This is the worst compliment that a teacher can pay attention to. Favorite isn’t the goal — greatness is. There can only be one favorite teacher in a child’s heart, but there can be dozens of great teachers. If you’re in a position of school culture-building (and all of us are), then you need to […]
Inner Work
The Folly (and Difficulty) of Yes-itis
At the end of this past school year, I reaped the sour fruits of saying yes to too much during the preceding few months. Yes-itis is not a noble condition, despite what 25-year-old Dave Stuart might tell you. Saying yes to too much is the epitome of foolishness; it consigns us to survival mode, where […]
Warm Self-Critique: A Mark of Great Teachers
If we stick to teaching as long as we ought to, we’re going to make bad decisions — all kinds of them. The key to becoming a wiser teacher, then, is not to aim at making no mistakes, but to learn from the mistakes of this year so that next year we can make different […]
You Should Stay in Education for a Long Time, But There Is One Catch
It’s been a whirlwind of change in my small world of late, and it’s led me to reflect on a pair of truths about teaching. If you, too, are in a time of turmoil or tumult, consider the following. First, I think we all ought to make it our goal to commit to education long-term. […]
This Summer, Achieve Something You Care About, and WOOP to Get Started
This post is a little different because it’s a video that I made for you while in my car in a parking lot. It’s sort of a weird idea, but here’s the thing: I’ve had the idea for this article in my brain for a few weeks, but haven’t had the time to sit down […]