I’ve never met a teacher who didn’t go into education hoping that they’d make a difference — that, ultimately, their work would promote the long-term flourishing of young people. There’s no other way to begin talking about burnout than by starting with the ultimate aim of teaching: the long-term flourishing of our students. From there, we find our truest, […]
To the Teacher Who is Struggling Right Now
Maybe it’s your first year. Or your fifth year, or your fifteenth. It could be that you’re trying out a new school, a new curriculum, or a new grade level. Maybe you had a choice — maybe you didn’t. Maybe there was a schedule change, and now you don’t have that last period prep anymore. […]
How to Motivate Students to Turn In Their Essays Without Using Brownies
There is nothing more depressing than spending your weekend grading 125 essays. Scratch that. There is. The only thing more depressing than spending your weekend grading 125 essays is spending your weekend grading 75 essays because the other 50 didn’t turn them in. That’s Lynsay Fabio, one of our many colleagues in the great field […]
The Five Key Beliefs: More than Band-aids
When a student walks up to me with a cut on their finger, I point them toward a drawer near the back of my classroom. Band-aids are great for tiny wounds like this. Teaching strategies are kind of like band-aids for teachers. For some teacher troubles, band-aids are perfect: These kinds of questions beg for […]
Linking My Past Burning Questions with Real Kids
Let me bring you to the edge of my thinking. Here’s a quick summary of past burning questions that I’ve answered for myself — much of it publicly, in real-time, on this blog. What’s the point of school? It’s the long-term flourishing of kids. Our work is to promote that flourishing. So what? This question has helped me […]