Learning Takes Drafts: 13 Years of DSJ (Blog Birthday 🥳)

Dear colleague,

13 years ago I wrote the first article on this blog, which, at the time, was called Teaching the Core. Since then, I've written 1,071 blog articles, created 100s of videos, produced half a dozen courses, spoken all around the country and the world, and published two major books that articulate my philosophy of teaching and its attendant strategies.

When I started, I was 28 years old, and I didn't know what I didn't know. I'm now 41, and I'm sure the same is true, it's just different stuff that I don't know I don't know. 🙂 Certainly, though, my thinking about teaching and learning and life have become radically clearer than they would have been had I not adopted the practice of writing and creating. Because learning takes drafts.

I made this poster the other day as I was thinking about my work as a teacher, my work as a writer, my work as a parent, and the work I guide my students to do. Growth toward mastery — which is the unique means through which schools promote the long-term flourishing of young people and which is also a key component of a flourishing life — takes drafts and drafts and drafts of learning. In fact, it'll take as many drafts as we give it, and the priceless reward is greater strength and clarity and power. This is what we offer our students.

This past weekend, a senior at my high school premiered a 56-minute movie he made this year: wrote it, cast it, directed it, shot it, edited it. It was both far from perfect AND completely glorious. Here was a young man who was tapping into one of the great superpowers human beings possess: we get better through doing, practicing, putting our work out there, reflecting, and on and on. It was one of the bravest and most impressive things I've seen a young person do in some time. He has apprenticed himself to the work of learning through drafts.

I'll end with two things:

• AMA Livestream/Blog B-day Party: If you're a person who's curious to ask anything about my journey, how I got started, how to get a book published, what I'd do differently if I was starting right now, etc., I'll answer any questions you've got during a livestream this Friday at 3 p.m. EST. You can submit questions in advance here or show up on Friday at this link. Basically, this is for folks like me who, years ago, felt drawn to this kind of work but didn't know where to begin. Or just folks who are curious (as I always am) about the stories behind the work.
• Here are some of my favorite blog articles from the years, in case you've missed them:
  • Fearfully and Wonderfully – fundamental to the days I enjoy teaching most
  • A Thousand is More Than Four – perspective on the quiet power of teaching
  • The Spectre of Moral Disengagement – a warning against making your enemies smaller creatures than they are
  • “Marly Attacks” and The Power of Expectations – turning frustrations into features
  • What Bill Watterson Teaches Teachers – a reflection on one of the greatest creators of the modern age
  • Debunking Relevance as the Key to Student Motivation – me being poky
  • Mechanics Instruction that Sticks: Using Simple Warm-Ups to Improve Student Writing – I'm just delighted that I got to partner with my master teacher and mentor in publishing a warm-ups regimen that's used successfully by teachers near and far

I end by thanking you, colleague, for your support of my work over the years. Whether you've been here since that first article or just subscribed to my newsletter yesterday, thank you for giving my work the gift of your time and attention.

Your colleague,

DSJR