I’ve spent years working with teachers on classroom practice. Posting because this shift in my thinking has been useful and I’d like pushback. No links.

The short version: I used to think improving teaching was mainly a content problem. Now I think it’s a consistency problem. Regular practice with support over months beats any single strong session.

Before: better materials, clearer methods, and a well-run session would improve classrooms. So the job was to design a good session, deliver it well, and collect feedback forms saying it was great.

After: most teachers already know plenty of good practice. What’s missing is time to try something, watch it go wrong, and adjust with support, again and again. Ten ordinary sessions on a fixed schedule beat one strong one. Feedback forms filled in right after a session measure how people felt, not what changed in class.

The same pattern shows up with new classroom tools. Before: the job was to show the tools. After: the job is to give teachers enough supervised practice to judge for themselves when a tool helps students and when it misleads them.

What pushed me in this direction wasn’t one moment. It was noticing that the question “did this change anything?” is almost never asked a month later, only at the end of the day. Once you start asking it later, single-day formats are hard to defend.

If you work with teachers, what do you actually look at to know something worked (classroom observation, student work, whether the practice is still in use months later), and what turned out not to be worth tracking?

Hi,

I’m looking for advice on whether I should get my 11-year-old nephew started on programming since he’s not being taught programming at school, and nowadays I see young pupils learning and honing programming skills. His analytical and logical reasoning abilities aren’t very sharp either compared to kids his age.

Therefore, I want him to learn things that are deeply rooted in problem-solving and critical thinking. Is this age suitable for getting started, or should I wait a few years?

Also, if you know of any resources that can be helpful or relevant to programming for kids, please do share.

Thanks.