I can picture riding in the car with my dad, Mr. David Stuart Sr., back when I was a kid, with him telling me one of his favorite bits of wisdom. “Dave, there are two kinds of people in this world: problem-makers and problem-solvers. No one sits on the sidelines. Be a problem-solver, and you’ll succeed.” […]
service
Our One Enduring Standard (and its Two Components)
The best teachers aren’t dependent on the latest list of standards or bag of buzzwords or slew of resources when it comes to answering the central questions of their career. What am I producing, year in and year out? What do I make? What, in a single sentence, is the Everest I drive toward with my professional effort? If […]
Character-Switching & The Pursuit of the Poised Life
If we’re to reach our potential, we must pursue the integrated life; we must strive toward being one-faced. Our aim is to be like those integers we learn about in math class: whole numbers, devoid of cunning; what you see is what you get. I’m not moralizing here — “you have to do this because it’s what good people […]
Anti-Teacher Credibility: 10 Great Ways to Become Unbelievable (in a Bad Way)
Last time, I looked at teacher credibility and its four components. (Read that post here.) This time, I want to examine the same crucial topic from a negative angle. What are the ways in which we might lessen our students’ belief in our ability to help them succeed? How might we undermine their perceptions of Trust, […]
Teacher Credibility: If You Build It, They Will Learn (Here’s How)
We’ve all heard the hoo-yah speeches before, the feel-good stuff like, “Be a teacher your students believe in! Be someone they know can take them where they need to go! Make them know that you will make a positive difference in their life! If they believe, they can achieve!!!” Fantastically, however, this theme of the importance of having our kids […]