Dear colleague, Over the summer I came across this article from Barbara Oakley et al. Her team’s findings are straightforward: even in our age of AI and instant information, ya still gotta know things. AI is like a souped up calculator — its usefulness is multiplied by the intelligence of its user, and that intelligence […]
Archives for July 2025
Lead With Competence and Belonging Will Follow
Dear colleague, There’s a common misconception amongst us teachers about how to develop Belonging in the classroom, and it’s this: at the start of the school year, you need to budget lots of time for things like icebreakers, get-to-know-you activities, and team-building exercises. Don’t rush into the curriculum, the thinking goes, until you develop that […]
First Days of School Writing Prompts
Dear colleagues, I came across this article from Jen Gonzalez recently where she makes the sound argument that asking students what they did over summer break can put students with sub-optimal summer vacations into a bad spot right out of the gate. Instead of only asking about break, Jen advocates for asking questions like the […]
Value via Purpose: Tapping into a Nuclear Power Source of Student Motivation
Dear colleague, Picture Sarah, a sophomore in your third-period class. She’s not disruptive, but she’s not engaged either. When you ask her why she should care about what you’re teaching, she shrugs and says, “I don’t know. For the grade, I guess?” Sarah’s not lazy or defiant. And if you asked what Stanford researcher Bill […]
The Compelling Math Mini-Sermons of Caroline Ong
Dear colleague, On pp. 127-129 of The Will to Learn, I unpack the full transcript of the following mini-sermon from Texas-based secondary math educator Caroline Ong. (The mini-sermon starts at about the 1:30 mark, but the whole 2.5-minute video is important for context.) In virtually every PD I facilitate on how to improve student motivation, […]