Do Parents Think More Worksheets=More Learning?

As part of my online class I've been asked to evaluate one of my current teaching practices. After doing some serious thinking, I have decided that I might be using too many worksheets in my teaching. I have been integrating technology a lot more than I used to, but I still feel like I need to use several worksheets. I plan to make myself a promise to start small and at least cut out 1 worksheet that I would typically use each week and find a technology substitute. The main reservation I have about using a small amount of worksheets is that I'm afraid parents may disapprove. I know so many parents (including mine when I was a kid) ask to see their papers when their kids come home each day. I know this is often times because when they ask kids what they learned in school that day they reply, "I don't know." At least if they have worksheets to look at they know I taught them something! I just don't want parents to start thinking I'm hardly ever teaching anything because their kids aren't bringing home papers. By next year at this time all of my kids will have their own device to take home, so I'm predicting that my feelings about this will change by then. Parents will expect their children to be completion a large amount of work virtually at that point. Until then, I'll try to gradually wean myself off of worksheets and hope for the best...

Time flies, but I can be the pilot!

I remember in my graduation speech I said, "The early bird gets the worm," but I don't feel like I'm heeding my own advice anymore.  I feel like sometimes I've taken on too many things and it's hard to keep up with everything in life!  I took part in an online class to develop some new habits for time management. This is my reflection on what I learned about myself. I took the quiz "How Good is Your Time Management." I recommend taking it if you feel like you have any trouble at all managing your time. For me, it reaffirmed what I already knew was my main problem, procrastination! There were several resources that helped me find ways to better utilize my time. I enjoyed Michael Hooker’s video “Urgent VS Important” where he sorted tasks into Urgent & Important, Important But Not Urgent, Urgent But Not Important, and Not Urgent or Important. I basically already knew how my tasks fell into these categories, but he did make me realize some of the things I'm doing are not urgent or important and they're just a waste of my precious time! My main problem however was that since I knew some tasks weren't urgent, I would constantly skip over them and move on to other things. For example, I had a huge problem recently with not getting papers graded and returned promptly. I would write it down on my to-do list and just keep skipping over it, sometimes even for almost a week! My first idea was to start bringing them all home to grade at night. That didn't work out so well because I never accomplish much once I get home. I realized I needed a new plan because I work much better and I'm more productive at school. I decided to go back to my to-do list from before, except now I would not allow myself to skip over items. One of the resources in my class suggested that I “plant the seed” for a new habit by coming up with a trigger. I decided my trigger would be when I sit down at my desk each morning. I always typically arrive at work nearly an hour before my students, so I have a lot of time to get work done if I choose to. Sitting down each morning was my trigger to look at my to-do list. I told myself I had to look at the list before even turning the computer on. I would then only go to the computer if it was a requirement for the 1st thing on my list. I can honestly say I absolutely hate my new rule, but it's forcing me to be less of a procrastinator. I can now say that all of my grading is caught up currently. I'm just not sure I can make it a lasting habit because I feel like eventually there will be something urgent and important that can't wait so I'll skip over all of the other tasks on my list and be back to my old self again. Any ideas on what I can do instead of the mandatory list?