When I had my first child, I was overwhelmed by the job of getting him from infancy to adulthood. A friend offered a focusing goal: be the best parent you can be for a year. When his first birthday rolled around, I asked her, “what do I do now?” …

This post is adapted from an email originally shared on September 30, 2022. If you would like to receive future emails, you can sign up here. Recently, I’ve had a number of conversations about the role of the principal. We all know that principals matter immensely to student learning and…

This post is adapted from an email originally shared on August 26, 2022. If you would like to receive future emails, you can sign up here. The 2022–23 school year is several weeks underway in parts of the country and about to begin in others. After three years of instability…

This post is adapted from an email originally shared on June 3, 2022. If you would like to receive future emails, you can sign up here. I cannot find words to process the tragedies in Buffalo and Uvalde or the many shootings since. I will not try to in this…

This post is adapted from an email originally shared on May 20, 2022. If you would like to receive future emails, you can sign up here. We educators love our jargon and acronyms. If we had a contest to pick the term with both the most use and the least…

This post is adapted from an email originally shared on May 6, 2022. If you would like to receive future emails, you can sign up here. I’ve been struck recently by how often educators are called superheroes. My boys are all about superheroes right now. My oldest has planned his…

This post is adapted from an email originally shared on April 15, 2022. If you would like to receive future emails, you can sign up here. I turn 40 in a few weeks. Between some signs of a mid-life crisis, lingering social confusion after pandemic isolation, and utter fatigue with…

This post is adapted from an email originally shared on March 25, 2022. If you would like to receive future emails, you can sign up here. Tutoring is getting a lot of attention right now. It has received a great deal of resourcing with ESSER funds across states and districts…

Students and educators have a broad range of needs, and actors across the education ecosystem are looking for ways to meet those needs. Policymakers are looking for solutions to address growing inequity. Innovators are looking for ways to better personalize learning. …