The knowledge- building curricula available to us are sufficient for the grades we teach, but teachers need more….We need to know what came before and what lies ahead in the students' educational journey.  Most importantly, we need a deep, thorough understanding of the knowledge we teach at our own grade level. Teaching content we barely know, with no schema for understanding its larger context, is both frustrating and uncomfortable. Teachers deserve instruction in these areas as well. I believe this is the next critical step in professional development and teacher training.

Productive struggle happens when students face a challenge that’s just tough enough to make them think, but not so hard that they shut down. It’s that sweet spot where learning happens. In a literacy classroom, this might look like a student working through a tricky text or figuring out how to decode a tough word. Sure, it’s not always comfortable, but that’s where the magic happens—when they push through the discomfort and find the solution on their own.

Dos:

1. Ground your advice in YOUR personal experience. Be vulnerable.

2. Connect that experience to practice and research. 

3. Be conversational. Write like you speak. 

4. Ask clarifying questions to understand the context and establish your sincere interest in the teacher’s question. 

5. Dignify a careful question with a careful response. Take your time responding. 

6. Be specific. “Listen to Sold A Story!!!!!!” doesn’t count. 

7. Be nice and assume good faith.