Our Manifesto
Everyone has their own reason for becomming a teacher. Maybe you care deeply about your subject. Maybe you like working with kids. Maybe you picked the three best reasons of all: June, July and August. But there is one reason no one becomes a teacher: paperwork. No one sits down with their college advisor and says, “Is there a professon where I can critically read 130 short essays about the same subject in one night? At home? For free?”
Our goal at Classroom Zen is to gather the various tricks teachers are using to fight the war on paperwork and put them into one place. We want to look at what those in the business world are doing with Getting Things Done and similar systems and modify them so they work for us. We want teachers to stop having to remember 76,216 different things at once so you can concentrate on teaching your lesson. Most importantly we want to free you up so you can get creative again and come up with fun lessons that develop real understanding. If you’re the kind of teacher who is Googling your lesson plans 15 minutes before the start of class this is the blog for you.
If you’re the kind of teacher who hasn’t seen the surface of your desk in four weeks this is the blog for you. If you’re the kind of teacher who late to every meeting because you just can’t find that stupid sheet of stupid paper you put down right there not five minutes ago then this is the blog for you.More to come…
Classroom Zen 
Hey Mike! Its Salindger! Awesome idea. This is what we teachers need. I really should write down some of my tricks!
Saw the link at 43folders and added it to my teacher/gtd site as well. Doing my small part to help teachers get their stuff done and it’s always great to see others doing the same.
Hi!
I’m a second year teacher and everything that I have been reading applies to me. I am drowning quickly and look forward to any advice on managing the mountain of paperwork…
🙂
Yikes! I’m a student teacher, and I can already see myself slipping slowly into the great deep pool of paperwork. HELP!!!
As a High School science teacher I am forever trying to use technology to make my life easier and my lessons more interesting. For those of you teaching physics take a look at the Univ. of Texas. They will allow to set up a site where students can submit homework assignments. Those assignments are then graded and the grades and graded assignments sent to the teacher. Our physics dept. no longer grades homework!
Great site idea. Are you planning any further updates? I can see lots of potential for a site like this. Peace!
Hey! I’d love to hear from you and see if you’re going to do anything else with this site. If you would like to publish a guest post on So You Want To Teach? I would be more than happy to have your thoughts. We seem to be on the same plan. It’s a shame you don’t have more posted here…