Great teachers did more than obsess on the efficiency of their classroom — their questions were artful; their assignments, demanding — but there was a clear tendency among positive outliers to see the power of the humdrum, the everyday.
Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better, by Doug Lemov, Erica Woolway, and Katie Yezzi
Thirteen years ago, with the ink on my teaching certificate still drying, I was days away from teaching sixth graders at a middle school in Baltimore. The large district that employed me did its newbies — of which I was only one of hundreds — a favor, and they flew in Dr. Harry Wong, author of the iconic The First Days of School: How to be an Effective Teacher, to give us some pre-gametime inspiration.
I don't remember a thing about Dr. Wong's presentation. This was no fault of his, of course; I was just too scared to listen, so full were my head and heart with the ringing truism that the first day of school sets the course for all the 179 or so that follow it.
Thirteen years later, I can tell you that while of course first days and last days are special, they're not omnipotent — not even close. What's far more critical is the way in which you'll use all the minutes allotted to you this year.
What matters, in other words, is what we make of the “humdrum,” of the everyday, those little minutes at the start and end and middle of our lessons. Those are 99% of the field in which we'll sow (or not) the seeds of academic mastery.
The other day I was speaking with Crystal, and we once again came to the topic of a home purchase we are considering here in our town. We keep finding this instinct inside ourselves that says to hurryhurryhurryhurryhurry-otherwise-you-won't-get-this-that-the-other-thing-price-value-sale-seller… It's like this little rapacious creature that keeps crawling on our shoulders, whispering a string of indecipherable babble. And what we were conversing about is how the little animal is a silly thing — that in fact we have food and clothing and shelter, and fixating aggressively on this potential move will only work to distract us from our actual life — which is today.
The power of living well and teaching well is only accessible now. The well-being of the Stuart family isn't found in which home we live in — it's found in today's humdrum moments. Sure, a home is an important thing — just as a first day of school is. But if we end up in the “right” home or the “wrong” home, or if you and I have a “great” first day of school or just an “okay” one, it won't make nearly as consequential a difference in the long run as will our ability to perseveringly bring ourselves back, day by day, to the power of the minutes we have now.
So by all means, prep up for the first day, and seek to make it really great. (If you're worried about classroom management, definitely consider Lynsay's course on the topic because it's world class, and it'll help.) But when the little quibbling creature comes crawling on your shoulder, do swat it away with the truth that the power isn't in the first day or the last — it's in all the minutes in between.
Laura says
I needed to hear this today! Thank you for helping dial down my first day anxieties.
Dave Stuart Jr. says
Laura, I am very glad it went out when it did. That’s exactly what I hoped — to dial down some anxieties.
N.Andre says
Face it Dave – you are a spiritual person, as you also mentioned in your bio that I once read. While you excel in your materials on pedagogy, which I love, bought your book, took your course – which I highly recommend – you also operate on the principles of faith, family, and love! These are the most important values, and when you operate from there – priorities, levels of importance, and being in the present become realities of everyday life. We all need nudging and prompting,however I believe your calling is greater. Love and blessings to you and your family – may all of your online community have a great year! Luckily, I start in Sept!
Dave Stuart Jr. says
You are right, Nadine — I am. Email me sometime to tell me more of what you’re thinking re: my calling. I would appreciate it! dave@davestuartjr.com.
And cheers for starting in September 🙂
Lynn Kameny says
Hey Dave,
I always love your posts and practical advice and am currently 3/4’s of the way through These 6 Things, although my extensive highlights suggest there are WAY more than 6 things that I will implement this fall! This first day post is especially timely given the difficulty our profession has at keeping teachers in the fields longer than 2 or 3 years! My one suggestion for you for future posts is a semantic one. At the end of your post you use the word “niggle.” Personally, I have avoided this word due to how close it is to the N-word and I was under the impression that it was a racist word. You using it here led me down a 15 minute rabbit hole as I searched for the etymology of “niggle” and its usage to determine if I was correct or not, as it would be out of character for you to have used a word with a racist origin. Technically speaking, I discovered that “niggle” and the N-word have completely different word origins and therefore, linguistically “niggle” has perhaps received a bad rap and I understand that you were using it innocently and in the proper context. Nevertheless, the word “niggle” looks and sounds so much like the N-word that I personally avoid using it because of how closely related it looks and sounds to a very offensive word that I would rather not bring to people’s minds as I make a point about something that is persistently gnawing at me. I’d rather use an alternate word or phrase and keep my audience with me rather than having them go down a rabbit hole as I did at the end of your blog post. My question to you is, what do you think? To what degree do you think that we, as educators, need to think carefully about word choice, especially as regards highly charged words that are similar to the N-word or other words that have been used against others as hate speech, even if those word’s denotation is indeed innocent.
And again, I really do value all the incredible work you do, otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered with this post at all. I find your ideas to be excellent in my classroom and I have recommended your blog to dozens of colleagues over the years; I want you to continue to flourish for yourself, me and all educators now and in the future.
Thanks for your consideration and keep it coming, we educators need it!
Dave Stuart Jr. says
Lynn, I’m really glad for your comment here. This problem — the phonological similarity of niggle and the N-word — did strike me as I thought about the ending of this piece. Knowing that etymologically the words are unrelated, I went on ahead and used it. But I don’t think I thought enough about the distraction that the word could cause a reader.
Even though using the word ‘niggle’ is a *technically* sound choice — after all, what I want is to bring to the imagination the image of a creature who causes “slight but persistent annoyance, irritation, or anxiety” — you’ve helped me see it as a *practically* unsound one. Not everyone is as motivated to traverse etymological rabbit holes like you and I are, and for a less curious reader what was meant to be a helpful article could instead become a confusing or hurtful one.
For this reason I am going to change it, but I’m also going to leave our conversation here up, in case it’s of any interest to later readers.
Thank you, Lynn 🙂
Justin Hockey says
Dave, wow. The power of the everyday is that it’s all we have, in a sense, isn’t it? We don’t have the past, we don’t have the future or even tomorrow. What we have is now, the minutes ahead of us, and the choices to be present, to be focused, to live better. To pick up and move onwards and upwards.
We start with students in six days and I will be sure to remember the spirit of your words, if not the actual words. “The power of living and teaching well is only accessible now.”
Now, off to prepare for the coming days.
Dave Stuart Jr. says
Cheers, Justin! Thank you.
jnolds says
May the gentle but powerful beat of the humdrum drown out the noise of the bandwagons and buzzwords!
Dave Stuart Jr. says
Now there’s a benediction, my friend. 🙂
Deb Dunn says
Dave, I signed up for your blog in June and already I’m so happy to receive your inspiring and often humorous posts. I actually laughed out loud at one of your videos – one where you filmed yourself in your room with no one else around, and had a 1:1 conversation with yourself. That was the kind of thing I would do, but you had the courage and confidence to post it and that gives other courage and confidence to be real. And that’s what teaching is all about. Being real. With ourselves and our students. I also really appreciate your ideas as I venture into a new career as a teacher trainer, after 28 years teaching children literacy. I have picked up some very valuable suggestions that I will bring to teachers as I support them in whittling down the work they do to the essence of what’s important and how to make it the most valuable experience for all (while maintaining their family life and good health). So, thank you for your insights and energy and good cheer. You are an inspiration.
Dave Stuart Jr. says
Deb, I’m so glad to read this today 🙂 Thank you, and many blessings on your new journey as a teacher trainer.