I’ve written before on information overload, but a recent read gave me a much better word for what I’m getting at: noise. You and I and every one of our students live in a world so unprecedentedly full of noise that we, as a species, are literally figuring out how to deal with it for […]
The #1 Problem with New Years Life-Changey Stuff: Clarity of Purpose
Maybe you’re a “one word” person, or a classic resolution-setter, or a jaded New Years apathist. Regardless, here’s all I have to say: without clarity of purpose, resolutions, goals and words are destined to disappoint. Importantly, this principle extends way beyond efforts at personal improvement; clarity of purpose is critical with things like school improvement initiatives and literacy frameworks. In Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit […]
A Simple “Back from Winter Break” Classroom Activity
If our aim is long-term flourishing for our students, then we all care about helping kids discover their aspirations, build goals backward from those aspirations, and remain committed to those goals on a regular basis. And yet, the further you get down the list of those skills, the greater the challenge becomes for our kids: Defining the big […]
My Last Blog Post of 2015: A Letter to My Readers
Dear Reader, Welcome to the last blog post of 2015. During the month of December, I’ll be taking a sabbatical from writing. For me, December is a month for private reflection. There are several threads of reflecting that deserve attention: How is the school year progressing? What changes do I need to make as we approach the […]
Four Questions Deep
I want you to try something with me this week: what if, in a conversation or two — with our kids, with our colleagues, with our spouses, with our students, with crazy Uncle Harry who you only see at Thanksgiving — we tried asking four questions in a row. “In a row” isn’t the best way […]