When you think clearly about teaching, you: Analyze issues in the classroom more quickly and skillfully Depersonalize setbacks and failures so that you can grow from them rather than be crushed by them Design simpler, more powerful lessons Do fewer things, but far better Go home with energy left for your loved ones Enjoy the […]
Looking Back on 2018’s Work Outside the Classroom
I’ve written before on the work, the gap, and the mission of this blog, but the summary is this: This blog exists to promote the long-term flourishing of students, particularly by means of promoting the long-term flourishing of teachers. So, how did we do, in terms of the mission? A brief history of the blog […]
You Actually Can, and Should, Shut if Off
Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness; obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day. — Tim Kreider for The New York Times “You know, teaching is one of those jobs that you just […]
Unconscious Thought Theory: This is Why Teacher Intuition Matters
In a simple thought experiment (described in this post and in the second chapter of These 6 Things) I’ve asked several thousand teachers over the years what it is that makes a student likely to succeed. By asking participants to think quickly (“Who’s the first student that comes to mind…?”; “What’s the first descriptor that […]
We Become What We Do
The best way to become a certain kind of person is to do what those kinds of people do. This common sense dates back to at least Aristotle, who taught that the paths to both vice and virtue run through our actions. For teachers, this means that if we want to be sharper thinkers, then […]
