Back from my break

    So I decided to take a little break from presenting, blogging and tech for a while.  It was nice to focus on family, travel and learning things just because I wanted to and not because I had too.  I highly recommend taking some time for yourself.  Try keeping track of how you use your time.  Find places where you can streamline your work.
    I started thinking if there were any DCTA members who had hacks/ideas or tools that help them streamline their classroom and gives them time for themselves.
    So start thinking, "What is one pain point related to my classroom time that could be fixed or streamlined.  Do you have something that sucks up your time?  Send it to me through email or the feedback section of our website.
     I'll start!  My biggest pain point when it comes to a time waster in my classroom was grading and sending feedback to students in a timely manner.  Having over 100 students in my classroom through the day, with all of them needing feedback right away.  It was taking up a huge amount of my time.  
    To help speed up the process, I started using a spreadsheet.  I was able to download the student scores from my curriculum and place it in a spreadsheet.  Using something called "Conditional Formatting", I can quickly see how many students have passed and how many need to redo the work.  This helped me quickly know which students to contact before class ended.
    It didn't stop there.  I figured out the PowerTeacher grade book had a way to upload grades in bulk.  This was the biggest time saver!  Now I can upload all the student's grades with six clicks of the mouse.  
    I can now grade an assignment and have their grades uploaded in half the time.  My students now check their grades before they leave class to find out how they did.  This has improved not only my feedback speed but also given me so much extra time to work with students who are struggling.
   Now it's your turn.  Send me your productivity pain points and as a group of amazing educators, we can come up with creative ways to help.
    I hope everyone has a great February and are looking forward to more spring-like weather coming!