Hi there, colleague! Today’s our third in a series mean to help us ready our souls for summer. The full series list is here. Each article is super micro for your stress-reduction pleasure. Gosh — I just LOVE the feeling of a coming summer. Today’s strategy for shutting down a school year: fill a box […]
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
School Year Shut Down: Rest Your Best
This summer, what if we set out to accomplish something HUGE — something like RESTING at an ALL-TIME HIGH! I explain in this brief video (below, or here if you’re not seeing a video). The idea today is simple, colleague: What would it look like for you to make this summer your absolute best summer […]
School Year Shut Down: Getting Our Souls Ready for Summer
Editor’s note: This article is the first in a delightful series. For the others, click the any of the following: Rest Your Best, Fill a Box with Stuff, and (more coming!). Dear colleague, Yesterday I took the chance to walk to work. I live close to my school, but I don’t often walk. Yesterday, though, […]
New Book! 📖 Answers to Your Biggest Questions About Teaching Middle and High School ELA
Hey there, colleague — happy Tuesday to you. I hope I find you well. Got a minute for a story? A year or so ago, my editor at Corwin said, “Hey Dave! Want to write a book with Matthew Johnson and Matthew Kay?” The first few words — “Want to write a book with?” — […]
Caren Saunders’ Simple Template for Replying to Students Who Email Her about Improving Their Grade
A month or so ago, I wrote a post on “What I Do When a Parent, Guardian, or Student Emails Me Re: Make-Up Work or ‘How to Get My Grade Up.’” (Nuanced title, right?) One of our colleagues responded to this article with a simple template for replying to students who email her about their […]
Self-Assessment: Paul Graham on Three Traits of Great Teachers
Apparently this is Paul Graham week, colleague. Last time, we looked at a pop-up debate about the value of writing, using a Graham essay as catalyst for the arguments. Today, I want to give you a chance to reflect on what Graham argues makes a good teacher. This isn’t a question he gets asked often […]
A Pop-Up Debate for Helping Students Value Writing
Just the other evening, I was enjoying some (rare) quiet time in my house of four children under twelve by reading from the essays of Paul Graham. I’ve written about Graham’s ideas before (here on procrastination), but as I’ve not brought him up in a couple years, let me say for anyone who’s missed it: […]
EOY Motivation Moves, Part 4: Five Homes, Five Days
Here’s another one that’s worth the labor at the end of the year. It takes 5-10 minutes per day for a week (five days total), and if you don’t finish the intervention feeling at least 1% better about the work you do, then I owe you a cup or a glass the next time I’m […]
EOY Motivation Moves, Part 3: Tell Me Five
Here’s an end-of-the-year motivation move that fits inside of a class warm-up (5 minutes or so) and helps with Credibility (by signaling Care) and Belonging. Tomorrow at the start of class, hand your students a sheet of lined paper and say this: “You know class, I was thinking the other day — wow, the year […]
End of Year Motivation Moves, Part 2 — Work the Roster
Hey there, colleague! Continuing on with the mini-series we started yesterday, let me make a quick announcement and then we’ll get to today’s simple strategy. Announcement/Request: If you’re planning to register yourself or a group for next week’s all-virtual PD day, can you let me know by this weekend? Enrollment is currently low and I […]
Student Motivation at the End of the School Year
Hey there, colleague — how are you doing? We’ve just finished our state testing at my school, and after a couple days of proctoring, I gotta tell ya — I’m ready to do some teaching. 🙂 So here’s the deal. The way I see it, there are two ways to end this school year. Scenario […]
Value Booster: Why Are You Here?
Recently while reading Professor Ayelet Fishbach’s Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation, I came across this line that made me think about my students a bit but the students of electives teachers a ton. In 2006, psychologist Kentaro Fujita and his colleagues had people answer a series of why or how […]
Learning Lesson 8: It’s Easy to Trick Yourself into Thinking You Know More Than You Know
Hey there, colleague! What follows is the last of a series of mini-lessons that teach secondary students how to learn more effectively. It’s part of a series, which you can access right here. When we teach students about learning, we empower them to work smarter and get better results for their effort. This is massively […]
Learning Lesson 7: Bad Learning Strategies Are Popular
Hey there, colleague! What follows is a mini-lesson that teaches secondary students how to learn more effectively. It’s part of a series, which you can access right here. When we teach students about learning, we empower them to work smarter and get better results for their effort. This is massively important for cultivating the five […]
Learning Lesson 6: Multitasking is popular, but it doesn’t work
Hey there, colleague! What follows is a mini-lesson that teaches secondary students how to learn more effectively. It’s part of a series, which you can access right here. When we teach students about learning, we empower them to work smarter and get better results for their effort. This is massively important for cultivating the five […]
Learning Lesson 5: We Forget Stuff
Hey there, colleague! What follows is a mini-lesson that teaches secondary students how to learn more effectively. It’s part of a series, which you can access right here. When we teach students about learning, we empower them to work smarter and get better results for their effort. This is massively important for cultivating the five […]