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The More Powerful AI Becomes, the More Leadership Matters

Artificial intelligence can do many things, but it cannot lead—not in a classroom, not in a school, not in a district. AI can generate information, analyze data, summarize knowledge, and even mimic expertise, but it cannot read a room, exercise contextual judgment, or demonstrate emotional stability and wisdom. It is not a leader.

Leadership is a complex, uniquely human behavior. In fact, rather than replacing leadership, the rise of AI has magnified its importance. Our students, staff, and communities want to know that we understand what matters to them and that we will be there for them. They want assurance that we can handle complex and emotional situations, and they want to feel that we are capable and trustworthy. These elements cannot be handled by technology.

Consequently, now is the time to really, truly lead. The clarity, credibility, and conviction we bring to our work cannot be easily replaced by technology. People want leaders to whom they can turn in times of confusion, drama, and pressure. This is our opportunity.

The truth is that as the capacity of artificial intelligence grows, so does the need for insightful, stable, skilled leaders. Consider these ways in which leadership becomes even more important and valued in an era of artificial intelligence.

Judgment gains importance when information is abundant.

Leadership gains value by demonstrating discernment, wisdom, and contextual understanding while considering information that AI can provide. Knowledge and expertise remain important when integrated with AI, but the value leaders add becomes less driven by their knowledge. Asking the right questions, navigating ambiguity, and making sound decisions in the face of uncertainty and competing priorities matter even more.

The value of trust grows with the proliferation of auto-generated content.

Incidents of deepfakes, hallucinations, and algorithmic decision-making raise caution and skepticism about the information AI produces. Trust remains among the most valuable currencies in organizations. Consequently, leaders who communicate openly, consistently, and authentically come to be increasingly relied on. People are more likely to assume credibility based on their emotions than to evaluate it solely on an intellectual level.

Calmness and consistency are crucial in times of complexity and constant change.

AI is accelerating the pace and breadth of change for most institutions and industries, including education. Rapid change inevitably generates confusion, fear, resistance, and fatigue. Leaders can provide stability and reassurance by projecting calm, consistency, and clarity. The key is not to pretend to have all the answers. Curiosity, adaptability, intellectual humility, and commitment to learning are increasingly important and impactful leadership behaviors.

Genuine human connections mean more in the context of AI-simulated emotions.

AI can simulate empathy and understanding, but artificial, mechanical emotions have limits and often lead to disappointment and a lack of fulfillment. They are poor substitutes for genuine emotional safety, human connection, and meaningful relationships. Leaders can offer authentic attentiveness, genuine care, and emotional intelligence that technology cannot fully replicate. People want to be seen, experience hope, and feel psychological safety in ways that only humans can provide.

Real communication is even more important in an era of auto-generated content.

It is true that AI can make communication easier and more efficient. It can produce polished emails, professional-looking presentations, and succinct reports. However, the presence of these tools also makes meaningful communication even more valuable. People want to feel connections that are authentic, deeply human, and emotionally fulfilling. Leaders can tap into the benefits AI offers, but the communication that matters most is an extension of who they are and what they value, and it reflects the connections they make with their audience.

Ethical leadership is crucial to evaluate machine-generated advice and direction.

AI can be vulnerable to bias, dismissive of privacy, insensitive to equity, and unconcerned with human dignity. Technical competence is not a substitute for moral clarity and ethical considerations. Leaders can ensure alignment with values, exercise the courage to make principled decisions, and model other behaviors that protect and value those who depend on them to guide and serve in ways that reflect everyone’s best hopes and highest expectations.

As technology continues to advance and get better at generating information and providing answers, people will increasingly seek and value leadership that features the human qualities of wisdom, curiosity, empathy, vision, and trust. Now is the time to embrace our role and lead with humility, authenticity, and courage.

June 04, 2026

After a Difficult Year: How to Reclaim Energy and Hope

In every educator's career, difficult years are inevitable. Sooner or later, we will all have (at least) one. After all, each year brings a new group of students and changes in curriculum, structures, or expectations, and with significant changes often come significant challenges. What is most important is not that we had a trying year; no, what matters most is what we choose to do with what we experienced. The year ends, but what we learn from it and how we go forward can reshape our careers.

