“The most dangerous word in one’s productivity vocabulary [is] ‘yes.’” –Cal Newport in Deep Work If our fixed-schedule commitments are going to yield their greatest fruit, then we have got to reduce the number of times that we say “yes” in response to requests for our time. I could delve into the things that I […]
Learning ≠ Familiarity
Here are two scenarios we can all probably relate to: In both cases, the speaker is confused about the difference between learning and familiarity. If something is learned, it can be produced (or, in the case of skill, executed) by the learner, without any aid. Learning means, “I can do it myself.” Familiarity, on the […]
Learning for Life
In the March 2016 issue of Educational Leadership, Editor in Chief Marge Sherer poses a provocative question: “What about [our students’] learning today will they consider ‘Learning for Life’?” I have two answers to this question. First, teaching toward my students one day considering the learning in my class “Learning for Life” is not my objective. […]
Relationships: Not a Separate Goal, but a Fruit of and a Means to *the* Goal
If you’re trying to decide whether you should spend class time developing relationships with and amongst your students or working on the curriculum toward the longest-term objectives, I think you’re asking the wrong question. When people set off on a Mount Everest trek (says the guy who has, of course, done this many times), they […]
The Critical Juncture
There are thousands of ways to be a great, master teacher, but there is really only one way to be a bad one. It has to do with how the critical juncture is handled. This is the critical juncture: the moment when you realize a negative difference between how you expected things to go, and […]