Dear colleague, I don’t have the best memory in the world when it comes to the names of former students, and it really bothers me. I’ll see a student I taught several years ago while doing some grocery shopping in our small town, and I’ll recognize the face, remember the delight I took in teaching […]
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A Simple, End-of-Week Reflective Writing Activity for Secondary Students
Dear colleague, Some time ago, I was leading a Will to Learn workshop at a school in Palmdale, CA. During a break, middle school educator Teri Cook shared a writing activity she does with her students at the end of the week. I’m going to share it with you here — it’ll take just a […]
Don’t Start With Why
Dear colleague, With all due respect to Simon Sinek, why isn’t the best place to start in the classroom. It’s the place to linger, sure. It’s the place to point many dozens of creative and passionate and argumentative mini-sermons per semester, absolutely. But it’s not the place to start. Instead, start with WHERE. Teachers and […]
Crazy You < Sane You
Dear colleague, Brene Brown has this line that I love, and I heard it in a talk so what follows is perhaps a paraphrase: “There are two kinds of people in the world: crazy people who know they are crazy and crazy people who do not.” To Brown, what makes a person sane is grappling […]
Some Thoughts on Whole-Soul Professional Development
Dear colleague, Some time ago, I was listening to some professional development, and I noted something — it was all aimed at my head! The presenter’s working theory seemed to be that if I’d just think and understand correctly, then all would be well for me, and my life would be better ever after. And […]