To be clear, moving on is not about pretending the past year did not happen. It is also not about replaying, regretting, or endlessly ruminating on the experience. Moving on involves understanding, gaining perspective, and focusing on what we can do with what we learned. Here are some strategies to help make the transition.

Resist replaying painful and unsuccessful moments. Pain attracts attention. We can get lost in time spent recalling, reliving, and massaging what hurts. We can become preoccupied with incidents such as conflicts with a student or parent, a lesson or unit that did not go as planned, or times we wish we had said or done something different. The truth is that while reflection can certainly be helpful, ruminating drains energy and yields little of value. Instead, this time should be devoted to letting go of any guilt, forgiving yourself, and allowing yourself to experience relief. Relief is not failure; it is evidence that the experience took a toll.

Conduct an “after-action reflection.” Challenging experiences often leave unresolved questions, confusing emotions, and frustrating memories. Unless we examine and determine what to do with them, they remain with us and can hold us back. Now is a good time to reflect on the experience, make sense of it, and let it go. Depending on the circumstances, you might include a trusted and respected colleague in the conversation. Center your reflection and conversation around questions such as what frustrated you, what caused hurt, what you could not control, and what you learned. When you are finished, decide what is beneficial to carry with you and what to leave behind. Then, turn and look forward.

Keep your identity and worth separate from the experience. Many factors can influence how a year goes. A difficult mix of students, curriculum, or organizational issues, behavior challenges, or leadership conflicts are possibilities, but they do not define who you are. Nor do they represent your value or effectiveness. Teaching is a profound human work, and it can be influenced by a wide variety of variables. The key question is, “What did you learn about people, teaching, or yourself from the experience?” Contemplating this question helps to shift your attention from regret to growth.

Do not forget the students for whom you made a difference. At this point, there may be students whom you believe you failed to reach. You may or may not be correct. Often, the influence we have is not visible for long after students leave us. Your impact may be more than you know. Meanwhile, there likely remain students whom you were able to reach, with whom you had a strong relationship, and who flourished as the year unfolded. It can be easy to forget positive, successful efforts, especially when we are preoccupied with what we did not visibly accomplish. Commit to spending as much (or more) time recalling and reflecting on your successes as on less satisfactory experiences.

Replenish your energy before trying to “fix anything.” There may be adjustments you want to make because of your reflections on the past year. However, before investing in that work, take time to replenish your energy. Prioritize sleep, exercise, relationships, fun, laughter, and even quiet time. Growth is important, but recovery is faster and more successful when our energy levels are high and our sense of who we are is restored. Trying to learn and change while running on empty is tough work.

Identify what you want to change next year. At this point, you may have some ideas about what you want to do in response to your reflection. It may be time to revisit and adjust personal and professional boundaries. You might want to adjust some routines or structures. There may be classroom management strategies you want to adopt or even some support you want to secure as you start the new year. It is good to explore various options. However, before deciding what you will do, consider what one or two things will make the greatest difference and focus your attention there. Trying to do too many things at once is likely to result in doing none of them well.

Get ready for a new beginning. One of the gifts of education is that every year offers the opportunity for a fresh start. Last year may have been a challenge, but it is behind us. We can give ourselves permission to let go of last year and embrace the opportunities and possibilities that lie ahead. It is time to flush away any remaining disappointment and pain from last year and give full attention to the wonderful things you will accomplish in the months ahead.

Difficult years can lead to important learning; they can deepen our empathy, strengthen our resilience, enrich our wisdom, and broaden our perspective. We can take what we have learned from a challenging year without reliving it.

June 04, 2026

Teacher Appreciation Week: 5 Messages to Hold Onto

Teacher Appreciation Week offers an opportunity for us to pause, reflect, and celebrate the importance of nurturing learning and shaping the lives of young people. Though they are meaningful, this week can and should be more than thank-you notes, small gifts, and other expressions of gratitude.

This can be a time to reconnect with what makes teaching profoundly impactful work. We can appreciate what it means to teach and remind ourselves that the true impact of teaching lies in often subtle actions and nuanced messages that deeply affect students' lives. This evidence of impact is not found in lesson plans or documented in teaching records; it is imprinted on the identities, hopes, and aspirations students take with them when they leave us.

As we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, we do well to remember the importance of our work, even when it is not immediately rewarding and may even be painful. The opportunities we have to make a difference in students' lives are undeniable. Here are five of the most profound actions and messages that are also worthy of our reflection and celebration.

