I had this idea the other day when leading a workshop on teacher wellness for a network of schools in the Detroit area. The reason I’m sharing it here on the blog is that I’d like your take on whether or not it’s accurate. And also, if you’re experiencing lots of pressure in your soul […]
Archives for March 2023
Does Teaching Students to Count Count as Much as Teaching Them What Counts?
I recently made a video during my lunch break picking apart four random “inspirational teacher quotes.” It’s a kind of video I’ve wanted to make for a while because… honestly, I guess I just think it’s funny to approach inspo-memes from a dry, analytical angle. If you’re curious, the video is here. But if you’re […]
A Time for Ish
Earlier, I wrote about the Yerkes-Dodson Dilemma: the idea that it’s hard as a teacher to avoid slipping into either an under- or over-pressured internal world. Part of what inspired that post was a children’s book a colleague* shared with me a bit ago. The book is called Ish, and in just a few minutes […]
What I Talk About When I Talk to My Children about Spelling
Before I get into this story from my parenting, let me note three important points: Now, for the story. Every weekday morning, I drive two of my daughters to their school about fifteen minutes from our house. Both have spelling lists each week, and both have teachers who give a pretest and a test on […]
The Yerkes-Dodson Dilemma
So much of effective teaching — and good living — comes down to how well you manage to stay atop the Yerkes-Dodson Curve. When you’re up there, you get it all: The trouble is that the Yerkes-Dodson Curve is slippery. I’ve yet to meet a person who has always found it easy to stay up […]