🌿 Just Pick One
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Hello Reader! Remember that binder? Imagine you closed the binder from last week and made a decision that felt smaller than it was. Rather than trying all twelve strategies, you picked one: let’s say, better formative feedback, the kind students can actually act on instead of a grade they file away and forget. It sounds simple, and yet the first few days are harder than expected! Old habits are loud! You might catch yourself reaching for the quick check mark, the good job, the shorthand you used for years and years, because the new habit has not had time to take root like the old one had. We know that this is exactly where most attempts at professional growth quietly die, not because the strategy was wrong, but because the discomfort of the in-between gets mistaken for evidence that it is not working. Carol Dweck's research on mindset offers a useful reframe here: the struggle of learning something new is not a signal of failure, it is the mechanism of growth itself. The brain that feels effortful is the brain that is building something. You will not abandon the feedback work. You can write three words on a sticky note and keep it on your desk: specific, actionable, kind. Three words to check your feedback before handing anything back. Here’s the invitation: pick one small anchor for your one chosen skill, something concrete enough to check yourself against in the moment. A few questions to sit with:
We can do this. It is possible to build something real without adding anything to your plate, simply by going deeper into what is already there. We would love to hear what anchor you are choosing for yourself this week. Yours, Tammy P.S. Don't miss out on tomorrow's email... it's the first full episode of Season 7! |