Your belief in students is a powerful force. Teaching is a profession driven by hope, possibility, and potential. Students come to us with varying amounts of each element. Many students lack confidence, see limited possibilities, and feel little hope for what school and life hold for them. However, what we believe about students and what is possible for them can be an extremely powerful counterbalancing force. When students feel our confidence, experience our commitment, and benefit from our assumption of their potential, they have reason to wonder, reassess, and believe. We bring credibility, experience, and insight that can instill in students a sense of possibility and confidence. Interestingly, just because we may not see evidence of significant shifts while students are with us does not mean they are not happening. In fact, many highly successful adults point to experiences with teachers who believed in them and gave them the confidence to become more than their background or obvious potential would suggest. The most powerful message students can hear and feel from us is “I believe in you.”

Your consistency and caring are more important than perfection and performance. We may think we must be perfect to be effective. In fact, being ourselves, being there for students on good and bad days, and consistently sharing encouragement and guidance are more likely to create lasting memories and long-lasting influence than flawless, perfectly delivered, “hiccup-free” lessons. Our authenticity and consistency lower anxiety and reduce emotional distractions, thus making room for learning.

Your hardest days are the most important for your students. Challenging days are not usually fun. They drain our energy, test our patience, and can leave us wondering what we have accomplished. Yet, on the days when students struggle to learn and need our coaching and encouragement, when students require our help to control their emotions and manage their behavior, and when outside life distractions compete for attention, they need us the most. Our presence, empathy, and compassion may be what carries students through. These may be the days students remember and cherish long after they leave us.

Small learning shifts and progress now can make a lifetime of difference. It is easy to take pride and reassurance in the work we do when students experience major steps forward in their learning, develop an important insight, or learn a skill that opens new opportunities for them. These are times worth celebrating. However, small steps, incremental improvement, and barely perceptible growth today can often be the beginning of a journey that changes a life trajectory. We are privileged to work with and influence children and young people at a time when they have most of their lives ahead of them. What seems small and insignificant today may become a major factor in how students view themselves, their potential, and their aspirations for what life can be and how they can make it so.

How you teach matters as much as what you teach. We study the curriculum, plan, and deliver lessons. We design experiences and assess student learning to ensure they learn the content and skills that are expected and valued by the school, community, and society. This aspect of our work is important. However, it represents a less-than-complete picture of learning in our classrooms. In fact, how we approach our work, how we relate to what we teach, and the respect we show for the learning process are at least equally important. Students often recall their experience with us long after they have forgotten the facts, dates, and formulas we taught. Our enthusiasm, authenticity, commitment, persistence, caring, and even our sense of humor can create lasting memories and enduring values that students later revisit, adopt, and use to guide their life and work.

These are messages to carry with us always, not just during times set aside for recognition and celebration. Regularly taking time to pause, reflect, and appreciate the opportunities we have to make a difference in our students’ lives can be a rewarding and renewing source of hope and confidence to keep on keeping on.

May 01, 2026

Five Secrets to Staying Focused and Functioning in the Final Weeks

We might compare the school year to a marathon. We begin the year with energy, optimism, and excitement. Over time, reality and routine help us to settle into a pace and make steady progress. We may encounter some unexpected challenges, a few distractions, some stumbles, and occasional setbacks along the way, but we keep going. Now, the end is coming into sight. We have invested and persisted; we need to finish strong. Yet, like marathoners, we may find that late in the year, we can hit a wall. Our mental and physical energy may be running low, but the race is not finished. The work ahead is not harder than we have experienced, though it may indeed feel harder. We may find it difficult to manufacture new energy, but we can manage our fatigue. Here are five secrets we can tap to help us stay focused and functioning as we approach the final weeks.

Grasp the finish line. Runners can imagine the distance to the end of a marathon as being too far, which can lead to losing focus and hope. Yet, observing mile markers and visualizing what remains of the race can provide a clear and achievable picture of the path to the finish. Similarly, what remains to be done before the end of the year can feel overwhelming, especially if we rely on our imagination. Gaining clarity about what we need to do can make a significant difference in how we perceive the finish. Now is a good time to think through what needs to be done and make a list; what we imagine to be “undoable” can feel “accomplishable” when reduced to a tangible list.

