If writing a book about teaching is something you’ve thought about more than ten times, then let’s start with: Yes — I think you should take the compulsion seriously. It’s not a thing that can be done on a whim, but where there’s a settled sense of calling to treat a topic in education with […]
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End of Year Efficacy Booster: Unpacking Outcomes via Conversation Challenge
Dear colleague, In the Speaking/Listening chapter of These 6 Things, I argue that teachers only need three kinds of speaking routines for their practice: This school year, one of the few experiments I’ve run in my practice is with pop-up debates. Based on promising results at the end of the previous year, I went into […]
We Can’t Give What We Don’t Have
The Rainbow of Why can be an overwhelming tool.* All these colored pathways to Valuing math or science or art class — great. But…where do I start? Today, let’s try this: start with your own love. In The Prelude, William Wordsworth writes, What we have loved, others will love, and we will teach them how. […]
Administrators, You’ve GOT to Help Us With This ONE Thing Next Year
Dear colleagues, Since I’m a classroom teacher with exactly zero days of administrative experience, I typically don’t write articles aimed at building leaders. But today is a special day because I’m going to do that. Administrators, if you don’t have a locked-in, 95%-consistent cell phone policy that lives and breathes and happens each day in […]
Can Science Class Be Beautiful?
The bottommost line of the Rainbow of Why is beauty. It’s on the bottom because it’s the least obvious in most secondary classrooms. We’re quick to tell our students the utility of today’s lesson or its relevance to their lives, but precious few of us ever get around to sharing the beauty of our subjects […]