Teacher Credibility is one of five key beliefs beneath student motivation, and it is a uniquely powerful force in a classroom. From a position of Credibility, a teacher has leverage for cultivating student beliefs in Value, Belonging, Effort, and Efficacy. But from a position of anti-Credibility, a teacher will have a hard time influencing these […]
Steady Goes It: It’s Tortoise Time
So here’s the deal: school’s coming, and the pressure starts to build. We hear things like, “It’s make it or break it this fall. It’s now or never.” And look: there’s some truth to that. Fall 2021 is a special moment in the hearts of our people — us, our colleagues, our students, their families. […]
Five Critical Qualities about the Five Key Beliefs, in Order of Actionability
We’re into it now, colleague. If you’ve no idea what I’m talking about, take a look at these earlier articles in the series: Or: check out this brief explainer video: On with it. Before we get into practical-tactical bits about each of the five key beliefs beneath student motivation, we need to rightly conceive of […]
Not a Switchboard, but a Garden
When I hear how we talk about the inner workings of a person, sometimes I think we’re around computers too much. The things we program can end up programming us. Here’s what I mean. It’s best to think of a student’s heart not as a place filled with buttons and switches — okay, let’s turn […]
The Path to the Head is the Heart
Last time, I wrote that people are more than brains on sticks and schools are uniquely tasked with helping students to build their minds. I ended by saying that the path to the mind’s optimal development is the heart. Today, I’m going to get into explaining that. All right — so the path to the head […]