Prior to COVID, I was a pretty low-tech teacher. Any time we could do something analog in my classroom, we did. It was just one less thing that could go awry in a lesson and one less source of distraction for my students. Then COVID happened. Within months, my district was 1:1, and being tech-lite […]
Embodying What’s Good and True
I want to close for the week with something our colleague John Willette wrote the other day. It was his culminating thoughts on an extended PD series we did in my district this year on the science of learning. (The seven-minute intro to that series is here, in case you’re curious.) John’s a sixth grade […]
“I’m Already Stressing About Next Year. What Can I Do?”
With summer’s fast approach, the hearts and minds of teachers are starting to linger on the coming-back-together this fall. I’d like to speak a bit into any anxiety you might be feeling right now about your adequacy for meeting the challenges ahead. Let’s talk about gaps. I’ve visited or worked in schools all across the […]
The Best Thing to Do This Summer
Spoiler: if you’re tired, it’s probably nothing. At least, nothing related to school or teaching. I know you may be feeling that you need to work this summer — after all, there are summer schools to staff and “learning losses” to recoup — but if you’ve been living on that edge between sane and insane, […]
Video Response: “My School Is Planning More ‘New’ than Ever: What Do I Do?”
Recently, I received a message from a colleague asking for advice on how to approach the coming school year when the plan at her school is to add more to the schedule than ever before in 2021-2022. I love the question because it’s human. The subtext is, “This year has felt like survival swimming, and […]