Next Wednesday night, I’m going to record a set of practical insights that are slowly changing my experience of teaching this year. These are all topics that deserve their own blog posts, but I’ve just not had the time. I’m talking about: New insights on student motivation, such as: Why the most promising avenue for […]
A Micro-Primer on How Motivation Works in People, Why Demoralization is So Prevalent Right Now Amongst Teachers, and What We Can Do About It
The start of this school year has seen a plummet in teacher morale like none I’ve observed before. The workload is up, the pressure is on, and the end remains hidden in the future’s fog. Lots of days, it feels like what we used to do was a walk in the park, and what we’re […]
Things That Help: “I Can’t Fix Everything, Or Sometimes Anything”
One of our colleagues, Beth Sheehan, told me a story via email about one of her rough days earlier this year. Beth is a third grade teacher at Spruce Elementary. Here’s what she shared: I am teaching remotely in a Title I school and I am exhausted after 11 days. Our families have been slammed […]
The #EducatorEncouragement Project: A Small Favor for Our Profession
Dear colleague, I made a video for us. [Video not showing? Click here.] In it, there are just two things I’m trying to say. First, this has been a hard year. At first I thought it was just me, but I found out that it wasn’t. Second, some specific things have helped: Reaching out to […]
Things that Help: Calling Out the Goodness You See in Students
“Madi, you did just wonderfully on that recent assessment. Well done.” “John, I can’t recall a time where I’ve seen a student deal with failure so winsomely as you did with this past assessment. As I overheard you discussing it with your friends and reading through your test corrections afterward, I was impressed by and […]