The Hardest Weeks of the School Year Happen After the Learning Is Supposedly Finished
The most important weeks of the school year arrive precisely when nobody wants them. Teachers are tired. Students are tired. Parents are tired. The tests are done. The grades are finalized. The External Assessments are over. And honestly, nobody is thinking about learning anymore. Every June I see the same thing. The energy changes. The conversations change. Students start counting days. Teachers start counting tasks. Everyone is looking towards the summer. After months of de
May 294 min read
Every teacher has two versions of their teaching. The observed one, and the default one.
The observed lesson is intentional. Planned carefully. Activities are selected in advance, timing is tighter, questions are clearer, engagement is more visible. We think more about differentiation, participation, outcomes. The default lesson is different. Not because teachers stop caring, but because everyday teaching runs on habit, pressure, time, curriculum demands, energy, survival. Over time, we all fall back on a dominant way of teaching - the version that feels most man
May 64 min read
We try to protect our children from struggle. And that makes them struggle more.
We parent. We remind, organize, fix, explain, protect. We make sure things don’t fall apart. We remove friction where we can, because it feels like the right thing to do. After all, why should a child struggle if we can help? That argument is hard to disagree with. But it carries an assumption that is rarely questioned: that less struggle today leads to better outcomes tomorrow. An 80+ year study from Harvard University suggests something different. Following people across de
Apr 282 min read