If we were sitting across from each other at a little café table, coffee in hand, here’s what I’d probably say first: “I’ve been working on something new—something that’s been brewing in my heart for a long time.”
After fifty years of teaching—in private schools, public schools, special ed, high school, community college, and with the NEA—I’ve come to believe the most important lessons aren’t in the curriculum. They’re in the presence we bring, the growth we encourage, and the grace we extend.
This fall, I’ll be releasing a new book: Beyond the Grade: Teaching with Presence, Growth, and Grace.
It’s not a textbook. It’s not a manual. It’s a collection of reflections—part stories, part psychology, part spirituality—about what I’ve learned after a lifetime in the classroom.
Here’s a little taste from Chapter 1:
“Students may not remember the content of every lesson, but they remember how grades made them feel. And often, the hidden message is this: You are what you earn.
One of the most sobering things I’ve learned is how long those hidden messages last. In community college, I taught adults who still carried scars from grades decades earlier. Think about that: a single letter from a teacher, years ago, still echoing in a student’s soul.”
That’s the kind of story this book tells—not about tests and lesson plans, but about people. About the way teaching shapes lives (including ours as teachers).
Over the next few weeks, I’ll share more excerpts here on the blog. My hope is that this book becomes a conversation starter—for teachers, parents, mentors, or anyone who believes that learning is about more than grades.
