Dear colleague, Ashley Yazarlou is a true Will to Learn warrior, having led innovative and personalized professional development on the material in the book multiple times in her setting of Hemet Unified School District in California. Last year, when leading a session on the Effort and Efficacy beliefs, she asked participants to define Woodenization in […]
Three Ways to Stoke the Value Fireplace
Dear colleague, Cold days this month have got me thinking about fireplaces. Mmmmm… Fireplaces. I don’t have one, but whenever I visit a home where there are real logs crackling, it’s a real strong feeling of, “Okay. Let’s stay here. Until spring.” So in our classrooms, there’s a thing that’s kind of got that some […]
90% of Our Students…
…want us to be successful. I really believe that. In The Will to Learn, I made an argument I believe with every cell in my body: all students *want* to want to care about learning. They want to be motivated. And they want this for the same reason I prefer eating a great meal to […]
The Biggest Problem (and Opportunity) With Educational AI…
…is that it’s forcing us to grapple with answers to basic questions. Questions like: High-quality, comprehensive, and evidence-supported answers are the only ones that work here. If we assume we’re all in agreement on what an education is for and then proceed to work at answering what it takes to get there, we’ll end up […]
The Subversive Nature of a Good Mini-Sermon
Dear colleague, A great mini-sermon is a subversive little bit of messaging. In 30-60 seconds, the teacher communicates in an “oh, by the way” manner that learning is good for all kinds of reasons. As they do this over time, they try to paint with all the colors of the Rainbow of Why. When we […]