The average teacher spends over 50 hours per week working, which often results in an overwhelmed, stressed-out workforce. It’s also one of the leading causes of new teacher burnout within the first few years. Studies estimate that around one in 10 teachers quit the education profession by the end of their first year, and around 50% leave within five years. It’s difficult to find another profession with the same amount of turnover, and it’s clear that passionate, talented teachers are being driven away. So, what can be done about it?

First, it’s helpful to see where this time is being spent. The average school week is 33 hours long in the United States, which leaves over 17 additional hours that teachers are spending at work. Much of this time is taken up by planning future lessons, grading papers and projects, filling out report cards, communicating with parents about their child’s progress, attending training sessions, and helping struggling students with extra tutoring. Obviously, these are all important parts of being a teacher, so it’s not like any can be cut out. However, incorporating a digital curriculum and learning management system can easily cut back on the time it takes to accomplish these tasks.

Planning Future Lessons

Instead of spending hours browsing through textbooks, writing quizzes, and searching the internet for lesson plans, a digital curriculum can automatically create an individualized learning plan for each student based on what they already know, their speed of learning, and what concepts they’re currently struggling with. This requires zero time from the teacher on a day-to-day basis, freeing up valuable time.

Grading Papers and Projects

Instead of grading each student’s work by hand, which can take hours upon hours, a digital curriculum that includes a learning management system can either make this process automatic or much faster. For straightforward assignments and assessments, grades are often calculated instantly for each student and reported to their teacher in real-time. For longer projects that require long-form explanations and creativity, the learning management system typically includes a rubric for teachers to follow, and allows for grades to be entered directly into the system, keeping everything in one place, which brings us to the next point.

Filling Out Report Cards

When all of the students’ work and grades are kept in a learning management system, a variety of report cards can be generated at any time. For example, parents may want to just know their child’s letter grade, while principals and other administrators want to see how the entire classroom has grown over the course of the year. Better yet, some digital curriculum programs allow administrators and parents to log in at any time to see these reports. Instead of realizing at the end of the quarter that their child is struggling with a particular subject, parents can check in much earlier on, often resulting in more focused attention.

Attending Training Sessions

Any valuable digital curriculum program will include plenty of professional development and teacher training. Although this won’t cover all the training teachers are responsible for taking over the year, it will make some of it much easier to find and implement. Plus, many programs include customized webinars, training via video or phone, and dedicated staff that can answer questions via chat.

Tutoring Struggling Students

Perhaps the largest time-saver available with digital curriculum is that it allows teachers to multi-task much more efficiently. When all students are receiving personalized curriculum and teachers are instantly alerted to which concepts students needs additional assistance with, it makes it faster and easier to pull aside small groups or individuals for targeted intervention.

To learn more about how Wowzers K-8 Online Math program can help reduce stress and save time in the classroom, contact our team or try a free trial.

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