Nancy Murphy

Fifth grade class of awesome and inspiring students that will change the world one day

[Monte Syrie @MonteSyrie]

Their being critical thinkers includes our encouraging them to be critical of their education, too, right?

[Monte Syrie @MonteSyrie]

Pacing guide?

You mean the kids.

Right?

Authentic learning takes the time it takes.

[Monte Syrie @MonteSyrie]

In 31 years, the Coverage Gods have never rained down on me for not getting through what they wanted.

The kids, though.

The kids.

They’ve always needed what THEY have needed.

Kids first.

[𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 @DrBradJohnson]

If standards, pacing guides, and curriculum maps expect every classroom to be in the same place at the same time, I have a question:
Where is there room for questions?
We learn through questions.
Questions spark curiosity.
Questions expose misunderstanding.
Questions make us think.
Questions lead to discussion, discovery, and deeper understanding.
And research consistently connects higher-level questioning, classroom dialogue, and guided inquiry with stronger learning outcomes.
The problem with rigid pacing is that questions take time.
Sometimes a student asks a question that changes the entire lesson. Sometimes one question leads to five more. Sometimes the best learning happens because a teacher is willing to follow the questions instead of the schedule.
A classroom with no room for questions has very little room for real learning.

[Monte Syrie @MonteSyrie]

Pacing is about learning, not teaching.

Teaching can happen at any speed.

But learning (necessarily) has a governor.

The learner.

Own pace.

Own time.

Own learning.

[Joe Sanfelippo @Joe_Sanfelippo]

One builds your ego. The other builds trust.

The best school leaders know that curiosity creates better decisions than certainty ever will. 
Before your next meeting, ask yourself this question.

https://t.co/zF2QHg6B9M

#LeadFromWhoYouAre

[𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 @DrBradJohnson]

https://t.co/GwUmTl6y5T

[Joe Sanfelippo @Joe_Sanfelippo]

NEW WALK!! What are you doing as your staff leaves that gets them excited to come back next year?

If you don’t know what will get them excited…ASK THEM!

Admitting you don't know everything isn't weakness. Pretending you do is. #LeadFromWhoYouAre

[Joe Sanfelippo @Joe_Sanfelippo]

Your PACE tells people if they are valued or in the way. I used to rush through the building as often as I could and called it being visible. It wasn’t. It was fast. It was checking a box. It wasn’t connected. BE PRESENT. As much as you can. #LeadFromWhoYouAre

[𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 @DrBradJohnson]

Parents, as testing season comes to an end, remember this: a test score measures a small slice of performance on one particular day. It does not measure your child’s intelligence, potential, creativity, character, work ethic, kindness, resilience, or future success.
Some kids will score high.
Some won’t.
But years from now, nobody is going to ask the mechanic fixing your brakes…
The lineman restoring power during a storm…
The construction worker building homes…
The farmer…
The welder…
The truck driver…
The firefighter…
Or the nurse…
“What did you score on your standardized test?”
Because the world has always needed more than test takers.
It needs people who can build things.
Fix things.
Lead people.
Work hard.
Care about others.
And make a difference.
A test measures a moment.
It does not measure a life, a future, or the greatness a child may one day bring to the world

[Dr. Brandi Godino Brotherton @branbrotherton]

That part❤️

@DrBradJohnson

[𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 @DrBradJohnson]

Teacher morale is more important than curriculum, technology, and programs.

[𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 @DrBradJohnson]

More days in school doesn’t mean more learning.
And this isn’t opinion.
The data backs it up.
The OECD has reported that simply increasing instructional time does not improve student outcomes.
Pew Research shows there’s a wide range of instructional hours across countries, with no consistent link to performance.

If time alone worked…
the countries with the most hours would dominate.
They don’t.
In fact, students in the United States already spend more time in school than many countries.
By the end of lower secondary school, students in Finland receive about 6,300 hours of instruction.
In the United States, it’s more like 9,000+ hours.

That’s a huge difference.
And yet… more time hasn’t translated into better outcomes.
So it’s not a time problem.
It’s how we use the time.

High-performing countries don’t cut arts, PE, and music to make room for more academics.
They protect them.
Because they understand these actually help improve student learning.
Movement improves focus.
Arts build creativity and thinking.
Music strengthens cognitive development.
So while we’re trying to cram more academics into more time…

They’re building better learners.
That’s why they can do less time and still get strong results.

But we keep going back to the same thinking,
if a little is good, more must be better.

That logic doesn’t hold up anywhere else.

No coach is doubling practice time thinking it will double performance.
That’s not better training… that’s overtraining.

And overtraining doesn’t build athletes, it breaks them down.

The brain works the same way.

There’s a limit to how much it can take in before more actually starts working against you.
You don’t get better learning—you get fatigue, disengagement, and burnout.

Especially with kids.

So when we add more days without changing the experience, nothing really improves.
We’re just stretching out the same problem over a longer period of time.

We don’t need more time.
We need to use time the way kids actually learn,
not the way it gets designed by people who aren’t in the room.

[𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 @DrBradJohnson]

There should be a teacher on every school board…
and at every table where education decisions are made.
Because right now, we’re making policies for classrooms
without the people who actually live in them.
You wouldn’t design a hospital system without doctors.
You wouldn’t build a plane without pilots.
But in education…
we leave teachers out of the room

[𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 @DrBradJohnson]

Teacher Hierarchy of Needs

[Monte Syrie @MonteSyrie]

“Managing” teaching and learning?

Sorry, admin, all you’re likely managing is the “look of learning.”

Authentic learning is not a matter to be managed from the outside.

It’s an inside job.

It’s our job.
#TeachersGonnaTeach

[𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 @DrBradJohnson]

Want to change education overnight?
Get rid of standardized tests.
Get rid of standardized teacher evaluations.
Because nothing about students or teachers is standard.
Machines are standardized.
Assembly lines are standardized.
Education isn’t.
But we keep treating people like parts in a system.
And that’s how you keep getting mediocrity

[𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 @DrBradJohnson]

We don’t have a classroom management problem.
We have an emotional regulation crisis that teachers are being asked to handle.
Somehow, “classroom management” has turned into:
• de-escalating trauma
• supporting anxiety and depression
• calming panic attacks
• breaking up fights
• being cursed at, threatened, and even assaulted
• being the counselor, social worker, and crisis team
And at the same time…
we remove the very things that actually help:
• recess
• movement
• art
• play
• connection
Teachers aren’t trained for this.
And they shouldn’t have to be.
Classroom management was never meant to do all of this.
It’s about:
relationships
rules
routines
responsibility
That’s it.
It was never designed to replace what families, communities, and systems failed to provide.
And until we stop offloading every societal failure onto schools,
teachers will keep drowning under expectations no human can meet.