Ignite Your Teaching
Ignite Your Teaching
The Power of Doing Less: How Simplifying Your Teaching Can Benefit Everyone
In this episode, I discuss how teachers can improve their teaching effectiveness and reduce burnout by doing less. We talk about how teachers often take on too much, leading to stress and decreased impact on student learning. By simplifying routines, reducing unnecessary tasks, and fostering student independence, you can create a more efficient and effective learning environment. I also share my own personal experiences and offer practical tips for letting go of non-essential tasks. In today’s new episode you’ll also be encouraged to focus on what truly matters in education and given key insights into creating sustainable teaching practices.
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Can I tell you the truth? You're probably doing way too much as a teacher. And as a result, you're probably burning out. In fact, if you actually try to do less, you will have a much easier time being the teacher that you want to be. Because we all take on way too much and we say yes way too often. And I think that one of the key strategies for being an effective teacher is learning to say no and learning to do a heck of a lot less. So let's dig into it. Hey, it's Patty from Madly Learning. Today I want to talk about something that may feel a bit counterintuitive. And that's how we can actually become better teachers by doing less. This idea might sound strange at first because we live in a profession that is constantly asking us to do more. More planning, more marking, more data collection, more extras. But what if doing less in your classroom actually gave you more impact with your students? So when I say do less, I don't mean cut corners. You stop caring. That's not why we got into teaching. It's not why we're here. Doing less means letting go of the extra fluff that doesn't move students learning forward. It means simplifying your routines, it means saying no to busy work, and it means focusing your energy on where it counts most. So here's the truth: when you do less, you make space for things that matter. You have more time to connect with students, more mental energy to be present during lessons, and more flexibility to respond to what your students actually need in the moment. Doing less doesn't mean students get less from you. It means they get more of what actually helps them learn. So what can you do less of? You can do less photocopying and worksheets. You can do less decorating of bulletin boards that take hours but are forgotten in a week or never looked at. You do less grading of every single thing your students produce. You can do less micromanaging of every step in the classroom. None of these things make or break student learning. I'll give you an example. Early in my career, I thought I had to mark absolutely everything. I took home stacks and stacks of papers every night, which just made me even more exhausted. When I stopped marking every single assignment, nothing bad happened. In fact, students got more timely feedback because I was free to focus on the big pieces, and I was less stressed, which made me a better teacher for them the next day. Doing less doesn't mean doing nothing. It means building systems that make your classroom run smoothly. Clear routines such as student jobs or structures that let kids take ownership of their learning. When students know the routines, you don't need to hover. You don't need to overplan. The class will run itself and you can focus on the actual part that you are there for, which is the teaching. Another big piece of doing less is student independence. When you step back and give your students the space to step up, they learn to self-manage. They learn to problem solve. They learn to take ownership of their learning. And that's exactly what we want for them. Your doing less gives them the chance to do more. Now, of course, many teachers feel guilty about doing less. We've been conditioned in this environment of education to think that more equals better. But ask yourself, is all that extra work really moving student learning forward, or is it just draining your energy? Remember, students don't need a perfect teacher. They need a present one. They need you rested, focused, and responsive. That happens when you allow yourself to let it go. So you can say no, you can do less. Because when you do, everyone benefits. Not just you, but also your students. If you don't have time to say yes to something, don't say yes to it. So where do you start? Well, let's start small. Stop grading everything. Look at a routine that you have in your classroom, particularly those routines that require a lot of steps. Simplify that routine. Cut it down. Cut it down to something that is manageable, or just eliminate it altogether and perhaps replace it with something else. If getting a pencil is a five-step routine in your room, then see if you can eliminate that into step one. Is it worth it or is it not? If your classroom management routine requires you to get up and wander around the room and put something in a jar and then track it on a tracker, if that is a routine that is really complex in your classroom and takes a lot of steps, then evaluate whether or not there's something simpler to do. If classroom jobs in your classroom takes a ton of time for you to pick the person who's going to do the job, follow up with them every time to make sure that the job happens, perhaps that's not worth it. Maybe simply just saying if you have something that needs to be done, put your hand up if you're interested in doing it in that moment. That might be a much easier approach to doing a routine if you're already struggling with finding time to do all of the things that need to happen. Try cutting down one unit that's overloaded with activities and just make things simpler. Hand over a responsibility to your students, such as changing the date every day or making sure pencils are sharpened. Really pick one thing and just let it go. Then notice how much lighter you feel and how little impact it actually has on student learning. Chances are you'll discover it has actually no negative impact at all. And in fact, it probably makes things better or easier for you. So to be a better teacher, do less. Let go of what doesn't matter, focus on what does, and give students the space to grow and give yourself permission to teach in a way that is actually sustainable. Thanks for joining me today. If you want more support in building systems that let you do less while improving the quality of your teaching, check out my ignited teaching membership. All of the resources are already there and ready for you. See you next time.
