If you’re leading a professional development event or a conference session or an extended meeting sometime soon, here are two great tips from Idaho career educator Darlene Dyer. Though Darlene is five years into her retirement, she’s still thoroughly engaged in the education conversations both in her local area and at the national level. Recently, […]
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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
Video: Five Ways to Find More Time to Read Books
Weekends Can Restore, But They Don’t Do It On Autopilot: Here Are Two Simple Practices That Can Help
Here in my middle age, life on autopilot means busy, fast, and hurried. I’ve got four children (ages three to nine) and an energetic wife and two demanding careers as a teacher and a writer. Everywhere I look in my life, there is a thing that would gladly take more of my time. Which of […]
Inside the Mind of a Master Teacher: Here’s How Lynsay Fabio Would Approach Classroom Management During Distance Learning
Note from Dave: In the article that follows, educator Lynsay Fabio walks through how she would approach classroom management during distance learning. She gives us a glimpse into how her mind processes planning for and implementing classroom management. Few kinds of writing were as enlightening, in my early years of teaching especially, as looks into […]
Here’s How and Why to Use Guided Meditation as a Teacher During COVID
Note from Dave: For years, I’ve kept a correspondence with Camille Napier Bernstein, an English teacher in MA who thinks and cares deeply about her work. Camille’s thinking has popped up on my blog before (see this “Principles Must Be Proven” post), but today I’ve got something for you that’s so good and comprehensive there’s […]
A Simple Tweak for Tracking Moments of Genuine Connection in Band
Just before the COVID closures started, I had the privilege of traveling to Utah and working with teachers in Lindon and St. George. In Lindon, I was at the lovely Oak Canyon Junior High School, and during our day-long workshop on the five key beliefs (student motivation; creating optimal conditions for student learning) I met […]
Here’s How One Teacher Humanized the Heck Out of Her Online Learning Space with a Story-Driven Intro Video
Recently, I came across the work of Sara G, a teacher on the North Shore of Chicago who hit a home run humanizing herself in an intro video to her online learning space. (For more on this idea, see my extended article on how to humanize online learning spaces.) Let’s take a look at Sara’s […]
What to Do When Your Asynchronous Video Lessons Aren’t Great But You’ve Got to Post Them Before You Go Crazy
The answer is obvious but difficult: we’ve just got to go ahead and post them. In fact, I’ll explain in this article why the rule of thumb we need to aim for is never re-recording our asynchronous instructional videos even though this certainly means we’ll be publishing work that is beneath our best sometimes. Why? […]
How (and Why) to Leave Audio Feedback on Student Work This Year, Whether During In-Person or Distance Learning
In 2007, researchers from West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina thought up an interesting study. In asynchronous distance learning scenarios, what would happen if one group of students received audio-based feedback on their work while another group received traditional, text-based feedback? Their findings were remarkable — especially now that so many of us find ourselves […]
Catchphrases that Work: “Is this a Mosquito Wing Thing?”
After reading my recent article “People, not Passwords: Why You Need a Catchphrase or Two to Define Your Challenges This Fall,” one of our colleagues wrote in with a catchphrase she plans to lean on especially hard this school year. Julie Holderbaum is an English teacher at Minerva High School in Minerva, OH. For years, […]
Eight Tips for Using the *New* Editing Practice that Sticks
We have a new offering for teachers out this week — Editing Practice that Sticks. Click here to learn more. What follows is a list of eight tips that Doug Stark has written for guiding teachers to use these exercises to the greatest effect possible. Tip 1: Where possible, give your students a physical copy […]
A Million Words or Fewer: Deborah Bova’s Tried-and-True Method for Learning from Parents at the Start of Distance Learning
So you’re teaching from a distance and you’d like a non-invasive (dare I say pleasant?) method for gaining insight into your students, their homes, and their families. The best, most sensitive, most inviting method I know for this kind of thing is Deborah Bova’s Million Words activity. While this assignment’s utility is not limited to […]
A Middle School Science Team in New Mexico Rocks their Distance Learning Intro Video with Humor and Passion
A week ago, I gave a professional development segment on humanizing online learning spaces at the start of the year and building strong relationships from the get-go.* One simple start to such an effort is to create a teacher intro video that introduces students to who you are as their teacher. Take a look at […]
An Interview w/ Troy Hicks for the Writing Matters Podcast
In November 2019, I had the privilege of speaking with teacher-author Troy Hicks for a bit. That talk is below. I hope it encourages you.
How to Deal with Bad Feelings About Teaching This Year: A Self-Examination Protocol for Understanding (and Starting to Do Something About) Negative Teacher Emotions
Educators around the US this summer find themselves at the start of an alien August. Never before has this turning of the calendar included such tumultuous inner circumstances: fear, anger, division, bitterness, confusion, anxiousness, apathy… and, of course, some good bits too as we glimpse excitement and determination and enthusiasm and reunion. But it’s the […]
People, Not Passwords: Why You Need a Catchphrase or Two to Define Your Challenges This Fall
A quick story: last week I was speaking with a former student named Dylan. At one point, he asked me a question. “So, Mr. Stuart, will you be teaching students or usernames this fall?” What he meant with his wry smile was clear — at the time, our district hadn’t released its finalized back-to-school plan […]