“That’s the sense in which the most impressive people I know are all procrastinators. They’re type-C procrastinators: they put off working on small stuff to work on big stuff.” — Paul Graham, computer scientist and essayist, on his blog There are always infinity things that you could be working on as a teacher, so procrastination […]
teacher LTF
The Secret Skills of Master Teachers: Making Bad Habits Harder and Ambiguous Habits Better
Often times, the thing that keeps me from doing the deep, non-instructional work of teaching — the planning, thinking, giving feedback, researching, problem-solving — isn’t students dropping by (which we discussed last time). Instead, it’s me. In particular, it’s my bad habits — my time-wasters on autopilot. When my bad habits kick in — news reading, […]
The Secret Skills of Master Teachers: Reducing Distractions from Students
To produce the clarity of thought necessary for deep and impactful teaching, the teacher has to do something that her environment constantly resists: she must avail herself of distraction-free blocks of time each day in which to do her most important work. I’ll use my setting as an example of what I mean by an […]
The Secret Skills of Master Teachers: Are They a Thing?
If you had walked up to me as a struggling first year teacher and said the kinds of things I needed to hear — something like, “Dude. Slow down. Focus. Breathe. You’re working too hard.” — then I think I would have looked at you with eager eyes and said, “You know what? I’d love […]
Sane Educators = A Good Strategy
If you settle on the idea that the point of schools is the long-term flourishing of kids, you get to explore all kinds of interesting territory — in your own practice and in your teams (department, PLC, school). The opportunities for earnest and amicable professional arguments — loaded, of course, with paraphrasing and evidence and encouragement […]