There were so many wonderful responses to my previous reader response question that I’m throwing another one at you: What’s the toughest thing about teaching, and how do you deal with it? Feel free to remain anonymous if that helps. My hope for this community-created post is that it helps fellow readers see that they […]
Inner Work
Triple Responsibility: Its Problems and Imperatives
John Wooden, who, even at 94, referred to his career as that of a teacher rather than a coach, taught his “students” many things, but the one I’d like to examine today is the concept of double responsibility. From Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success: Building Blocks for a Better Life: I… talked to my players about […]
Four Non-Negotiable Teacher Mindsets
If you can’t affirm and work from the four “mindset” statements that comprise this article, [1] you must either A) work to alter your beliefs, or B) work to leave the profession. Option A is where I live — repeatedly finding myself intellectually assenting to the four mindset statements that follow, but functionally, operationally working […]
Today, Solve a Problem
I can picture riding in the car with my dad, Mr. David Stuart Sr., back when I was a kid, with him telling me one of his favorite bits of wisdom. “Dave, there are two kinds of people in this world: problem-makers and problem-solvers. No one sits on the sidelines. Be a problem-solver, and you’ll succeed.” […]
Our One Enduring Standard (and its Two Components)
The best teachers aren’t dependent on the latest list of standards or bag of buzzwords or slew of resources when it comes to answering the central questions of their career. What am I producing, year in and year out? What do I make? What, in a single sentence, is the Everest I drive toward with my professional effort? If […]