April 16th, 2018

Teachers: 20% of what you do matters, 80% doesn’t

Teachers can use the 80/20 rule to supercharge their student’s performance, focusing their energy on the 20% that matters and letting GradeCam do the 80% that doesn’t.

The Pareto Principle or the 80/20 rule means that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. As stated in this article, management consultant Joseph M. Juran suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. Pareto published a paper observing that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the people.

The 80/20 rule has found its way into almost every industry:

  • In business: 80% of sales come from 20% of clients
  • In software: Microsoft says fixing the top 20% of reported bugs, fixed 80% of related issues
  • In health and safety occupations: 20% of the hazards cause 80% of the injuries

 

So what does it mean for education?

20% of what teachers do in the classroom accounts for 80% of student performance.

At first, this may sound like a discouraging statistic. However, this should be encouraging because it means teachers don’t have to do everything well but focus on the 20% that matters.

This doesn’t mean that 80% of what a teacher does doesn’t matter. The other 80% needs to be done. But, since everyone’s energy and focus are limited, teachers can use this knowledge to determine the vital 20% of their activities and put their energy in those. The other 80% can be done later or, in some cases, not at all.

 

What are vital teacher activities?

  • Instruction
  • Assessment
  • Redirection

 

What’s the other 80%?

  • Paperwork
  • Emails
  • Meetings
  • Pretty bulletin boards
  • Elaborate organization systems
  • Etc.

 

GradeCam is here to help you focus on your vital 20%.

Let’s discuss maybe the largest physical and mental hurdle teachers have to face: paperwork. As reported in a Tech & Learning white paper: Teachers spend an average of 4 hours per week grading, but many reported spending 8 hours or more.

If one of the vital tasks of a teacher is assessment, but they hesitate from assessing more frequently because they just can’t keep up with the paperwork – that’s a problem!

GradeCam was developed to solve the massive paperwork problem teachers face. It was initially devised as a way to scan grades into any teacher’s gradebook, eliminating the tedious data entry. Then, we went one better and GradeCam evolved to actually grade those papers. And, it’s even come a long way since then!
 

How much time can GradeCam really save?

Considering the chart below, hours upon hours of time.

GradeCam empowers teachers to quickly and easily customize, score, and record assessments – without special forms, equipment or buy in. You create your own tests or quizzes with our online software and print scan forms on plain paper. You can use our easy online grader to score assessments in an instant by scanning them with any web camera, iPhone or Android device. Then, you have all the data at your fingertips. You can view detailed reports of class or student progress, and transfer grades instantly to any electronic gradebook.

If you don’t already have a GradeCam account, sign up for free below. We promise you’ll never regret focusing on that 20%!