Friday Mindset #193

Happy Friday!

Here it is, friends, glistening with possibility. The final week of term, the beginning of something wonderful. The sun-filled, fun-packed summer holidays beckoning…

OK. Flashback/strange wobbly screen-effect…. we started this year - year 6 of the newsletter in case you haven’t been counting - with issue 161, and ran all the way through to 193, so that’s 33 issues. 33. A lot of material to process when you’re a busy teacher, so this week, we’ll change gears a little, and re-cap five of the most interesting pieces we shared. (Interesting to us, but also interesting to you, if click-throughs, feedback and conversations with subscribers are a useful reflection of what’s been of use.)

And if we put these five pieces all together, we’ve effectively got a mini-curriculum for next year’s Quick Tutorial Reads. Bargain!

Speaking of reading - and before we begin our time-machine tour of the last year - check this article out! In its usual annual survey of reading, the National Literacy Trust finds a small increase in children reading for pleasure. YES!!

Maybe you’ve played a part in that small but significant reversal of the tide. 👏 One to fill the heart with hope, folks.

(Before we start: a lot of good writing on education is appearing on Substack. Depending upon your cookies, you may have to google the article title and access it that way, or ‘claim your free post’ in order to re-read some of the articles below. Well worth it though.)

OK, what five things caught most eyes this year? We’ll go chronologically.

1. Back in the Autumn, we shared Adam Mastroianni’s wonderful essay about academic self-sabotage, and made a family-friendly edited version for you too. Lovely feedback about this one. Here’s the piece:

…and here’s your swear-free shortened QTR:

2. Staying in the Autumn, we had some really good viewing figures for writer Naomi Alderman’s piece about working in a world of AI. (‘Seven things to tell your kids when they ask what the point of studying is’.) Alderman makes a persuasive case for the kinds of characteristics and qualities that can’t be replaced. Many of you loved this one - we did too:

You could pair it with this AI quiz, which lots of you liked as well!

3. Neuroscientist Doctor Dominic Ng’s piece on beating resistance and getting things done went down well. Such clear, simple and practical advice. Here it is again:

4. Canadian Teacher Andrew Cantarutti wrote two well-researched, thoughtful pieces about the purpose of schools in building attention. Lots of click-throughs when we shared these in the new year, though this pair aren’t necessarily posts of for students to read… maybe better for staff. Check them out here:

And here:

5. And in the Spring, Psychologist Rob Lefort’s piece on deliberately seeking discomfort in order to grow was a hit as well. Loads of you seemed to enjoy this one. We certainly did. Here’s your pdf version again, with some light editing:

Put these together and you’ve got some lovely stuff to remind yourself of, and get stuck into. Plus some really useful reads for next year’s students. Done! Phew. Time to take a break.

Blimey, six years of this newsletter. It’s old enough to start high school in September 😂 OK, that’s enough. 2025-26 is in the bag. It’s surely Solero-and-a-beach-towel time, right?

All the best to you and yours. See you on the other side,

Martin, Steve and Tony

p.s. Subscribers, we’ll send you another two issues over the summer - early August time, it’ll be - so look out for those!