Each of these sub-pages covers a different aspect of Analysis which is relevant to TM4T. You don't need to understand them in detail, and don't worry if some of it is too abstract for you at this stage. As long as you kind-of-get-it, that's fine. Skip-read each topic by clicking on the links. There is virtually nothing to do on these pages. Essentially, they are explaining why the techniques described later work.
[Note: some people are kind of picky, so I'd better tell you that the inconsistent italicization on these pages is not accidental. I don't intend to use academic referencing on this site, but if any term has a body of theory behind it on Wikipedia, it's in italics - on first use - so you can reference it]
Operations Management
There is a whole library of books to discuss how organisations decide on the best - the most efficient and the most effective - ways to work. You don't have to read these books, but you do need to be aware that there are always better ways to do things.
More here.
Work Breakdown Structures (WBSs)
There is no such thing as 'admin' in teaching. There are things called lesson planning, assessment, progress reporting etc and it is only when we look in detail at what is involved in each of these things, we inevitably realise that there are e-mails and documents involved, filing and number-crunching, all of which needs to be done in one way or another. In order to identify where our admin burden is - where it comes from - we need to 'break down' our key tasks into steps. We can then consider re-ordering, re-grouping or re-engineering these non-teaching tasks.
More here.
Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs)
These diagrams are used to represent how processes link together, usually through the flow of information (typically a document of some kind) or just through sequence. There is no need for you to produce diagrams (there are many different conventions and icons to learn) but you should be familiar with the notion of a process, and of steps. You should be able to visualise your lessons - however creative and different they are - as a kind of production line, and to extend that thinking to everthing else you do in school. You definitely need to be prepared to change the way you work.
More here.
Economies of Scale and Chunking
Basically, WBSs and DFDs are ways of understanding and describing in detail how we work. There are several reasons for doing this - when we have that level of understanding it enables and improves our ability to apply the practical techniques on this website.
Two kind-of-opposite techniques are (i) seeking economies of scale and (ii) chunking tasks. You gain economies of scale by doing more of something in one go. The obvious example is photocopying: do it all at once so you don't have to traipse back and forward to the repro-rooom. Chunking means breaking up work into small chunks which are compatible with your attention span.
More here.
Vertical Task Groupings
Teachers aren't stupid - well, most of them aren't - and they will of course automatically seek economies of scale, and tackle their work in a logical sequence. However, this 'sequence' will invariably involve tackling one activity from start to finish - what we call 'horizontal grouping'. In an ideal world, we want to tackle things in a different way, and batch our work 'vertically'. This means that we tackle similar tasks (tasks which require a similar mindset and concentration) at the same time. In order to do this, we frequently have to change the way we work.
More here.
Data Analysis
For the purposes of this website, data and information mean the same thing - and efficient schools run on data: the names of the students, their timetables, their classes, their marks.
A teacher needs to store, process, retrieve, update data all day long - oh, and teach as well... and of course, the content of our lessons, the curriculum, the learning - that is really just data too. It needs to be updated, stored, retrieved, and presented.
If we are efficient, we try to store our data in a way that involves no unnecessary work. If, for example, you have to write a student's name down twenty times a term - we all have students like that - we are no working efficiently. You should write the name down once, and put twenty ticks (or crosses) next to it.
More about data here.
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