Although most faculty use many high tech innovations in the classroom, let’s not forget the necessity for some of the basic accoutrements. After a couple of years of hearing frequent requests for some basic office supplies and also recognizing that there were times I wished I had some sticky notes or whiteboard markers in a classroom, I purchased a nice clean, new toolbox at a local Costco and then filled it with the following:

1. Post-it(r) notes - Nice for notes or for quick activities that required a sticky note.

2. Dry-erase markers - Even though these should be provided in the classrooms, they often are not or the ones provided are as dry as a bone.

3. Scotch tape - I can’t list the different uses you or the students might have for tape.

4. Masking tape - Could be for a classroom use or could tape in the hem of a pair of pants. Believe me. I know.

5. Stapler (and extra staples) – Not sure I need to explain why you might need a stapler. I’m sure you know. however here is what I would emphasize. Have a toolkit stapler that is separate from your office one. That is true for all of the items in the kit. You want to have your office set and leave the toolkit set in the toolkit.

6. Hole punch - This was important because many of my student assignments needed to be put into notebooks prior to turning them in. Students definitely appreciated the fact that I had a decent 3-hole punch that they could use.

7. Paper clips - Although I am not a big fan of paper clips, you might as well have some in there.

8. Pencils & pens - Just like elementary teachers keep extra writing implements available, we might as well, too. And sometimes it’s YOU who needs the pen or pencil, not just the students.

9. Scissors - You might as well have a pair handy.

10. Highlighters - I think it’s worth having these and marking them with a label with your name. You really are intending for these only to be used in the class and not carried off, so label your highlighters (and most everything else).

11. Chalk (yes, indeedy) – Plenty of classrooms still have chalkboards.

12. Extension cord - Pretty amazing how few plugs are in some classrooms; take a cord (and remember to take it with you when you leave!)

13. Door stop (I bought these in large packets at a local Home Depot) – I had to buy them in bulk because I often left them behind. I figured if I taught at the University long enough, I’d end up outfitting every classroom with a doorstop. I wasn’t there quite long enough for that…but I did my part.

I took the same toolkit to class regardless of whether I was teaching an undergraduate methods course, a graduate level seminar, or a class for professors. I never knew for sure which items I would need and I did not have to pack and repack my toolkit; it was always ready to grab and go.

This was a good investment on my part and saved me a great deal of time and frustration over the years.

One of my “colleagues” got very angry with me one day (we taught courses that tended to share the same students). He said,

“Students don’t put out much effort in my class to get their assignments done because they say they have so much work to do for your class. You convince them that what you’re teaching is the most important!”

He continued to bluster for awhile longer (this wasn’t the first time he blustered at me).

It was a fascinating exchange (I did get to make a few comments). But I have never forgotten that experience because I have always believed that what I taught was the most important. Here are some questions that immediately come to mind that I think we all need to consider regarding our own teaching:

• Didn’t he believe that what he taught was most important, too?
• Why would you teach if you didn’t think that what you taught was important?
• Why would you go to school long enough (and become poor enough in the process) to get a doctorate if you didn’t think that your discipline was important?

I did convince my students (not all, but most) to put forth extraordinary efforts. Even today, I see students who still tell me that they use ideas that they learned in my classes. Just this last weekend when I was at Costco, one of my former students was there and told me this – and she was one of my students nearly 20 years ago.

Here are ten tips for you to implement so you, too, can elicit extraordinary efforts from your students:

1. Make your assignments relevant. Explain and reinforce your sense of the assignments’ relevance. so that students know you have been thoughtful about what you are asking them to do.

2. Explain clearly what you want students to do. Don’t assume they understand or can “figure it out.” Help them understand.

3. Provide rubrics, when appropriate. If you aren’t familiar with rubrics, check online and with your college’s teaching & learning center.

4. Demonstrate that you care about the content you are teaching. Do this through your engagement, involvement, and commitment to what you do. Students sense whether you care of not – and it is more than just your words.

5. Put forth extraordinary effort yourself. Every day. Whether you are in class or not.

6. Have students from previous semesters provide written comments for incoming students. You can even have one semester’s students write letters, which are sealed, for the next semester’s students about how to succeed in your class.

7. Provide timely feedback to students. Regardless of whether they are turning in weekly assignments or large projects, get them graded and returned to students quickly.