Insight: Reality is usually less overwhelming than what we imagine.

Prioritize tasks, time, and energy. A successful finish to a marathon requires avoiding wasted effort and needless distractions. Runners need to prioritize their energy and focus to stay the course. Similarly, the list of tasks we need to complete can be a starting point for prioritizing and sharpening our focus. Some items on the list might be dropped without consequence, other items might be postponed and handled later, and still other items might be delegated to support staff, students, or volunteers. With our prioritized list, we can better focus our energy and allocate our attention to what is most important and must be done.

Insight: Prioritization helps to align our time and energy with what matters most.

Focus on form and fundamentals. As the end of a marathon approaches, the secret to success is more likely to be found in staying steady, maintaining forward momentum, and finishing with purpose than looking for new strategies and trying new approaches. In marathon races, runners focus on breathing, posture, and stride. In the classroom, this thinking translates to maintaining routines, staying consistent, and being predictable.

Insight: Staying steady and finishing with purpose can make the best use of our remaining energy.

Draw on the energy and support of others. The noise of the crowd assembled at the finish line of a marathon is typically the loudest of any time during the race, and their enthusiasm and support can be a good source of encouragement. Similarly, the end of the school year features celebrations and ceremonies that can be sources of reinforcement and reassurance, two key elements in finishing the year successfully. Colleagues, too, can be important sources of encouragement and grounding. Connecting with others can provide the boost we need to stay the course.

Insight: While you run a marathon as an individual, the crowd and other runners can be sources of encouragement and reassurance. Similarly, colleagues can provide important support to help us finish the year with high levels of focus and functionality.

Finish strong. The end of a marathon may not feature the dramatic “kick” common in shorter races. However, staying strong and pushing through the finish line remains an important aspect of a successful race. We can prevent additional stress by resisting the urge to procrastinate. If something needs to be done, we can act rather than hesitate. Ignoring and avoiding important tasks at this time of year can have greater consequences than they would have had a month or two ago, or even earlier.

Insight: Pushing through the finish line can generate better end-of-year outcomes and a greater sense of pride and satisfaction.

Clearly, the school year is more like a marathon than a sprint or even a middle-distance race. Success requires stamina, focus, and commitment. Now, as the end approaches, we can take much from how to successfully finish a marathon to inform and guide our thinking and actions as we create a successful ending.

April 23, 2026

Six “Never Do’s” Educators Should Never Do

The idea of “never doing” some things as being crucial to our path to success and satisfaction may seem counterintuitive. Certainly, we typically think of “doing more” and “doing better” as paths to flourishing as a professional. Yet, achieving success has as much to do with what we choose not to do as what we choose to do.

In fact, refusing to engage in many actions can be the key to not only having a greater impact on the success of our students, but it can also leave us healthier, happier, and with more energy than we might imagine to be possible. Need more convincing? Try these six “never do’s” and reap the rewards.

Never work harder than your students. Learning results from engagement, effort, reflection, questioning, and connecting. These are not actions we can perform for students, but we can plan activities that position students to take an active role in their learning. Our job is to design the work that students will do and that will engage them in ways that learning results. When we do, not only will students learn more, but they will also remember it longer. The truth is that the person in the classroom who is learning the most is the person who is working the hardest. That person should not be us.

Never hold on to strategies that no longer work. We sometimes have “go to” strategies and techniques that early in our career or even a year ago seemed to work, but for some reason they are not effective with our current group of students. Obviously, there can be many reasons why what used to work no longer does. The nature of our students may have changed, or their needs may have changed. It also might be that our expectations have changed. We may have different expectations for the impact or a shift in our approach. Consequently, what used to fit no longer does. We might find that we can adjust the strategy to regain the impact we used to see, or it may be time to let go and look for a better way to achieve the outcome we need and expect.

Never expect perfection from yourself or your students. Schools are places for learning, and mistakes, revisions, and improvement are hallmarks of the learning process. When performance is error-free, it is time to seek out the next challenge. When students struggle and require multiple attempts, we are watching learning in action. Perfection is a sign that it is time to move to the next level of learning. Likewise, when we revise our thinking and adjust our instruction in the presence of students, we are demonstrating our learning. When our instruction becomes error free, it is time to take some risks and try some new strategies and approaches that will challenge us, even if it means what our work will be less than perfect.

