The array of professional development resources available to teachers today is as overwhelming as it is incoherent. Every month, dozens of books and hundreds of articles and thousands of tweets are published. Yet for most of us, this overabundance is more a source of stress or apathy than it is a source of professional growth. This […]
It’s Not the Work, It’s the Re-Work: Version 4.0 of the Non-Freaked Out Framework
I’ve been writing about and teaching from the Non-Freaked Out (NFO) Framework for years now, and as a result it’s gone through several iterations, some that have stuck and some that haven’t (see Figure 1). James Clear writes that “it’s not the work, it’s the re-work.” I have certainly found that to be true with this idea, which […]
Reader Response: What’s the Toughest Thing about Teaching, and How Do You Deal with It?
There were so many wonderful responses to my previous reader response question that I’m throwing another one at you: What’s the toughest thing about teaching, and how do you deal with it? Feel free to remain anonymous if that helps. My hope for this community-created post is that it helps fellow readers see that they […]
Triple Responsibility: Its Problems and Imperatives
John Wooden, who, even at 94, referred to his career as that of a teacher rather than a coach, taught his “students” many things, but the one I’d like to examine today is the concept of double responsibility. From Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success: Building Blocks for a Better Life: I… talked to my players about […]
Learning is ______________: Here’s Why How You Complete that Sentence Matters
Here’s a multiple choice question that can really teach us something: Learning is _____________. A) when I take in new information. B) about remembering, using, and ultimately understanding information. C) difficult but important. D) about improving as a person and widening my perspective. E) a process that takes place every day of our lives. F) not […]