🐴 3 ways to cut teaching time in half without sacrificing results (#125)

Good morning Open Educators,

Remember how quickly you learned to walk? Yeah… neither do we. But some innovative educators have figured out how to bring that same learning speed to everything from physics to filmmaking. Read on!

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💡 DEEP DIVE

3 ways to cut your teaching time in half (without sacrificing results)

Most of us learned to walk in about a year, mastered our native language in three, were riding bikes by 5, and then... spent the next 12 years sitting at desks for 6 hours a day.

Something about that math feels off.

More and more families are discovering that learning doesn't really care about how many hours you spend in "study mode."

What matters more is the length of the gap between trying something and finding out if it worked.

Let’s look at an example:

When you're learning to walk, you try something (stand up), get immediate feedback (fall down), and try again - maybe dozens of times a day. Each attempt takes seconds. When you're learning language, you make a sound, see if people understand you, and adjust - hundreds of times a day. Again, seconds between attempt and feedback.

But in traditional classroom, you might:

• Read a chapter

• Do some homework

• Wait a week

• Take a test

• Get it back another week later

• Find out you misunderstood something three weeks ago

That's like trying to learn to walk by taking one step every three weeks.

But some educators have discovered how to compress these learning cycles back to their natural speed. Here's how they do it:

1. Make Learning Physical

The fastest way to learn isn't always through books. At Florida's Surf Skate Science program, physics concepts click instantly because students feel them in action. A skater experimenting with different ramp angles can connect velocity and momentum in ways that textbook diagrams can't match. The guides or instructors are there to bridge those lessons, but the learning is happening in the mind (and body) of the student.

Young musicians learn tone by feeling the vibrations of their instruments. Student chefs understand chemical reactions by watching dough rise or sauces emulsify, and seeing how the end product changes when variables are altered. Even mathematics becomes clearer when students build geometric shapes or measure real spaces for projects.

The key is finding ways to make abstract concepts tangible. This might mean:

• Using manipulatives for math concepts

• Building working models for science principles

• Creating art to understand geometry and proportion

• Growing a garden to learn biology and nutrition

• Coding games to grasp logic and algorithms

When students can touch, feel, and manipulate what they're learning, comprehension soars and learning time drops.

2. Turn Real Life Into Real Learning

Picture two boys wander the hills of a film set while their father directs scenes for Angel Studios' latest film and series. For the Smallbone family, this isn't a field trip - it's a typical school day.

Years later, Ben Smallbone would direct Homestead, while Ben Kasica would produce it. Neither went to film school. Instead, they learned their craft through what Kasica calls "the ultimate creative fuel": unstructured time to follow their curiosity.

"When you're homeschooled, you have a lot of free time," Kasica explained on the OpenEd Podcast. "You can actually make a living as a teenager making stuff on YouTube, entering filmmaking contests, entering festivals." While film school graduates often wait to be "discovered," young creators are building impressive portfolios before they're old enough to vote.

This principle extends beyond filmmaking. We see it with:

• Teen entrepreneurs starting businesses rather than studying business theory

• Young programmers learning by building apps rather than memorizing syntax

• Student writers publishing online instead of just practicing essays

• Musicians building audiences on social media while mastering their craft

When students pursue real projects that matter to them, they learn faster because they're solving real problems. They stay motivated because the stakes are real. They sevelop multiple skills simultaneously, and build a portfolio of actual accomplishments (that often lead to real career opportunities).

Instead of preparing endlessly for some future moment, students are creating value now - and learning becomes a natural byproduct of their work.

3. Use Tools That Learn With The Student

The one-size-fits-all classroom faces a fundamental challenge: thirty students, all learning at different speeds, all hitting different roadblocks. A Stanford freshman who writes under the name “Austin Scholar” recently pointed out that a professor can't rewind and repeat, can't adapt to thirty different learning speeds, and can't be available at 2am before a test. But modern learning platforms can.

But this isn't about replacing teachers with AI. It's about using tools strategically to handle the repetitive parts of learning, freeing up time for what matters most.

Consider Alpha Schools' approach: K-12 students complete core academics in just two hours using carefully selected learning platforms that:

• Detect exactly where each student is struggling

• Provide immediate feedback on practice problems

• Allow students to move at their optimal pace

• Free up the rest of the day for projects and discussion

That means no waiting for the class to catch up, or moving ahead before foundational concepts are solid. It also means more time for teachers to guide, inspire, and connect learning to real life. Educators still need to help identify tools that adapt to the student, not forcing students to adapt to the tools.

The pattern is clear: Make it physical. Make it real. Make it adapt.

When we shrink the gap between trying and learning - whether through physical experience, real projects, or adaptive tools - we don't just save time. We change the whole learning game.

📊 TRENDS WE’RE FOLLOWING

The State of School Choice (2025)→ The education landscape is shifting fast. Texas proposes $10k per student freedom accounts, Wyoming's bill clears 9-0, and Tennessee goes universal. Which states are next?

Math Crisis Deepens → 72% of Illinois students can’t do math at grade level.

Surf & STEM → Florida program Surf Scate Science proves physics hits different when you're learning it on a skateboard. When theory meets pavement, concepts stick.

🛠️ TOOLS WE’RE LOVING

Fast Transcripts → Turn your educational choices into admissions-ready documents. Already trusted by 70k+ families.

MySchoolChoice.com → Clear, non-partisan breakdowns of every state's education programs, from tax credits to ESAs. Because options only help if you can understand them.

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