8. Bring enthusiasm to the classroom about what you teach. Communicate passionately about why you ask students to work as hard as you do.

9. Recognize that sometimes, you were wrong about what you had laid out in the syllabus. This can easily happen the first time you teach a course. It takes you longer to teach something than you had thought or you realize that the timeline expectations you had were overambitious. Acknowledge it and adjust for students. Better to recognize it yourself than have students begging or grousing around.

10. Ask students for exemplars to use in future courses. Many students work well from models and just knowing what is possible is encouraging and challenging for many students.

Students actually want to do well. Ignite that desire in them and elicit excellence and extraordinary effort. It makes being a professor incredibly rewarding.

Over the years, I got smarter about keeping up with my students and their assignments. Once I figured out that numbers were easier – and faster – for recording grades and returning student work, I refined my system. Here are ten tips to help you if you are ready to do the same.

1. Assign your students numbers on the first day of class. If you have 30 students, students will have numbers of 1 – 30. If you have 78 students, they will have numbers assigned to them from 1 – 78.

2. Require that students put their numbers on each piece of work that they turn in. You expect them to include their name (and you hope that they do), but primarily, you are asking that they include their course number.

3. At the end of class, have your helper – and I hope you have one (or hire one) put the papers that were submitted in numerical order. This takes only a few moments and saves so much time later.

4. Input your grades easily when you use numbers. Everything is in order and you just put students grades into your gradebook (or more likely your computer).

5. Put the papers to return into 1-31 files. Because they are all in order, you just drop them into the slots (or better yet, have your assistant drop them into the corresponding slot.

6. Have students retrieve their work from the 1-31 files vs. you handing the papers back. This was one of the best things about having numbers is the ease with which I could allow students to retrieve their own papers. Students know that before class starts, during a break, or right after class, they just come up, look in their numbered slot, and grab whatever papers are in there to be returned.

7. If anyone is absent, you put today’s handouts into the slot so it’s there the next time. This way, you are worrying bringing something back week to week (hoping to remember it and hoping to know where it is to remember to give it to the student. If it’s in the slot, then you can stop worrying about it.

8. You can take attendance by seeing whose stuff is still in their slots. Usually, I don’t announce that at the beginning of class, but rather make it clear to students that they are ONLY to be in their own slot, not anyone else’s for privacy reasons. The reality is that in addition to that reason, I can see whose materials are still in the slot and take roll quickly after class. It’s not the only way I take attendance but sometimes it works great.

9. You can call out numbers to mix up who is responding. Having students have numbers to use for activities like this is easy to use.

10. You can group people by number when you’re doing small group in-class interaction. This is just another way of not necessarily grouping people who are sitting near each other. You don’t have to take the time to count off because you have pre-counted them off (not a great phrase but you know what I mean!)

Try assigning numbers if you have a class of 90 or fewer. Buying the 1-31 expandable file folders and renumbering a second or a third one (up to 93) works fine. Beyond that, you will probably want a different system.

Delegating is an essential part of being productive both at home and at work. There are certainly tasks that I am sure you have done where you asked yourself “did I earn a master’s degree to qualify me to stuff these envelopes?” Other times, you wonder, “Hmmm….why am I doing this when a machine can do this just as well?” And still other times, you wish later (rather than sooner) that you had delegated.

Here are a few ideas to consider as you think about becoming a better delegator.

1. Know the definition of delegation. In general, delegating means asking for help with a task or larger project (and receiving a commitment to do what is asked). There are more involved definitions, but this is enough to get us started. Be very clear that delegating is NOT dumping and that if you are NOT an effective delegator, you cheat yourself, your company, and those with whom you work (plus your family if you still have one!)

2. Be clear on why you need to delegate. If you possess more time than you need AND all the knowledge in the world AND every skill that is imaginable AND interests and passions so diverse that it’s hard to fathom, you don’t need to consider delegation. For the rest of us…we do.

3. Write down the crises that have occurred because you did not delegate. This should not take long, but I’ll wait for you. Unfortunately, this is a case where recognizing what happens when we DO NOT delegate can encourage us to start being better delegators. It might be part of why you found this article.

4. Generate a list of people to whom you can delegate. Don’t forget teenage neighbors, anyone who needs to earn extra money, people who are “looking for something to do,” and family members. If you will just put on your thinking cap, I’m sure you will come up with quite a list. At this time in our economy, you can find incredibly talented people who will be thrilled to do some work for and with you.

