my productivity and focus my attention. When I notice that I’m repeatedly spending time on the same type of task, I evaluate whether a template might be helpful.”

Templates are most effective when a task is repetitive, generalizable, detailed, and time-consuming. If a template might be effective, you can build one as you work. Listen as Marguerite shares her process for using 3 kinds of templates:

• Student accommodations
• Instructional materials and activities
• Comment banks for student feedback

Then, check out her article at TruthforTeachers.com to see step-by-step instructions, examples of her templates, and more.

Click here to read the transcript and participate in the discussion or, join our podcast Facebook group here to connect with other teachers and discuss the Truth for Teachers' podcast episodes.