GREAT. No living person has thought more about the word “great” than Jim Collins has in his long and focused career. If you’re a teacher in search of surprising insights into both your career and your life, you could do a lot worse than picking up Collins’ Good to Great (hardcover; Kindle; audio). It’s not […]
Main Content
Let’s Make Teaching Better.
Dave Stuart Jr. is a husband, father, and high school teacher who writes about education. He reads extensively across the disciplines so that he can create uniquely satisfying professional development experiences for his colleagues around the world. His mission is to encourage and equip educators on the journey to long-term flourishing and professional excellence.
Professional development. (The good kind.)
If we’re going to make teaching better, we’ve got to improve professional development. I’m not the guru, but I have spent thousands of hours practicing and researching the art and science of educator-centered, high-impact PD. My hope with all of these is that they help.
And oh yeah: I’m still a teacher. I’ve never left the classroom. With 120 students on my roster each year, it’s impossible for me to detach theory from practice.
Online PD
My schedule-friendly, all-online professional development courses are designed with busy educators in mind. Whole staff or district applications are available — email support@davestuartjr.com with your needs.
In-Person PD
I speak and lead education workshops for a limited number of schools and organizations around the world each year.
Books + Blog
My best-selling book, These 6 Things, has been read and cherished by secondary teachers around the world. My blog is read by over 35,000 educators each month.
Get weekly bits of perspective, research, and encouragement.
I write to encourage and equip educators on the path to long-term flourishing and professional excellence.
Subscribe to the free newsletter.
No spam. Just blog posts.
The Latest from the Blog
End of Year Value Booster: “What Was It All For?” End of Year Mini-Sermon
In Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, Hamilton asks Burr, “What are you waiting for? What do you stall for? We won the war — What was it all for?” This time of the school year, this is a great question to answer for our students. What, in your view as […]
The Second-Best Time to Tell Students School Matters…
…is today. The first-best, obviously, is the day they begin school, then every day thereafter. Trouble is, I don’t control the first-best. So I’ll take the second, with gratitude. After all, how often in life do you find yourself 100% in control of bringing about a second-best thing? I know, I know. At the time […]
Secondary Schools Wanted
If you work at or with a secondary school where teachers are feeling defeated, dejected, or sad about student demotivation, let’s connect. In the 24-25 school year, I’d like to focus on helping teachers and schools who have this problem. Let’s take the strategies and ideas from The Will to Learn and put them to […]
Using AI as a Parent
As I’ve said in recent articles, I’m intentionally not good at most things related to teaching. To me, this is the key to being a good teacher while having a life. It’s the crux of the two books that represent my core thinking, These 6 Things and The Will to Learn. Both of those books […]
What I’m Trying to Say Is
Dear colleague, I’m grateful to be coming off a needed staycation spring break. Now I’m ready to get back to teaching right beside you as we seek to finish strong. During the break, I took a mini-retreat to a cabin with no wifi, seeking clarity about this blog. What the heck is this blog for? […]
Three Tips for More MEANINGful Parent/Teacher Conferences
As I shared last time, this spring I’m giving Cal Newport’s new book a look. It’s called Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout (emphases mine), and I’m finding it challenging and provocative in just the ways my mind and heart need at this point in the school year. I’d love to have […]
Can Teachers Practice Cal Newport’s “Slow Productivity”?
Dear colleague, In his new book Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout, Georgetown professor Cal Newport argues that the working lives of knowledge workers are filled with pseudo-productivity. Pseudo-productivity, in Newport’s parlance, is a “mood” of busyness that equates visible activity with actual productive effort. In terms of us teachers, pseudo-productivity can […]
How to Resolve Pop-Up Debate Power Struggles Where a Student Refuses to Speak
I’ve written before on what I do for students who have official accommodations that prohibit mandated public speaking. But what about those students who do not have such accommodations but still refuse to speak? Here’s how one reader posed the question: Hey Dave,I agree that your pop up debate format can be a magical tool. […]
Does Teaching a Lesson Make You Brave?
“Does writing poetry make you brave? It’s a good question to ask. I think making anything is a brave thing to do. Not like fighting brave, obviously. But a kind that looks at a horrible situation and doesn’t crumble. Making anything assumes there’s a world worth making it for… [M]aking something is a hopeful thing […]
In the Tunnel? Find the Beauty.
Dear colleague, Yesterday I was speaking with some teacher-author friends about what teachers need right now. I found it a disorienting question because when I think about what I need right now, I feel disappointed. What I need is pretty normal for this time of year: energy, invigoration, a renewed sense of zest for the […]
*Unavoidable* Difficulties in Learning: Dr. Stephen Chew’s “Choke Points”
As I wrote recently, learning is hard for at least four reasons: These stable findings from the research on the human learning system are what Dr. Stephen Chew calls “choke points in learning.” You can’t erase them; you can only work with them. In the video below, I unpack each choke point in greater detail. […]
Forty Things I’ve Learned So Far
Hey there, colleague — happy Leap Day! Tomorrow is March 1, which means (as my students like to remind me) that it’s Justin Bieber’s birthday. And that means, it’s my birthday, too. So in honor of the great occasion of Justin Bieber’s birthday, today I’m going to share forty things I’ve learned during my teaching […]
Avoidable vs. Unavoidable Difficulty
Note from Dave: I’m currently taking inquiries for PD visits to schools for the spring, summer, and fall. Schools tend to use me for issues around student motivation and engagement, recovering teacher morale, or returning to the fundamentals of teaching. All my visits come with resources that enable schools to keep the learning going after […]
What If a Student Has an Accommodation that Prohibits Speaking in Whole-Class Discussions?
After my recent article on the magicality of pop-up debates, some colleagues wrote in with a common question regarding students who can’t participate in pop-up debate. I do sometimes receive documentation—a 504 plan, an IEP, or a note from a doctor or counselor—that excuses a student from public speaking situations in the classroom. At the […]
Need an Idea for Tomorrow’s Lesson Plan? Try a Quiz
Note from Dave: I’m currently taking inquiries for PD visits to schools for the spring, summer, and fall. To get an idea of the topics I cover, head here. If you’re a PD decision-maker or on a team that decides PD, use this form to be in touch. I’d love to explore coming to your […]