OVERLAPPING THE OLD MULTITASKING

 By: Dr. Armãndo R. Tolliver | EDUCATOR | January 3, 2017

Most teachers spend a significant amount of time in the classroom or preparing for activities in the classroom. The amount of time dedicated to other tasks varies, but activities outside the classroom are an integral part of the job. On an average day, a teacher could spend about 20% of my time on classroom preparation, 20% teaching in the classroom, 20% grading papers, 15% responding to administration, 10% providing personal attention to students, 5% on extra curricular activities, and another 10% of interacting with parents. Given the number of responsibilities that teachers have to tackle daily, many find themselves multitasking through tasks. Researchers have coined teacher multitasking as overlapping (Marzano, Foseid, Foseid, Gaddy, Marzano, 2005; Savage & Savage, 2010. Overlapping involves attending to two or more events at the same time (Savage & Savage, 2010). For example, I always try to be in the hall between classes as part of my routine in building relationships with students throughout the school. While students are entering the class, they are met with a warm greeting and welcome into our home away from home. At times, I simply stand in the doorway so I can keep an eye on the hallway traffic and one eye on students coming in the classroom. If the students see a teacher, they are less likely to behave inappropriately. Other times, I walk through the hallway, greeting students along my path, sending and responding to emails. Though I probably should not admit it, I have even been guilty of reading and sending emails or grading papers during department meetings. These are still examples of overlapping right? Just kidding.

During instructional time, there have been time I could be writing notes on a board, yet still responding to student questions, conducting formative assessment, monitoring student behavior, and signaling for students to begin transition to the next activity. Similarly, I could be effectively dealing with an interruption while keeping an eye on what students are doing elsewhere in the classroom, and redirecting other students through proximity, all without missing a beat. Literature has suggested that teachers who are skilled at overlapping also were more aware of what is going on in the classroom or demonstrated with-it-ness (Good & Brophy, 2003; Marzano et al., 2005; Savage & Savage, 2010). It is a given, if students know or think that the teacher is aware of what they are doing and can help them when needed, they are more likely to stay on-task. Most teachers practice overlapping regularly, but never gave it an official name. We generally call it managing the class. We walk in and plan to be on our feet all day monitoring, assisting, providing positive reinforcement, and using proximity to keep students on-task.

“An element of overlapping this is important is the judgement to identify which events need to be handled immediately and which can be ignored” (Savage & Savage, 2010, p. 100). Personally, overlapping in the classroom has not been a weakness of mine; however, I have had to develop systems to help me keep track and manage multiple competing priorities. I like to discuss details and deadlines with administration so I can come up with a workable situation that satisfies everyone. I create a timeline that I use to pinpoint and pursue tasks in order of priority. Having a timeline and regularly informing everyone of progress eliminates conflicts and scheduling problems. This also helps me to control the priority push that seems uncontrollable at first, but I meet the demands with chaos-defeating prioritizing tools because there is generally an app for that (Zipgrade, Class Dojo, Plickers, Kahoot, Remind, Dial My Calls, Upto Calendar, Uber Conference, Doodle, Zoom, and not to mention Google, alongside my smart device that has the latest everything to help organize systems) eliminate time-wasters and unproductive habits. Moreover, I now try to get help early. If I am struggling with time management or I have to manage competing priorities, I reach out to others and see if anyone else is available to help out. This is how I cope with external and internal pressures to perform the realistic as well as the unrealistic. Divide and conquer ultimately wins the war between multiple tasks and concurrent deadlines. Even in the classroom. Creating student leaders within my classroom has truly been a lifesaver. Above all, I detect and defuse my unique pressure-to-perform time bombs with an occasional happy hour. My apologies, I meant to say off sight professional development, and I will probably grade papers while I am at it. Keep your judgment, I am just kidding. I was once asked by a colleague, "How do you do it all?" I responded, "I don't. I have systems and strategies to help me."

Suggested Citation

Tolliver, A. R. (2017). Overlapping the old Multitasking. [Education Project Online]. Retrieved online at http://www.educationprojectonline.com/2017/04/overlapping-old-multitasking.html.

References

Good, T. L., & Brophy, J. E. (2003). Looking in classrooms. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Marzano, R. J., Foseid, M. C., Foseid, M. P., Gaddy, B. B., & Marzano, J. S. (2005). A handbook for classroom management that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Savage, T. V., & Savage, M. K. (2010). Successful classroom management and discipline: teaching self-control and responsibility. Los Angeles: Sage.