Around this time of year, school leaders start thinking about next year’s PD. And so, I’d like to argue that when planning for next year, leaders should aim at giving their teachers permission to focus their professional improvement efforts on as few things as possible. A key to my teaching career so far is that […]
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English Matters: An English Teacher Looks Back, Looks Within, Looks Ahead
English: The Big Picture In 1987, sixty leaders in the field of English assembled at the English Coalition Conference (ECC) to discuss what “English” is and what it is, exactly, that English teachers do. While they grappled with these questions, I entered a credential program to become an English teacher, a curious choice for one […]
What You Think v. What Students Think
“Teaching is successful only as it causes people to think for themselves. What the teacher thinks matters little; what she makes the child think matters much.“ – Alice Moore Hubbard (1909) Alice Hubbard lived a remarkable life. She was a colleague of ours and a multi-published author, as well as a vocal advocate for women’s […]
Closing Out the School Year: A Letter to My Colleagues
Dear Colleague, I was reading C. S. Lewis this morning and I came across this line: “Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out […]
Competence is Queen
Note from Dave: I just had a thought. We should do PD together at your school next year, on student motivation and the five key beliefs!!! Wouldn’t that be AMAZING!? I think so, too. If you’re a PD decision maker or have the ear of one, start the process by being in touch here. Onto […]