Never sacrifice your health and well-being as though doing so is are a badge of honor. Mental and physical health are crucial to our ability to give students what they need and to sustain our professional role. We gain little if we allow our work to overwhelm our lives. Becoming ill, constantly exhausted, and worn down does little to improve the quality of our work or provide high-level support for our students. The truth is that balancing work and personal time, maintaining reasonable boundaries, and prioritizing recovery are hallmarks of high performers.

Never stop learning. Much of teaching involves routines. They are important to creating efficiency and predictability, but they can become traps that lead to complacency. They can get in the way of our continuing to learn, improving our practice, and tapping our creativity. Of course, learning does not always have to involve taking courses and earning degrees, although they can be useful. Committing to making small adjustments, trying one new thing, taking responsible risks, and remaining curious can make a huge difference in our success and satisfaction, if practiced consistently over time.

Never confuse your title with your worth. In our world, some occupations have more social status than others. Today, education and teaching are not given high compensation and unrestrained respect. Yet it is extremely important work with the potential for great impact on our students and our society. The work we do, how we do it, and the impact we can have on young people’s lives is not just worthy work; it can be life changing. Regardless of the specific role we have, our worth is determined by the investment we make, the differences our work has on the lives of our students, and the greater good education and learning create for society. The value and respect society assigns to education and teaching as a role are far less important than the worth our work creates for all involved.

There are many tasks and responsibilities with which we must engage to be successful with our students and in our profession. However, we also need to give our attention to the actions we need to avoid if we want to achieve and sustain our success and enjoy the satisfaction our work can offer.

February 24, 2026

Teachers Lead Every Day: 5 Behaviors That Prove It

Teachers do not always see themselves as leaders. In fact, some may even argue that leading is not their role; leading is the responsibility of administrators. Of course, principals and other administrators certainly have leadership responsibilities. However, leadership is less about the position one holds and more about the influence one exerts on the thinking, perceptions, and behavior of others.

With this perspective in mind, it is not difficult to see how the role of teachers embodies leadership in the lives of students. Most of us can point to the influence a teacher has had on some aspect of our lives. In fact, many of us can point to a teacher whose influence led us to choose education as our profession.

Leadership also takes multiple forms. Some leadership influences are subtle and nuanced, while others are highly visible and direct. Leadership can be carefully planned and orchestrated or be spontaneous and improvised. Leadership can result from formally granted power or be bestowed in response to demonstrated behaviors and revealed characteristics.

One thing is certain: Teachers and leaders in other fields share many sources of influence and demonstrate similar impacts. Consider these five examples of teaching leadership and their parallels in other leadership roles.

Teachers build and shape culture. This role is shared with leaders of any successful organization, including CEOs of major companies. Teachers manage norms of behavior, establish parameters of risk-taking, and define what it means to belong—all of which influence the daily experiences of students. They also manage and distribute power within their classrooms. While these actions occur on a small scale, they share important characteristics with leaders in all sectors of society.

Teachers establish expectations. A longstanding adage about leadership is that leaders get the performance they expect. A clear parallel is that the level of expectations teachers hold for students is a primary predictor of student success. Consistency and follow-through create a sense of security and predictability and promote credibility and trust. Subtle and explicit cues, such as the amount of attention, quality of feedback, and nonverbal communication signals to students our confidence in their potential and reassurance of the support they can expect.

Teachers make impactful decisions. Leaders make decisions that matter, including what to focus on and what to ignore. Minute by minute and second by second, teachers decide what to emphasize and what to minimize. They decide how much student input and participation to invite and insist on. They decide what content will be elevated and what will be skipped. The choices teachers make shape the learning path and define what students will be accountable for. Like other leaders, teachers’ choices reflect priorities and articulate values.

Teachers guide and support through confusion and uncertainty. In times of disruption, conflict, and crisis, leaders provide the stability and reassurance needed to make sense of and navigate situations. Students depend on teachers to give them hope and support when they face difficult circumstances. During times of crisis and chaos, teachers step up to manage the situation and ensure the psychological and physical safety of all. Teachers, like other leaders, are the stabilizers of events and interpreters of reality.

