Dear colleague, At the time of this writing, I am three days into my eighteenth year of teaching. Today, I’m sharing five reflections on the first week of school. Hopefully one of them creates encouragement or greater clarity for you. In Sum As these weary bones pack up for a weekend of as much rest […]
Search Results for: moments of genuine connection
Does Goal-Setting Help or Harm Teacher Motivation?
Goal-setting: does it help or harm teacher motivation? This is an interesting problem to me. From a Five Key Beliefs standpoint — which are as important to our teacher motivation as they are to our students’ motivation — goal-setting helps with Efficacy. It does this by making success clear and measurable rather than generalized. (“Defining […]
What If We Had Time?
A few weeks ago, I had an epiphany: what if, instead of rushing bedtime with my kids, I pretended that I had enough time to give them the love they each desired? It’s a silly question, really. Many of you are likely the kind of superstar parents that would never need to ask this. But […]
End of Year Motivation Moves, Part 2 — Work the Roster
Hey there, colleague! Continuing on with the mini-series we started yesterday, let me make a quick announcement and then we’ll get to today’s simple strategy. Announcement/Request: If you’re planning to register yourself or a group for next week’s all-virtual PD day, can you let me know by this weekend? Enrollment is currently low and I […]
Credibility Booster: MGCing the Whole Class in a Single Class Period
The other day I did something that seems to have blown some fresh air right into my heart and the hearts of my students. Basically, I MGCed the whole class during a 30-minute independent work segment of the lesson. Let me break it down. First of all, 30-minute independent work segments aren’t normal in my […]