Strategies for managing teachers\’ time in Ramadan
Time is an important resource in people\’s lives as achieving our desired goals depend a great deal on the effective management of time. No one disagrees on the importance of time management, especially in a period when there are many responsibilities in terms of professional life as well as personal life. But, what is time management?
Time management is defined as the best use of time, so that work is distributed equitably over the time available to the individual. It is increasingly important to manage time in the educational field because of its role in the advancement of society. Poor management of time and practices may greatly affect educational performance and makes it difficult for educators to practice their work effectively.
A recent study by the “National Educational Research Foundation”, in the United Kingdom, has shown that the teacher\’s profession is more stressful, since teachers are taking on greater work pressure compared to other employees. Moreover, educational organizations are facing many issues and challenges on how to invest time in the right way while managing the administrative and technical aspects associated with teachers’ performances and behaviors.
Since the pressures increase somewhat in the blessed month of Ramadan due to the short school day, lack of concentration and exhaustion due to fasting, successful time management is one of the most important skills that help teachers to:
1- Perform their educational duty effectively.
2- Reduce Stress.
3-Carry out his or her important tasks and work, with the least effort and the shortest time.
4- Take advantage of lost time and make the best use of it.
5- Balance work, personal life, and job satisfaction.
* Development of time management-skill
The successful management of time, especially in the holy month of Ramadan is a key element for teachers to rely on for the development of students, improvement of their performance and delivery of their daily tasks . Here are some steps that teachers can take to develop time management skills:
1- Conducting an exploratory study on how to use time, including the study of various records of teaching and activities.
2-Determining the desired goals which makes it easier to achieve them.
3- Determining the priorities and tasks that need to be performed.
4-Developing a plan of action that sets out the time required for each task in the light of objectives and priorities.
5- Following -up on the implementation of the plan and the evaluation of performance.
6-Executing the plan according to a specific timetable.
7- Adopting methods and solutions to face time problems.
* Managing time with students during class
An important element of time management is the management of time with students during the class. In order to improve time management while teaching, teachers shall have careful consideration for the following:
1-Commitment: Respecting students’ and colleagues’ time and coordinate classes in a convenient way.
2-Analysis: Learning the most appropriate methods of teaching that help students to participate and interact with each other, and help him /her to identify problems they’re facing.
3-Planning: Comprehensive planning of the lesson helps to invest time in class wisely and avoid making the students feeling bored or poorly focused.
4-Follow-up and Re-Analysis: Daily planning that helps to identify problems of time loss and its impacts.
5-Preparing and Summarizing: Previous preparation helps students to understand the subject faster.
6-Dividing the subject into several sections: Using activities related to the teaching topics, which makes the teaching material easy to understand and motivates the students to be more involved.
7-Evaluating the students regularly to ascertaining whether they have benefited from what they have learned through continuous review of the subject.
* Positive effects of time management
Time management has positive effects on the teacher, including:
1-Building a good reputation among fellows.
2-Reducing stress and finding time for resting and relaxation.
3-Improving performance through continuous learning, research, reading, and learning new methods.
4-Achieving a better learning experience and a deeper impact on students.
5-Increasing the percentage of top students with good grades in the classroom, which could contribute to a job promotion.
6-Receiving various offers for education courses on original topics due to the quality of performance and good time management skills.
In conclusion, teachers must be aware of modern teaching methods and technologies to achieve their desired goals.On the other hand ,they need to develop other important soft skills such as time management and collaborate with other fellow teachers. In line with Edufikra’s mission of empowering teachers, our vendors have created creative digital educational resources available on our website that help you with managing your time while teaching students during the holy month of Ramadan such as: Ramadan Activities Handbook, Ramadan Calendar, children\’s challenge for Ramadan and much more resources.
