There are two types of teachers: Those who absolutely love technology and those who don’t feel comfortable using it. 

But the one thing both types have in common is that they never have enough time in their work day to get everything done.

I’m sure you’re in the same situation as well. Always running around, feeling like a headless chicken, because you have a million and one things to do and not. enough. time. to do them.

Well, lucky for you, I’m here to help. 

I’ve been there, I’ve come up with some solutions, and today, I’ll be sharing them with you!

Ready to discover what my top time-saving tech tips are?

Let’s dive in!

Too Much to Do but Too Little Time? I’m Here to Help!

The one thing teachers never have enough of is time. You know it and I know it, which is why I decided to share with you my favorite time-saving tech tips today. 

And, good news, even if you’re not comfortable with technology, these are super easy and need no tech skills whatsoever!

Tech Tip #1: Take Advantage of Gmail

The first one of my tech tips is to use canned responses in Gmail. If you find yourself spending way too much time composing and responding to emails, then this tip is for you! 

I remember the very first time I learned about this feature, I got super excited because it really saves you a ton of time. You can use it to send follow-ups to parents, reminders, etc… basically all the “fun” stuff that we as teachers get to do after our first job of teaching our students.

Here’s how you can use canned responses on Gmail: The first thing you need to do is be sure that templates are enabled in your Gmail account —  to do that, go to your Gmail settings, select “Advanced”, look for “Templates”, select “Enable”, and be sure to click on “Save changes” at the bottom of the screen —.

After that’s done, click on “Compose” and type your canned email. Once you’ve composed it, click on the three dots at the bottom of your window, hover over “Templates”, and then select “Save draft as template.” 

Make sure to give your template a snappy name so you can quickly find it the next time. 

Tech Tip #2: Don’t Forget to Schedule

Let me ask you: Do you get work emails at all hours of the day? And do you ever feel the need to respond right then and there, even if it’s after hours, because you know that you won’t have time the next day, or you’re worried you might forget?

Well, you can kiss that problem goodbye, because the scheduling option on Gmail is about to become your new BFF! 

Here’s how it works: First, compose a new email, or better yet, use that canned response feature mentioned above. When you’ve completed your email, click on the arrow next to the send button and choose the date and time you’d like your email to be sent.

Scheduling your emails will help you maintain your professional boundaries with parents and establish clear and consistent work hours. You won’t have to be available 24/7 anymore!

Tech Tip #3: Ad-Free Is Always Best

YouTube can be a great tool to enhance learning and build background knowledge in the classroom. I’ve used it for everything from music to virtual field trips and more. 

But all the related videos and ads that are plastered all over the screen can not only be distracting, but also downright risky when you’re working with young children. This is one of the many reasons why some schools have banned YouTube altogether. 

But, let’s not go there yet, instead, let’s learn about my tech tip number three, which is how to watch YouTube ad-free!

How can you make sure you won’t get any ads while using YouTube in the classroom? Easy! Simply add a hyphen in the YouTube link between the letter T and U like this “yout-ube” right in the video’s URL. Really, it can’t get any easier than that! 

Tech Tip #4: Don’t Be a Google Drive Hoarder

The fourth one of my tech tips is all about organizing your Google Drive folders. As you know, Google Drive is a way of life for most teachers these days. It’s where we keep all of our digital files and images. And if you’re not careful, it can become a huge mess of unorganized folders, making it difficult to find what you need when you need it. This is exactly why you need to up your Google Drive organization skills! 

Now, I don’t know about you, but I am a very visual person. So having my folders organized and labeled appeals to my visual style. And that’s exactly why I like to color code my folders and use emojis to keep them organized. 

Tech Tip #5: Pin Those Tabs!

I’m sure that, just like me, you’ve arrived at your classroom — at least once — in a rush to get things ready before your students show up. 

Well, one thing that can help you in that situation is to have all your important tabs pinned, this way you can open all of them without having to type a bunch of URLs into your browser. 

Here’s how you can pin your tabs on Google Chrome: First, go to your Chrome settings. On the very left side of your Chrome settings page, select “Startup” then click on “Continue where you left off.” 

The trick with this feature is not to close your Chrome browser before turning off or restarting your device. You want Chrome to quit with all your tabs open so that when it reopens, it’s continuing from where you left off. And now you can walk into your classroom in the morning, turn on your computer, and you’re good to go!

I discuss all of this in more depth — with examples — in the video above, so if you’re more of a visual learner, make sure to watch it!