Teachers are watched and followed models. Leaders use their behavior to reflect their values and beliefs. The way teachers model respect, fairness, curiosity, and persistence shapes how students behave and treat others, approach learning, and respond to setbacks. Students watch how teachers respond to challenges, handle mistakes, and navigate conflict. They take lifelong lessons from teacher behavior, often without either’s awareness.

Leadership is not always a conscious act, and we may not always see the impact we have. Yet, students watch, listen, and learn from our leadership every day. There is one thing of which we can be certain: What we do matters, and the difference our leadership makes can be lifelong.

January 28, 2026

Share Your Tips & Stories

Share your story and the tips you have for getting through this challenging time. It can remind a fellow school leader of something they forgot, or your example can make a difficult task much easier and allow them to get more done in less time. We may publish your comments.

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Three Tools to Regain Control: Routine, Rituals, and Regimen

This is a time of year that can be chaotic, unpredictable, and stressful. Feeling as though we are “on top” of what we want to accomplish and what is expected of us can be a special challenge. We need some dependable, predictable, and workable strategies to help us to make sense of our world and gain confidence that we can build and sustain momentum to carry us through.

Fortunately, there are some easily accessible strategies and frameworks we can adopt and practice to help us feel and be more in control. We might think of them as mental “software” to help us to perform tasks, manage time, derive meaning, and experience connections. Importantly, they are based in neuroscience. They offer ways to help our brains manage the myriad tasks, expectations, and challenges that comprise our lives.

These three life hacks can make a significant difference in how we approach our days and the significance and success we derive from them. We know them as routines, rituals, and regimen. Let’s explore each of these tools and how we can employ them to make our lives better.

Routines help us to be more efficient. They create predictability in starting our day, beginning class, or taking attendance and handling administrative tasks. Routines can save us time, energy, and attention. They are intended to prevent us from having to plan and manage new behaviors and action sequences unless there is a specific need to do so. They help to speed up processes and preserve time and energy for other useful activities. Routines add value to our personal and professional lives because they create efficiency, but they are not designed to create inspiration or stimulate growth.

Rituals provide readiness, meaning, and inspiration. Like routines, rituals offer predictability, but they represent more than efficiency. Rituals are practiced with intention. We engage in rituals to create meaning, trust, and readiness. They symbolize something important to us. We might begin our day with an inspirational reading, reflecting on what we want to accomplish, or connecting with a friend or family member. When arriving at work, we might engage in the ritual of greeting colleagues, securing a cup of coffee, or sitting quietly to prepare for the day. They can program our brains for resilience, clarity, and connections. Rituals are designed to connect and focus, and for us to be open to inspiration.

Regimens are designed to produce growth. Practicing regimens helps us to improve in specific areas of focus. They involve discipline and growth. Often a sequence of actions, they are intended to move us progressively toward a desired outcome, such as improving a skill, honing a practice, or building expertise. Regimens often are not comfortable like routines and rituals, but they share characteristics such as repetition, consistency, and predictability. Personally, we might adopt an exercise regimen to build strength or engage in a walking regimen to build stamina. Professionally, we might engage in a regimen to refine feedback practices, build a new instructional strategy, or improve our classroom management. Regimens involve consistency, feedback, focus, and patience to become more proficient rather than to become more efficient or find inspiration.

Considerations:

Together, routines, rituals, and regimens help us to become more intentional and in control.
All three can reduce our stress and provide order and structure to our lives.
Each of the tools serves a unique purpose. Misapplication can create confusion and frustration.
When we hurry through rituals or lose focus, they can lose their meaning and revert to being routines.
Rituals require emotional investment, while regimens require intellectual and physical investment.
When regimens are treated as routines, they can lose their ability to support improvement.
Adopting more routines can increase efficiency, but adding regimens can create overload.

Finding balance, creating efficiency, being productive, and finding inspiration are crucial components of personal satisfaction and professional success. By tapping routines to gain stability, adopting rituals to find purpose, and following regimens to achieve progress, we can gain the control we seek and enjoy the success we deserve.

January 28, 2026

7 Ways to Manage the Holiday Rush Before It Manages You

The holidays and much anticipated winter break will soon be upon us. The pace will quicken, distractions will increase, and expectations will grow to have everything completed and perfect. Yet, the number of hours in the day will remain the same.

