The bottommost line of the Rainbow of Why is beauty. It’s on the bottom because it’s the least obvious in most secondary classrooms. We’re quick to tell our students the utility of today’s lesson or its relevance to their lives, but precious few of us ever get around to sharing the beauty of our subjects […]
End of Year Value Booster: the Led Tasso
There’s a scene in Ted Lasso where Ted swaps his bushy-stached, folksy optimism for harsh, mean-spirited foolishness. Coach Beard knows just what Ted’s doing: the Led Tasso. On most days, you and I need to be the folks in the room who are rock solid in our grasp of why the work of learning in […]
End of Year Credibility Booster: If You Could Improve ONE Thing About Your Teaching From This Past Year…
If you could improve ONE thing about your teaching from this past year… …what would it be? If you’re teaching an August-to-June schedule like we do here in the USA, then you’ve only got a few weeks left. It’s tempting for all of us to run out the clock at this point. I’ll start thinking […]
End of Year Credibility Booster: Final Moments of Genuine Connection (MGCs)
Wouldn’t it be nice to find a simple way to connect with each of your students, one last time, before the year ends? Ideally, we’d write handwritten notes to indicate to each student what we’ve appreciated about them and what we hope for their futures. But c’mon — that’s a LOT of work, both intellectually […]
End of Year Teacher Clarity Booster: A Mission and a Project
[Note: This article is a follow-up on my previous query regarding whether or not Cal Newport’s new book, Slow Productivity, is relevant to our work as teachers. I’m finished with the first part of the book, Do Fewer Things, and so far I’d say, “Yes — the book can inform and clarify how we teachers […]