From Hours To Seconds: Informed Decisions Sans Hassle

Yes, this is the real, actual stack.

Last April, I was working with an elementary school teacher who pointed to a stack of paper proclaiming, "I've got four IEP reviews Monday morning, so I'll be spending Sunday going through that stack of records." That stack was full of student objectives, student progress, meeting minutes, milestones, and more, I imagine. None of it was sorted, none of it searchable, and none of it very well organized. Fast forward to September, 2015, where the teacher has created several spreadsheets to store information about student objectives and progress, and has begun entering lots of information into those spreadsheets. The same teacher is now only seconds away from using real, live, powerful information. Whether for an IEP review, or to determine which students to pull for services, the information is now just several clicks - and several seconds - away. The video below shows how filters can be used on spreadsheets to sort, slice, and dice large amounts of information into manageable, highly useful chunks. If you have a process that could be made easier or more effective through a spreadsheet or other technology and you would like to explore some opportunities, please let me know.