If we do nothing to anticipate, plan, and manage what lies ahead, we can expect our sense of pressure, stress and frustration to grow. The likelihood of us feeling overwhelmed is high. However, there are several steps we can take to make the season manageable, even enjoyable. Consider these seven “R’s” for remaining sane and in control as you develop plans and decide how you will manage in the days ahead.

Rely on daily and weekly routines.

We can be tempted to loosen or even abandon daily routines in the face of special activities, rehearsals, and other holiday related activities. However, for many students, daily routines are what keep them focused and in control of their emotions and behavior. Students are accustomed to a sequence of activities and knowing what comes next. Varying from routines can invite lack of focus, off task behavior, and even loss of emotional control, especially for young students. Maintaining as much of our daily and weekly routines as practical can serve students and us well.

Revisit behavior expectations.

Even though we spent time and effort to establish expectations early in the year and we have reinforced them as the year has unfolded, now is a good time to revisit our expectations and any expectations we developed with the input and participation of students. We might reinforce the importance of remaining focused despite the excitement and distractions that come with the season. We can also remind students that respect and responsibility are always in season.

Remain focused on learning.

Students are more likely to remain engaged if we continue to present them with content and learning activities that are challenging, engaging, and relevant. We might borrow themes and topics that are relevant to the season, but engaging students in worthwhile learning activities can prevent many of the common challenges associated with holidays and school breaks.

Reorganize and sequence major tasks and responsibilities.

We also need to give attention to our personal and professional workload and manage it strategically. We might establish due dates for major projects a week or two in advance of the final push to the break so that we can finish grading before the final rush overwhelms us. We might plan activities that have students reviewing and providing feedback on each other’s work rather than demanding excessive attention from us. We also need to pay attention to tasks and responsibilities we have apart from work and how we can sequence and balance them to preserve our time, energy, and attention. We need to remember that the level of pressure and stress we feel also has an impact on student attention and behavior. One thing is certain: If we fail to manage activities and responsibilities, they will pile up and start to manage us.

Rally with colleagues.

We do not have to create, plan, and carry out every task and activity on our own. Now is a great time to collaborate with coworkers to design projects, share resources, and lend a hand in other ways. Choosing to share the load can make everyone’s life easier and the work more fun.

Relax and be flexible.

We know that at this time of year not everything will go as planned. There will be distractions, surprises, and interruptions. Expecting perfection is a recipe for frustration and stress. We can let go of what we cannot control, offer forgiveness for others’ lack of planning, and expect that not all communication will be timely and complete. In short: Go with the flow and try to enjoy the ride.

Reserve time for yourself.

We cannot be our best selves and do our best work when we feel exhausted and overwhelmed. Choosing to spend time with family and friends, maintaining an exercise routine, and getting enough sleep can give us the energy and motivation we need to keep going and remain present through all the chaos the holidays and upcoming break bring. We need to take care of ourselves if we hope to be ready to take care of others.

The holiday season is a time of excitement and anticipation. The upcoming winter break promises time to relax and unwind. However, the days and weeks leading up to these anticipated experiences can be filled with unrealistic expectations and pressure. Now is a good time to anticipate, prepare, be ready to manage what lies ahead.

December 04, 2025

A Thank-You Letter to the Teachers Who Shaped Us

One of the great regrets in life is that we often understand more about our experiences when we look back at them. Retrospection often leads to new insights and levels of appreciation that were absent during some of life’s most important occurrences. After all, the old adage says that youth is wasted on the young.

An obvious example for many of us is our failure to appreciate the people who guided and shaped who we have become: our teachers. Of course, as students we were likely to dismiss and push back on what they expected of us. We thought that we knew what was best. Unfortunately, we did not have enough life experience and perspective to make every decision on our own. We needed to pay attention, heed their advice, and follow their guidance. Too often, it was only after we left school that we came to appreciate the difference our teachers made.

In this season of gratitude, take a moment to consider that only later did it become clear to us that the teachers who pushed us to lift our aspirations and increase our investment in learning did so because they saw in us potential that we did not yet realize we possessed.

The teachers who challenged us and pushed the boundaries of our learning knew that the most valuable learning we would develop would come with struggle and frustration. They reminded us that mistakes are a natural part of the learning process. They urged us to use errors and mistakes to adjust our approach and guide our learning.

The teachers who held high expectations and refused to lower them when we failed to make our best effort were teaching us a valuable lesson about life and learning. When the work was hard, they urged us to focus on the quality of our effort and strategies, not on how to “work the system” or find an easier path.

