I’ve never met a teacher who didn’t go into education hoping that they’d make a difference — that, ultimately, their work would promote the long-term flourishing of young people. There’s no other way to begin talking about burnout than by starting with the ultimate aim of teaching: the long-term flourishing of our students. From there, we find our truest, […]
Inner Work
To the Teacher Who is Struggling Right Now
Maybe it’s your first year. Or your fifth year, or your fifteenth. It could be that you’re trying out a new school, a new curriculum, or a new grade level. Maybe you had a choice — maybe you didn’t. Maybe there was a schedule change, and now you don’t have that last period prep anymore. […]
Linking My Past Burning Questions with Real Kids
Let me bring you to the edge of my thinking. Here’s a quick summary of past burning questions that I’ve answered for myself — much of it publicly, in real-time, on this blog. What’s the point of school? It’s the long-term flourishing of kids. Our work is to promote that flourishing. So what? This question has helped me […]
What Are Your Burning Questions Right Now?
“What are your burning questions right now?” The first time someone asked me this, I was a fifth year teacher at a group interview in a coffee shop in West Michigan. We were all there interviewing for the Lake Michigan Writing Project’s annual summer institute — four weeks of intensive professional learning with a group […]
The Whirlwind
For the past two weeks, I’ve been meaning to write down every task I complete as I prepare for, teach, and then reflect on my lessons each day. In all the days I’ve tried this, I’ve never gotten further than an hour or so. Once teaching starts, I just can’t seem to find a way […]