I recently heard a podcast episode (though I can’t remember which it was) where a woman shared an analogy that helped me sort out my own understandings around learning from mistakes. In the episode, the woman explained how it’s a common belief that practicing and making mistakes will help you learn and improve. But she…
I was recently re-reading one of my favorite books: Stephen Covey’s book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and one part struck me that I hadn’t thought much about before. He talks about two types of language: reactive and proactive. He shares examples of reactive language such as: “There’s nothing I can do.” “That’s just…
When I look back at my first years of teaching, I’m shocked that I wasn’t fired. I don’t mean that figuratively. I mean it literally. Times were a bit different in 2003. When I was hired, I was the third teacher of the year for those students. The first teacher quit and the second was…
Many teachers often spend the first days of school working with students to set norms and expectations for the year. This is very helpful because it lays the foundation for a strong classroom culture where students feel safe to learn and make mistakes along the way. This is equally important for me in my role…