As summer winds down here in Massachusetts, I hope this finds you having had the opportunity for some time off this summer - and are feeling rejuvenated for the new academic year ahead :)

I have been enjoying Anne-Laure Le Cunff's new book, 'Tiny Experiments', and highly recommend her newsletter. Her article below, 'Why Learning How to Learn is the Skill Behind All Skills,' gives us a pathway when "We have access to infinite information but struggle to filter what’s valuable" - and points to part of the reason why "Fewer than two in 10 Gen Z students strongly agree that what they are learning in class feels important, interesting or challenging" [Gallup's Examining Iowa Students' Engagement in Grades Five Through 12 report].

David Dockterman's HGSE commencement address (HT Ann Koufman-Frederick), Reasons I Love to Teach, reminds me of perhaps the core challenge and opportunity of systems-level change when he shared this experience in one of his classes, "We made distinctions between individualized education — giving each student the right challenge and content at the right time — and personalized education — tapping the interests and personal characteristics of each student to make learning more engaging and relevant. When the members of the 3D group, though, talked about classes that moved them, they weren’t individualized or personalized. They were personal."

It's personal.

Learning is personal. Teaching is personal. Leadership is personal.

Julie