Agonizing Over School-reopening Plans? Think Marie Kondo

Her advice has helped millions declutter their lives. Now organizing expert Marie Kondo’s philosophy of letting go of nonessentials can help K-12 educators scrambling to design creative back-to-school plans in the age of COVID-19, Harvard experts say.

“Imagining September,” a recent report released by researchers from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, suggests that schools grappling with online and in-person teaching options can keep students more engaged by limiting coursework to the essentials only. Avoid piling on missed material in a “drill and kill” approach, the report suggests, and instead emphasize developing foundational skills and knowledge, while preserving some “in-school” time for the arts and extracurriculars………………………………………………….