SPIN

39 reflections to turn task completion into time for you

Your time is precious – so use it well.

With so many pulls on your time, and a changing environment, now more than ever it is vital that your time and task management is both targeted and efficient. If you can achieve this, you can allocate more time for yourself and so become a more relaxed and effective teacher. All too often to do list gets longer and longer which can impact on your enjoyment of the job and, more importantly, your mental health and well-being.

Building on the strategies in his first two book, LIFT and RISK, David Gumbrell advocates that you need to focus your attention on giving the right plates a spin to save time, energy and attention that you can then allocate elsewhere. The 39 short, research-based chapters, punctuated with reflective questions, along with teacher interviews, together build into a significant body of knowledge to promote resilience and teacher retention.

Praise for RISK

A beautifully written book with David's characteristic use of rich metaphors and thoughtful narrative. This book will certainly help you make bolder and better decisions in the classroom and beyond. Adrian Bethune

Introduction

Part A: SPINNING – How effective is plate spinning as a strategy to get things done, for you?  

1. Jiaoda opera

2. Beach balls blow your mind  

3. Hypotrochoids and epitrochoids

4. DVDs spin

5. Hamster wheels  

6. Play pumps

7. Wind farms

PART B: FITTING - How can you best fit all the jobs you have to do into the working day?

8. Seven piece puzzle

9. ISO – Keep cargo ships in order

10. The power of punctuation

11. Sinuous curves and straight lines

12. Dutifully dovetailed

13. Feat M C Escher

14. Warp and weft

PART C: ORDERING – Which job should you do first, second and then third?

15. Not a knot

16. Fizz, bang, whoosh

17. Cream teas - are you Devon or Cornwall?

18. Judy and Punch

19. Rock, paper, scissors

20. Podium positioning

21. Rounders and ‘abouters’

PART D: TIMING – How much time should you allocate to each job on your ‘To Do List’?

22. Not now, Grommet

23. Cryogenic torpedoes

24. It’s a horological show
25. A Black Forest tweet

26. Greenwich clock

27. Boil then bake then fry

PART E: FILTERING –e time? How can you filter out which of the job list needs to be done?

28. Permanently temporary
29. Activate your carbon

30. Big blue whale

31. Canned meat or email feat?

32. Prime position

33. Do bowling balls float?

PART F: RANDOMISING – Does a randomised approach to the job list, get the job done?                      

34. Drawing the short straw
35. Lottery numbers

36. Life of Pi

37. Baffle ball & bally hoo

38. Running the gauntlet

39. Grapeshot

Interviews

David Gumbrell is an educational consultant, working in schools to support teachers with their resilience and also with teacher training providers and student teachers. He delivers INSET days, one-to-one coaching sessions, and speaks at headteacher conferences. Drawing on over 20 years of teaching experience, including 7 years as a headteacher, and research conducted at Kingston University, he is well placed to nurture the development of those new to the profession - as well as those who have been teaching for a little longer) He understands how precious time is for teachers and wanted to create a resource that made the best use of this.