Never Do Twice What You Can Do Once Teachers are very good at creating things. Worksheets. Quizzes. PowerPoints. Letters. Revision sheets. Spreadsheets. Then, six months later, they create them again. Am I solving a problem that has already been solved? Before starting from scratch, look around. Could an old resource be adapted? Has somebody already made one?…
Feedback Without the Weekend . Teachers are very good at marking. A page of comments. Three coloured pens. A carefully written target. Then the pupil looks at it for twelve seconds and closes the book. Is the feedback causing pupils to think, or just causing me to write? Good feedback should lead to action. That…
Routines Beat Heroics Some teachers spend the day solving the same problems again and again. No pen. No book. Wrong seat. Late to start. Talking during instructions. Nobody knows where to put the work. By Friday, the teacher deserves a medal. Or a better routine. Am I repeatedly solving a problem that should have been designed out?…
Make Pupils Work Harder Than You Teachers are very good at working hard. Sometimes too good. We explain the answer, organise the resources, produce the revision notes, correct every mistake and create a beautiful PowerPoint while pupils sit watching us work. Who is doing most of the thinking? If the answer is “the teacher”, something…
Stop Doing It Teachers are very good at adding things. A new tracker. A new form. A new spreadsheet. A new meeting to discuss the new system. They are less good at stopping. Why are we still doing this? Perhaps you transfer information from one system to another. Perhaps you create a differentiated worksheet when three…
Being a Lazy Teacher Being a Lazy Teacher means putting effort where it matters most. It means creating routines instead of constantly firefighting. It means helping pupils become less dependent on the teacher. It means giving feedback that leads to action rather than simply producing more marking. It means refusing to reinvent something that…
Who Is the Lazy Teacher? The Lazy Teacher is not lazy. The name is deliberately provocative, but the idea behind it is simple: good teaching should not depend on teachers exhausting themselves. The Lazy Teacher looks for the most effective way to get the job done, rather than the most time-consuming. They ask awkward but useful…