What do I focus on?

What do I focus on?

In a garden-variety classroom, there are about a million different things going on at any given moment. They’re all important, right? So what draws our attention? What do the best teachers focus on? The answer is so unambiguously obvious it might startle you:...
There’s nothing more powerful than a made-up mind

There’s nothing more powerful than a made-up mind

What’s the difference between doing something and doing something well? What is the variable that takes implementation and turns it into excellence? If you were to brainstorm a list to answer those two questions, it might take a while. However, there is one force that...
Lead from the Front

Lead from the Front

Recently, I was providing a PD experience for a school about the ins and outs of PLCs. Teacher-teams were tasked to identify a particular student learning-based problem-of-practice to tackle, set a SMART goal, and build a plan together. As teams collaborated, the...
Are Teachers Role Models?

Are Teachers Role Models?

Role model. There’s a lightning rod of a term. Is this the responsibility of a teacher? Does this designation just add to the burden of a profession already buried in stress and steeped in unreasonable expectations? Aren’t teachers supposed to ensure that every child...
Do We Over-Test Our Kids?

Do We Over-Test Our Kids?

Right around this time of year, a couple of great seasons begin: the baseball season, hunting season, and, in schools, testing season. Educators across the country lament the emphasis we place on standardized, snapshot assessments – why, I’ve seen entire schools halt...