The first training I went to out of college was a Harry Wong presentation on the first days of school. Now look, I love me some Harry Wong. BUT that presentation cranked my pressure meter up a little higher than I want it. Pressure matters Here’s the thing: if you and I want to both […]
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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.
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The Latest from the Blog
Can Ten Minutes of Reading Change a Whole Semester of Teaching? It May Have for This Teacher
I saw this the other day on Amazon, regarding These 6 Things. A colleague of ours named Nora Ishibashi wrote it, and my point in showing it to you is to demonstrate (yet again) that tiny interventions can create very large and positive differences in the lives of the folks we care about. My focus […]
Guide: Three Simple, Robust Methods for Establishing Teacher Credibility in the First Weeks of School
Teacher Credibility is one of five key beliefs beneath student motivation, and it is a uniquely powerful force in a classroom. From a position of Credibility, a teacher has leverage for cultivating student beliefs in Value, Belonging, Effort, and Efficacy. But from a position of anti-Credibility, a teacher will have a hard time influencing these […]
Steady Goes It: It’s Tortoise Time
So here’s the deal: school’s coming, and the pressure starts to build. We hear things like, “It’s make it or break it this fall. It’s now or never.” And look: there’s some truth to that. Fall 2021 is a special moment in the hearts of our people — us, our colleagues, our students, their families. […]
Five Critical Qualities about the Five Key Beliefs, in Order of Actionability
We’re into it now, colleague. If you’ve no idea what I’m talking about, take a look at these earlier articles in the series: Part 1: On the Teaching of Souls Addendum: But What About SEL? Part 2: The Path to the Head is the Heart Addendum: Not a Switchboard, but a Garden On with it. […]
Not a Switchboard, but a Garden
When I hear how we talk about the inner workings of a person, sometimes I think we’re around computers too much. The things we program can end up programming us. Here’s what I mean. It’s best to think of a student’s heart not as a place filled with buttons and switches — okay, let’s turn […]
The Path to the Head is the Heart
Last time, I wrote that people are more than brains on sticks and schools are uniquely tasked with helping students to build their minds. I ended by saying that the path to the mind’s optimal development is the heart. Today, I’m going to get into explaining that. All right — so the path to the head […]
But What About Social-Emotional Learning?
Last time, I wrote that kids are souls and that schools are for building the mind. (That summary leaves a lot out on purpose. To fill in the gaps, click here and give it a read. Won’t take longer than five minutes I bet. And there’s even a picture of a brain on a stick!) […]
On the Teaching of Souls
You’ve heard it a bunch: Fall 2021 is go time. Now or never. Make it or break it. In this article, I want to argue that: In K-16 education, we tend to lack a clear conception of what students are, and that needs remedied; In K-16 schools, we tend to lack a clear conception of […]
Guaranteed, Viable, and Good Curricula… and a Note about Legos
Tonight, teacher productivity guru Angela Watson will host a session called Better Than Normal, and I’m eager to see what she has to say. Register right here — it’s free. Replay available for those who can’t attend live. Lots of times, curricula salespeople will present what’s on offer as the end-all-be-all. “This has got everything […]
3 Simple Ways to Practice Classroom Management on Your Kids This Summer
I was a teacher for ten years. I’ve been a parent for four. When I make mistakes in parenting and wind up with a Whopper Freak Out, it’s almost always because I’m neglecting a basic tenet of good classroom management. So this summer, I’m tightening up on the following, and I hope you will, too. 1. […]
Efficiency Matters and Perfection is a Mirage: Updates to the Article of the Week for 2021-2022
Prior to COVID, I was a pretty low-tech teacher. Any time we could do something analog in my classroom, we did. It was just one less thing that could go awry in a lesson and one less source of distraction for my students. Then COVID happened. Within months, my district was 1:1, and being tech-lite […]
Embodying What’s Good and True
I want to close for the week with something our colleague John Willette wrote the other day. It was his culminating thoughts on an extended PD series we did in my district this year on the science of learning. (The seven-minute intro to that series is here, in case you’re curious.) John’s a sixth grade […]
“I’m Already Stressing About Next Year. What Can I Do?”
With summer’s fast approach, the hearts and minds of teachers are starting to linger on the coming-back-together this fall. I’d like to speak a bit into any anxiety you might be feeling right now about your adequacy for meeting the challenges ahead. Let’s talk about gaps. I’ve visited or worked in schools all across the […]
The Best Thing to Do This Summer
Spoiler: if you’re tired, it’s probably nothing. At least, nothing related to school or teaching. I know you may be feeling that you need to work this summer — after all, there are summer schools to staff and “learning losses” to recoup — but if you’ve been living on that edge between sane and insane, […]
Video Response: “My School Is Planning More ‘New’ than Ever: What Do I Do?”
Recently, I received a message from a colleague asking for advice on how to approach the coming school year when the plan at her school is to add more to the schedule than ever before in 2021-2022. I love the question because it’s human. The subtext is, “This year has felt like survival swimming, and […]