5. Have a method for tracking delegated tasks. It’s easy to lose faith in delegation if it is causing you more stress than ever. That stress can be at least partially relieved if you have a way to track what it is you have delegated. You can:

• keep a list,

• write dates for checking back in your planner,

• set up a “help desk” system on your server,

• create a spread sheet…

 or a myriad of other possibilities. There are both simple and complex ways. Try something and if the method doesn’t work, try something else. And hey, you could even delegate the responsibility of finding a tracking method that will work for you.

Truly, productivity in business (and in our other endeavors) requires that we become effective and efficient delegators. See if you can implement are refine one of the ideas discussed in this article to enhance your overall productivity – by delegating. I believe you can!

1. Sanctioned - Say to yourself, this is my sanctioned writing time. It’s very honoring.

2. Protected - Say to someone in your family, “This is my protected writing time. Let’s work around that.”

3. Scheduled - Say to a person who asks for time when you are scheduled to be writing, “This is my scheduled writing time, but what about _____ as an alternative?”

4. Sacrosanct - This just sounds like a good word for a writer to say about his/her writing time, doesn’t it?

5. Strategic - Use this word to describe your writing time to someone who thinks strategically and needs to understand that writers are also planful and deliberate, not just playing.

6. Required - If you are a writer (and I assume you are because you’re reading this), you are required to write or you aren’t a writer any more.

7. Non-negotiable - There are people who consider their Saturday afternoon nap time non-negotiable so I think you can describe your writing time as non-negotiable. If it is, that is…

8. Dedicated - You may need to say this one to yourself.

9. No-Matter-What - You might use this one out of desperation when you are up against a deadline. Saying it out of desperation is not very powerful, but if it works, then use it. If, however, you have used some of the ones earlier on the list, you are less likely to get into a desperate mode.

10. Unless there’s blood or bone in evidence, not to be disturbed… Generally, this is one that needs to be used by mothers, graduate advisors, and the like. It’s when the “children,” (be they actual children or adults who act like children) can’t seem to make any decisions when the “parent” is not there to referee. Use this if you need to.

If you need to practice, then please do. Imagine the scenario where you have 10 – noon on Thursday as your protected writing time. When someone asks if you can meet then, you say, “I can’t meet then because that is my required writing time. How about meeting at noon or anytime later that afternoon?”

Note: When I was sharing this list with people in one of my writing groups, one person said that the word she uses to talk about her dedicated writing time is, “MINE!” I like it!

Q.What “end of the day/debriefing” strategies do you recommend?  As a follow-up to that question, what do you recommend doing when you are finished teaching a class (a single-day lesson)?  I mean end of class techniques to bring closure to the class for you and organization/preparedness for the next class meeting.  For example, someone told me one such strategy they heard about was to attach a huge post-it note to the outside of your lecture notes for that day at the end of the class meeting and spend some time writing what worked and what didn’t work so that the next time you revisited that material, you would have that extra insight.  Any others? (they can be methods to improve the class for next time you teach it, to keep thoughts/to dos organized for things you need to do before the class meets again, things that one should always do at the end of class so that they are ready for the next class, etc.)

Meggin’s Answer:   Here are a few I like:

1. Hand out notecards (3×5) and ask them to write

• An answer to a “BIG” question you ask – something that really asks them to pull together many things from the day’s class.
  
• A question that they hope gets answered in the next class.
  
• What puzzled them the most during the day’s class (or the preparatory reading, or whatever you’d want to ask about).
  
• Or something else along this line.  So, you can use the “Card” strategy a few times during the semester just varying what prompt you give them.
  

2. One of my SUPER favorites that I usually use about the 3^rd week of class:  Start, Stop, Continue.  I give them a page with those 3 words on it and as them to write something (or more than one thing) that they would like me (or the class) to Start doing, something they would like me (or the class) to Stop doing/happening, whatever, and something that they would like us to Continue doing.  Their answers are fascinating on many levels.

3. 3 by 3 (another one I really like – and I usually us this a few weeks into the class.  Sheet of paper with 3 by 3 printed at the top in large font.  I ask them to write 3 aspects of the class that they think are going well and 3 that they think could be improved.  I tell them I want 3 and 3 not 5 and 1 or 2 and 4 or any other combo.  3 and 3.  It’s very helpful and also tends to be quite affirming.

