Finding My “Why”

Ok, I couldn’t type that title with a straight face. Any teacher reading my blog will immediately clock the current hot catchphrase for teachers. Education administrators love this phrase because they think it will help teachers re-ground themselves in why we engage in the hard work that is being a teacher in 2026. In reality, it’s an emotionally manipulative concept that perpetuates the unspoken expectation that teachers push themselves into burnout. 

To that end, it certainly doesn’t hurt to ponder this when beginning a new buisiness.

To put it simply, the state of education in this country is abysmal. It has been reduced to a cog in the capitalist machine. The focus is not on what is best for children, but what tests and curriculum we can implement to turn the most profit for a few ambitious educational industrialists.

We’ve lost sight of what it really means to usher children through their educational journey.

Trendy teaching methods have replaced the fundamentals. For years literacy was taught in a manner that ignored phonics instruction before mistakes were realized. This has resulted in a generation of students who can’t read good. 

(Sorry, the movie quote wormed its way into my brain and I couldn’t get it out unless I used it)

Currently, the emphasis on Inquiry Based Learning has led to students being unable to calculate simple mental math in their head. Working with high schoolers, I had students who were still counting on their fingers or using the calculator to solve simple expressions like 6+8 and 4x3. There are no high stakes skills and drills of basic math facts so students don’t bother memorizing them. 

I’ve seen all these things happening and for years I’ve felt helpless. The education system has me handcuffed in my instructional practice and pedagogy within a typical classroom. I do what I can to implement real best practices, but it falls woefully short amidst the financial and political landscape of the current system. 

So here I am: just trying to see if I can make a difference as a private practitioner. I am only one of many competent educators out there who sees the plethora of problems plaguing the system. It is my hope that through my consults I can improve the educational experience of the families I work with.

Here goes nothing!