Dear colleague, To me, education’s not all about relationships. It’s all about learning, growing, deepening — that’s why folks send their students to school. We spend gazillions on public education around the world so folks can learn. Us teachers pour our souls into this work so students can become who they’re meant to be, so […]
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Academic Performance and Mental Health: Or, the Chicken/Egg Dilemma in Schools 🐔🥚🐣
Dear colleague, A couple years ago, I was watching our high school’s AP Research students give their summative presentations, and one student, Larissa, was studying the impact of dogs on academic performance. (And as an aside, let me just say: the next politician to run on an “every classroom gets an emotional support animal” platform […]
Ten Keys to Great PD
Dear colleague, As I approach the 20-year mark of my career in education, I’ve probably spent thousands of hours thinking about, experiencing, or leading professional development experiences. Lots of them have been…not so great. But some of them? Career-changing. Here, in my view, are 10 elements that make for way-above-average PD: 1. It’s simple. By […]
How to Help Grade-Obsessed Students
Dear colleague, Today let’s take a thinking tool called the Stockdale Paradox and see if it can help us with a common problem we face. During my workshops on student motivation, I often get asked, “What about the students I have who are only motivated by grades?” This is an important question.* All right — […]
The Relay Race
Dear colleague, When I was a new teacher, I had the mentality of a solo race runner. If I failed, my students were doomed. If I succeeded, my students were destined. It was all up to me. I was the protagonist of the teacher movie. I was the savior archetype. As it turns out, that […]