In the New Year, new semester, new school year, the impulse to believe that things can be perfect is real but invisible. Of course I don’t think I can be perfect, the savvy person says. That would be naive. But our reaction to the inevitable setbacks — the abandoned resolutions, the failed lessons, the kids we can’t […]
Archives for December 2016
How Doug Stark Maintains Boundaries with a Large English Language Arts Teaching Load
Several weeks ago, I wrote “Constraints Make Us Better.” In that post, I mentioned the following: Down the hallway from me, my colleague Doug Stark (author of the Mechanics Instruction that Sticks books) has for years made a point to leave school by 3:30pm (at the latest) each day in order to pick his children […]
Technician versus Savior versus Professional
The way we conceptualize teaching is important. The Technician is always in search of the next practical strategy, the next product, the next formal observation where a complex rubric will be completed and discussed. Before we dismiss it, let’s realize that there is some truth here — we do need practical strategies, we do need functional lessons and […]
Our Own Worst — and Most Joyful — Critics
I’ve noticed that most good teachers are their own worst critics. Sure, they say, use that evaluation rubric on me, and please, give me some critical feedback, but at the end of the day, you’re not going to critique me more than I critique myself. This disposition is important; it’s one that distinguishes the Professional […]
Constraints Make Us Better
The best teachers are the ones who put in the most time, right? Those teachers who leave early — they are the problem-teachers, aren’t they? Consider: Brazilian soccer players are often better than non-Brazilian soccer players because of their “childhood immersion” in a game called futsal — essentially a condensed version of soccer that uses […]