The teachers who resisted providing us with immediate answers were not necessarily being difficult. Learning where and how to find answers for ourselves was a lesson we continue to rely on. Knowing how to solve problems on our own serves us well in situations when we face dilemmas and no teacher is present to provide a formula or show a clear path forward.

The teachers who pressed us to focus on what we were learning, not just the grades we received, guided us to focus on what was most important. They reminded us that grades are nothing more than symbols. At their best, grades do little more than capture the progress we were making and learning we had gained.

We might agree that, at the time, we did not show our teachers our full appreciation. Of course, at the time we did not fully know, let alone appreciate, the impact they were having on us and our lives. Only now, years later, have we come to understand how they changed our lives and helped us to become who we are today.

Thank you, teachers, for your investment in the learning and the lives of our most precious resources—our students. They are the future, and you help shape it. Some of us did not, as students, realize the impact you were making on us. It took some of us a long time to understand and appreciate your significance in our lives. Though it is belated, we hope that you feel the depth of our gratitude. Thank you.

November 13, 2025

American Education Week: Why Educators Deserve Hero Status

American Education Week is a time set aside to recognize and celebrate the commitment and contributions of the educators who teach and nurture our youth. These are the people who prepare the citizens and workers who will contribute to our economy, preserve our society, and lead our nation in the coming decades. For these reasons and innumerable others, educators are worth celebrating.

Yet, it seems fair to say that most educators today do not feel as though they are seen as celebrated heroes. Hardly a day passes without media reports on how students and schools are underperforming. Educators are singled out for not correcting societal ills that originate in contexts beyond their control, often in families, communities, and even in broader society. Educators are expected to counter calculated strategies to students who are addicted to social media, compete with powerful and rapidly changing technologies, and respond to conflicting visions of how schools should operate and what schools and education should accomplish. Meanwhile, educators are asked to perform with inadequate resources and support, engage students who are distracted and disinterested, and prepare students for a future that is uncertain and constantly evolving.

While this picture may sound discouraging, it ignores the amazing tasks educators perform, the unwavering resilience they demonstrate, and powerful and lasting influence they have on the students they teach. If we silence the noise and consider the work of educators at an individual level—where the work of learning, growing, and developing happens—we can see a different picture. Despite the lack of clarity, inconsistent expectations, and inadequate support, educators are doing crucial work on behalf of our society, and this work should be celebrated, not just criticized.

Consider that every day educators engage in the work of:

Building human capital. Educators spend their days nurturing new skills, building confidence, and instilling hope. They inspire students to see more possibilities in themselves than they can imagine. Educators are shaping young minds and spirits into confident learners and capable citizens.
Creating safe harbors of caring. Students often face incredible life challenges and suffer from deep emotional wounds. Educators administer kindness, care, and attention for students who desperately need support, and create spaces where students can risk, fail, grow, and try again.
Protecting opportunities for all. Educators often are the only advocates that students can consistently depend on. Educators are champions for students who otherwise may be ignored. They ensure students receive the support they need to succeed regardless of background and experience.
Creating future possibilities. The foundation of learning that educators build today will be the support that opens doors to every profession, career, and service today’s students will pursue and that every community depends on.
Nurturing tolerance and civility. Teaching students to listen, respect, and consider the perspectives of others, resolve conflicts through peaceful dialogue and understanding, and accept others who may not share the same culture and life experiences are crucial tasks for educators and are building blocks for a healthy, safe, and sustainable society.
Sustaining democracy. Educators are among the few professions that are charged with and work diligently to instill respect for and understanding of the importance of our democracy. Teaching critical thinking, nurturing reasoning, and building an understanding of the structures and functions of our government are crucial to the success and sustainability of our society.
Providing positive role models. Educators are daily models for students to observe, learn from, and emulate. For many students, they may be the only positive, consistent role models they have. The perseverance, integrity, curiosity, confidence, courage, and commitment of educators can be the inspiration students need to see what is possible and instill the hope that is necessary to make it reality.

Obviously, challenges remain and we always need to do better. However, educators should be considered heroes, not villains. They should be honored, encouraged, supported, and given credit for the crucial work they do.

November 06, 2025

The Master Teacher Blog