4. 3, 2, 1 – You can mix this up many different ways but here’s an example:

Ask students to write 3 concepts that they learned in today’s class, 2 reasons why today’s content will be useful in the future, and 1 question that they have related to the content.  That’s just a sample.  I’ve mixed it up many ways.

There are a variety of ways that your office, workspace (and home) end up partially cluttered with things that belong somewhere else (or to SOMEONE else). You can do some major de-cluttering just by designating a box or some other type of container labeled “belongs elsewhere.” Depending on your situation, this could be a rather large container or something a little smaller. It’s up to you.

Now, take this box into the area where you are decluttering. Start looking at every shelf, in every drawer, in every corner, and in every pile. If you see anything that doesn’t belong in your space, regardless of whether it belongs in another part of your house, to a neighbor, to the library, or to your ex-husband, put it into this box. “Belongs elsewhere” means just that.

To get you thinking, here are some ideas:

• last year’s scholarship committee notebooks that need to go on to the new chairperson,

• the big 3-hole punch from the front office,

• a pair of tennis shoes you brought to work 3 years ago when you were going to walk everyday at lunch (and you haven’t walked at lunch since then),

• the 5 library books scattered here and there,

• a plant that has grown too large for your desk and really should be taken home for your living room,

• a sweater that one of your students left in the room last year (and he’s graduated now),

• the lab manual for a course you are teaching next semester that you borrowed from a friend until yours arrived (and yours did arrive last week).

You get the idea. Somehow, items have slowly but surely moved into your space – sometimes through your efforts and other times, seemingly by themselves. Of course, it will take effort to move them back out again. So create your box labeled “Belongs Elsewhere” and put anything in there that needs to be transported someplace else. Later (not right now), you will deliver these items to their new and/or rightful owners or locations.

And you are invited to learn more from the full-color Get a Plan! Guide(R) to Ridding Your Workspace of Clutter to REALLY get going on decluttering.  This special Get a Plan! Guide(R) will give you (and others with whom you work) suggestions and motivation to start de-cluttering your workspace (and even your home).

1.  Define what a productive environment is like for you. There is not one and only one definition. It depends on your style, your work, your space, and more.

2.  Study the ergonomics of your work space. Especially think about getting a better keyboard – one with a built-in wrist pad.

3.  Take a look at your lighting. If you don’t have a window, consider light bulbs that simulate outdoor light.

4.  Consider sound. One of my assistants doesn’t even have the speakers plugged in on her computer. Music is entertainment for her, and is therefore a distraction.

5.  Assess the quality of furniture and other accoutrements. If your file drawer is always sticking, it has an impact on your productivity.

6.  Get the supplies you need, but don’t store anything that you don’t use EVERY DAY on the top of your desk.

7.  Use the ABCD concept for spaces around your desk. Think of your desk and associated areas as a target. You sit in the bull’s eye, or “A” area, and anything you can reach without moving your chair is also in the “A” area. I like to call this “prime real estate.” Ask yourself if you use the items in this space EVERY day. (Do you really use the phone book every day?) “B” space is for every other day, “C” is weekly, and “D” space is materials that you must maintain but that you do NOT deal with very often.

8.  Eliminate rather than add. You don’t need MORE stuff, you need less. You probably try to convince your colleagues of this fact, too.

9.  Take it all away and put it all back at least once/year. That means everything in every drawer and stuffed into any desk cubby – remove it and then mindfully replace it. You will only put about 50-60% of it back and realize the rest either belongs somewhere else or doesn’t belong anywhere and can go in the trash or recycling bin.

10.  Hire someone for a couple of hours or more (a professional organizer). For more information about professional organizers in your area, just check with The National Association of Professional Organizers.

Take the time and energy to make sure that your desk and workspace are places where you can work productively. It’s worth the effort

As a leader, there are certain qualities and characteristics of lions that you might find useful to consider – for yourself and your “pride.” Let us just take a few minutes to explore these and as with all metaphors, we aren’t going to beat this one to death.

1. Protective

You don’t have to watch very many Discovery Channel shows about lions to see how very protective they are – of territory, themselves, their young, and so forth. As far as being more lion-like, what do you need to be protective of? Protective of yourself? Your money? Your children? Your partner? Your spouse? Your business? Your colleagues? Your position? Your beliefs? So, exactly what do you need to be protective of?

