🌿 Your Tuesday Email: Forward with Discernment

Hello Reader!

Not everything that is unfinished needs to be finished. Some things just need to be released.

There is a specific kind of anxiety that takes hold in May.

It's the awareness of every gap. Every unit you didn't get to, every student goal that hasn't been fully met, every initiative you launched in October that quietly stalled only a few weeks later. The list of what remains undone can feel crushing in the final weeks of a school year.

Here's what we want to offer: not everything unfinished is a failure, and not everything unfinished needs to be finished. (Remember when we talked about giving yourself permission to let go?)

The Difference Between Incomplete and Undone

Some things are incomplete. They were always meant to continue beyond this school year, and they will. The relationships you built, the skills your students are still developing, the leadership capacity you've grown in your team. These don't close at the end of June. They carry forward.

Other things are genuinely undone, and finishing them in the next four weeks would come at a cost you cannot afford to pay. Choosing not to do them isn't quitting. It's discernment.

Discernment is the professional skill of distinguishing between what must be done, what would be nice to do, and what you've been holding onto out of obligation or guilt rather than genuine necessity. Trust us - we know this is a tough one, especially if you have some perfectionist tendencies.

A Simple Sorting Practice

Take the list of everything still on your plate for the end of this year. Then honestly sort it into three categories:

1. Must: Non-negotiable commitments to students, families, or your school.
2. Should: Valuable but flexible. This could be done now, or could be carried forward.
3. Release: Items you've been holding out of habit, guilt, or unclear ownership. (These are tough!)

The release list is not a list of failures. It's a list of things you're choosing to put down so you can carry what actually matters.

Podcast:

• This week: Ep 108 - Human-Centered Schools is a Minimalist Approach with Dr. Randy Ziegenfuss. Control is the quiet habit that shapes most school days, and it’s also the habit that drains joy, curiosity, and agency from both students and educators. We sit down with Dr. Randy Zeigenfuss, professor of practice at Moravian University and founder of the Human School, to unpack what human-centered schools actually look like when you stop “playing the game of school” and start redesigning learning around real people.
• Next week: Ep 109 - If You Add Something New, You Must Remove Something with Allison Rodman
• Last week: Ep 107- Keeping Good Teachers is Simple with co-authors Jessica Holloway and Carrie Bishop.

Listen to the pod on all the platforms like Apple, Spotify, iHeart Radio and YouTube. Now you can follow us on Instagram.

Resources:

• ASCD article: From Professional Development to Professional Learning By Jessica Holloway (last week's pod guest!, Kenny McKee, Naomi Church, and Tammy)
• Blog: Foundations of Numeracy Part 1 on Growing Minds Consulting
• Blog: 5 Wild NotebookLM Features for Teachers You Need to Try on ClassTech Tips

Reflection

What are you still holding that was never truly yours to finish this year?

What would it feel like to set it down deliberately (not with guilt, but with clarity)?

Yours,

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P.S. Forward this email to colleagues who you think would enjoy the connection and resources.