The Second-Best Time to Tell Students School Matters…

…is today.

The first-best, obviously, is the day they begin school, then every day thereafter.

Trouble is, I don’t control the first-best.

So I’ll take the second, with gratitude. After all, how often in life do you find yourself 100% in control of bringing about a second-best thing?

I know, I know. At the time I’m writing this, there are only weeks left of the school year. It can beg the questions: What’s the point? Isn’t it too late to make a difference for the Value belief?

The point is, no, it’s not too late. Telling my students why school matters today is an investment in helping them to Value learning tomorrow, and next week, and next year, and for the rest of their lives.

But, Dave – school is broken, it’s messed up. How am I supposed to tell my students that school matters when even I struggle to believe this sometimes?

You struggle to believe this — and I do too — when you forget to focus on what school is for rather than on what school apparently is. It’s easy to lose sight of the forest — school is for learning, for beauty, for meaning, for significance, for cosmos exploration, for long-term flourishing — when you’re surrounded by the trees — standardized tests, bell schedules, and the Oscar-worthy death sighs you hear when passing out a new article of the week.

So zoom out.

See the forest again.

Remind yourself what school is for.

And then, tell your students.

Because the second-best time to tell them that school matters is TODAY.

Best,

DSJR

P.S. For a few more days, I'm still taking entries in the “Secondary Schools Wanted” form. If you work at or with a secondary school where teachers are feeling defeated, dejected, or sad about student demotivation and want to do something about it next year, please fill out this form.