Simplicity

Simplicity, Efficiency, and Quality will make anything a success!

That is my motto that I live my life by. I try to make everything as simple as possible, as efficient as possible, and as high quality as possible.

Whenever, I can achieve on high levels of all three categories I know that I am doing something right.

Simplicity in Education:
Schools (and everyone else) tend to over complicate things.

Hour long staff meetings that could be covered in a short sentence/paragraph email.

1000 rules for classroom behavior.

Lesson Plans on one computer program, grades on another.

College-prep or tech-prep.

Things could be simpler. 

Tools can make life and work simple and we should use that in education as often as we can. Listed below are just a few examples of how simplifying education can improve students learning and overall experience:

• When studying or giving notes use a tool like Socrative, kahoot, quizalize, or a Google Form to receive instant feedback on student learning. My favorite is Nearpod! Instant feedback is simple and efficient!
• Passing along information...can be a major headache. It's important to keep parents informed. It is also important to give them multiple ways of getting information. Unscientific studies show that 86.324268u394% of paper handouts do not make it home. Using online technology to share documents, videos, presentations, or just a quick message to whoever needs to see it makes this task simple. Tools that educators and administrators need to utilize better. 
• School Websites
• Email Contacts/Groups or Messaging Apps like Remind
• Blogs
• Twitter Feeds
• Give links not downloads! Downloads are a headache! Instead make whatever you are trying to share accessible with a link! 
• Make the rules in your school/class simple. (all the rules you need are listed below; no more than 5 rules usually works best) Here is a link to my class rules presentation that I give at the beginning of the year: Classroom rules (See wasn't it nice that you didn't have to download that presentation?)
• Be Ready
• Be Responsible
• Be Respectful

What are some other ways we could simplify education?