Tag: learners

  • The Courage to Trust the Conversation

    There are moments in teaching that never show up on a lesson plan. A student’s hand goes up—not to answer your question, but to ask one you hadn’t considered. Suddenly, thirty adolescents stop thinking about the quiz next Friday and start arguing about justice, friendship, race, grief, or why people make the choices they do.…

  • The Art of School Discipline

    (Or: Why Your Kid Probably Isn’t a Villain, But Also Isn’t Perfect Either) There’s a part of me that’s always been a storyteller. I’ve spent years watching the chaos of childhood—my own and others’—and turning it into little stories that make sense of the messy, funny, absurd moments of growing up. I like noticing the…

  • The Noise of Learning

    I used to think learning was supposed to be quiet.Neat. Orderly. Predictable. But in my world, it never sounded that way. It sounded like pencil scratches in the margins of a notebook, screws rattling on a garage floor, the click of a camera shutter, the uneven notes of a song I hadn’t yet learned how…

  • We Don’t Want “Good Students”

    At first, it might seem like the same thing — but there’s a big difference between being agood student and being a good learner. “Good students” know how to play the game of school. They follow directions, wait patiently, stay within the lines, and do what’s expected. But in a world that’s changing faster than ever —…

  • Behavior Is Not Static

    Behavior is not fixed. It’s fluid, dynamic, and shaped by a continuous exchange between individuals and their environment. At its core, behavior is interaction — a response to internal drives or external stimuli. Hunger, attention, fear, joy, the need for safety or belonging — all of these spark behavioral responses, often unconsciously. In our classrooms,…