Dear colleague, In my last article, I did some poor writing unintentionally, alluding to these things that mentally strong teachers don’t do but then not really listing those things. What I’ve written below is my teacher-centered take on psychoanalyst Amy Morin’s book, 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do. These aren’t Amy’s words verbatim, but […]
How Psychoanalyst Amy Morin Teaches Through Non-Examples
In 13 Things Mentally Strong Parents Don’t Do, psychotherapist Amy Morin demonstrates a great teaching move: using non-examples. Whether you’re teaching elementary math, high school science, community college composition, or whatever-else-have-you, this idea of teaching from non-examples is really helpful. Now of course, non-examples can be confusing, so you’ve got to be clear about your […]
The Keys to Hitting a Target
Dear colleague, For the past few summers in Michigan, my family and I have spent one week at a family camp, and one of our favorite camp activities is heading to the riflery and archery ranges and working on our marksmanship. Being town dwellers like we are, shooting 22s or bows and arrows isn’t something […]
Woodenization Example: Improving at Short Answer Questions + Teaching the Rubric
Dear colleague, Here’s a quick Woodenization example for a couple of biggies in my classroom: After my students wrote their first SAQs of the school year, I worked hard to give them fast, simple feedback. Using our single-point rubrics (see pp. 184-185 in your copy of These 6 Things), I did my darnedest to have […]
Why “Work Harder” is a Terrible Plan
Dear colleague, Another thing my students often do when setting goals earlier on in the semester is say that their goal (or Wish in WOOP parlance) is to improve their grades and their Plan is to work harder. “Working harder,” I tell them, “is a terrific recipe for being anxious and getting down on yourself. […]