2. Brave

Being lion-like means you are brave and courageous. Naturally, you choose when and where to be brave vs. timid, courageous vs. cowardly. We all make choices every day. Look for opportunities today and every day where you can be brave. It does make a difference, both for you and for others.

3. Willing to fight

Hmm…we know that lions will fight when need be. They don’t pick fights but because they are willing to protect their food, their mates, their territory and so forth, they will fight if necessary. What is the one thing you are willing to fight for?

Many readers are parents and my guess is that many parents would be willing to fight for their children. Or maybe you are a professor who is willing to fight when you see other faculty members being bullied. Maybe you are a teacher who is fighting for particular students who need your “protection.”

What is it for you? Really. What are you willing to fight for? The one thing?

4. Hunters

LOTS of people are concerned right now about financial issues. Someone wrote to me recently that she had overheard middle school girls in the bathroom at a movie talking about how they needed to come up some ways to earn money because after the legislature was over, their parents weren’t going to be able to give them money for the movies any longer. You might be one of the people who is “hunting” for money. You might be hunting for it for your own personal situation or you are hunting money for projects at work or for community needs and the like.

But what else do us lion-like folks hunt for? You might describe it thus:

• Bravery to find what really makes me happy

• Bravery to ignore what others feel is successful and find my own success

• Bravery to dare to make dramatic changes in the path of my career that will also change my personal life…and vice versa

What are you hunting? And just like a lion on the Savannah, you may or may not find it, but you hunt regardless.

5. Group members (part of a pride)

6. Loners in the big scheme of things

The last two – being part of a group (i.e., a pride) and also being somewhat loners in the big scheme of things – let’s think about these together.

As a person who is seeking ways of staying positive, no matter how crazy things are around us, we need both to see ourselves as being part of a pride – a team – a family – a group – an association – a community – or whatever you might call it. We have to deliberately assemble our group – small or large – that will assist us in our – if I can use this word – survival. Lions aren’t part of prides for no reason. There’s a reason. You need a “pride” of your own if you are to “survive” in your positive place.

And, here’s the other part (at least as my little brain considers this), we are also loners in the bigger scheme of things. What I mean by that is, just as lions are not hanging out with all the other animals but rather hang out – sometimes completely alone – but certainly mostly just with a few other lions, we also may need to separate ourselves sometimes.

1. Make sure that you have a planner (either paper or digital) that shows all of your major commitments throughout the year. This would include travel to conferences, deadlines for large grant proposals for which you are applying, research trips, can’t-miss events (e.g., all-college convocation), etc. Once you have this reasonably complete, go on to the next tip.

2. Note: Be sure to include all events that are connected to your personal life, as well – or you won’t have one!

3. At the beginning of the term/semester, when you create your syllabus, block in grading time for the weeks when assignments (other than daily/weekly assignments) are due.

4. Note: I could repeat this one tip several more times to emphasize its importance. But, I will assume that because you are a professor (and you are reading this article) you are smart and will really recognize the importance of this imperative practice even if I don’t repeat it throughout the next 3 tips. If you do this one, the other tips shared below fall into place much more easily.

5. If you teach more than one class, as most faculty do, lay your course syllabi side by side to ensure that you are not scheduling major assignments, tests, and projects to be due in multiple classes the same week. Reconfigure your due dates so that, except for final exams/projects, assignment due dates are staggered throughout the semester and among your courses. Always pay attention to what else you have committed to (see Tip #1) when you are scheduling projects, big exams, etc.

6. Consider ways that students can turn in their assignments such that it makes grading easier for you. Specify that system in your syllabus so that everyone is ready to implement it. Ask other faculty what system they have set up so that students submit assignments in an orderly manner. For physical items, I always had folders clearly marked (for lower volume assignments) or containers (crates, boxes) for larger volume assignments).

7. Consider setting a policy for yourself about your grading in terms of the maximum length of time you will take between student submission and your returning of assignments. I recommend one week. The further behind you get, the worse it feels and the harder it is to stay on top of the grading. Set your own policy before the semester even gets started – and then commit to living up to it. You’ll be able to if you take the previous 4 tips into consideration.

All of these ideas will only work if you put them into practice, of course. And for scores of sets of Productivity Tips for Professors like these, you’re invited to join others around the globe who subscribe (free) to one of the Top Ten Productivity Tips series.