Dear colleague,
It's a big week in DSJ land: finishing an article series, my students in an essay-writing sprint (AKA me in a reading/feedback sprint), and my new book releasing. (Stay tuned re: the book!)
So today, I'd love love LOVE to hear from you. You'd be doing me such a favor to respond to this post. It'd be such a fine way of saying, “Thank you, Dave, for all your blog posts this year.” 😉
One question for you: if you could learn about one thing from and with me this summer…
- What would it be?
- When would it be?
- Where would it be?
- Why would it be?
🙂
With your answer, be honest, have fun, and know I'll be reading each one and using what you tell me as I ponder how best to serve.
Best,
DSJR
Amanda Adams says
I always find such smart and inspirational content in your posts and I can’t wait to buy your new book. Are you offering a book study this summer for teachers? Not asynchronous but maybe on the zoom? I would love to connect with others reading this book!
Amanda Adams says
And as for useful, soulful PD for this summer….I would guess it would be having the opportunity to listen to and share real tips on encouraging student motivation and engagement. This is one area where my high school students are sorely lacking. Particularly this year, the rare breed of sophomore, has little to no motivation….it’s mind boggling. This is my 24th year and my patience is shot….I need some new tools that I can use and share some ideas with others about.
Dave Stuart Jr. says
Let me share the responses I’ve gotten to this question so far:
– a book study on Will to Learn led by DSJR
– a seminar on student motivation
– how to build a culture of intrinsic motivation and willingness to know stuff
– lessons that used to fire students up are falling flat; all that seems to motivate is a letter grade; is it me?
– what to say and how to engage with students who are “bored”
– how to feel good about what you’re doing in the classroom and experience the same success that you have
– academic dishonesty — why students do it
– student engagement while avoiding my own burnout
– Is there a way to improve students’ absolute apathy and the attitude it grows in me?
– Cultivating intrinsic motivation is the one aspect I would love to work on. Students who simply do not care about learning bring down the entire tone of a class.
– I am looking for some ways to engage middle school students with their developmental issues of attention.
– AI
– how to teach writing in the days of AI and how to even compete with it when it is on Snapchat and everywhere else
– how to help students who have experienced rough patches that are impacting school
– meaningful integration of tech – active discussion w/ colleagues
– I often feel like a chef throwing things into a pot hoping the soup comes out tasty. It does, most of the time. But sometimes it’s no good. And sometimes it’s amazing. And I don’t know why.
– I would like to know how to get more “student talk” and less “teacher talk.”
– I would love to learn from research about the changes to the brain from two things: apps like Tik Tok (short bursts of info) and COVID
– I’m a history teacher and I would love to hear more about your class content.
– how to not spiral into the negativity that creeps in with our jobs; it would be to renew my passion and belief that what I do counts.
– How to best steward the first ten minutes of class in order to set the tone for the entire class period and to squeeze as much juice out of the precious time I have with my students.
– standards based grading and eduprotocols
– specifically ELA-geared materials. I think many ideas are great for more knowledge based content courses, but they don’t always translate to the skills based lessons like essay writing.
Tom K says
I would like to learn how you structure novel reading in your classes. One of your recent posts about AI made mention about how students need to know “stuff,” and the novel I’ve tried to incorporate to get students to learn “stuff” is Sophie’s World. But it’s pretty long, and I’ve got quite a few reluctant readers, yet it’s a solid overview of western thought while it also encourages critical thinking. Having more strategies for whole class novel reading is always helpful.
Ann says
I’ll be changing schools next year and teaching some new classes (while finishing my master’s), so I would love any advice around managing the teacher workload and satisficing. I think I understand the principle, and I already try to be as effective as I can, but I also know there’s plenty of room to grow!
Thanks for all you do 🙂