Teachers Skill Corner

Mrs.Barnhouse and Her Excellent Time Management

Teachers Skill Corner

Teachers of Hickman illustrating their unique talents that will make your life easier.

This issue, Mrs. Barnhouse and her excellent time management. 

Abby Gordon | Reporter

 

You fall onto your unmade, warm bed well after midnight, the greatest feeling of comfort and relief after a long day. As your mind starts to drift, you jolt up, remembering that you have an English project due tomorrow! You quickly realize you don’t have study hall the next day, and you already need to wake up early. Slowly and groggily standing up, you know that you have to stay up even later now, once again sacrificing your sleep for a passing grade. Maybe you would’ve remembered if you had planned when you would complete it.  

 

Or maybe this won’t happen to you again if you take Mrs. Barnhouse’s advice. Heidi Barnhouse is the new gifted education teacher of Hickman High School this year, formerly a teacher at West. Barnhouse is a diligent, type-A person, who has been planning since she was only nine years old. She believes planning and time management to be essential to success. In fact, keeping a schedule or time blocking can help anyone stay on track and have less stress. Barnhouse herself has many tips to effectively manage your time.

 

Be Flexible

 

“I used to plan out every minute when I began teaching and then tried to stick to it no matter what, but you can’t do that,” Barnhouse explained, “you have to be willing to change your plan.” Attempting to stick to a minute by minute schedule can become stressful, especially in a school setting. 

 

Don’t Give Up

 

“My parents used to make me make a schedule when I was a kid, in the summer!” Barnhouse recalls. Since she has been planning for so long, she explains it as second nature. However, she says that at first, it might be difficult to figure out how long each task will take you, but to just keep on readjusting until you figure it out. 

 

Plan Backwards

 

“In order to reach a goal successfully,” Barnhouse says, “you really have to plan everything out up to that goal.” Barnhouse sets long term goals for herself and plans what she needs to complete to achieve that goal. Barnhouse describes her method as backwards planning, where you know your endpoint, and then work backwards from there to understand each smaller goal to wherever you are now in the process. 

 

Stress Will Vanish

 

“It’s very stress-relieving to know that I don’t have to constantly be thinking of all the things that I have to do,” Barnhouse tells, “because I’ve already planned it out.” Yes, everyone experiences stress, but high schoolers are constantly under pressure, making planning an ideal reliever.