The constant push for teachers to “find their why” is professionally insulting. Purpose isn’t the issue—we already have it. What’s missing: time to plan, autonomy to teach, freedom from micromanagement, and real consequences for the kid throwing darts into the ceiling.

During my first year of teaching, there was a veteran teacher near my classroom with nearly thirty years of experience. She was methodical, well prepared, deeply professional, and ran a calm, well-managed classroom. One day, I watched our assistant principal, someone who hadn’t taught in a classroom for over a decade, reprimand her for the way she managed her students. I was stunned. Sadly, this wasn’t an isolated moment. It reflects a pattern that shows up far too often in education: veteran teachers being treated like children by people who haven’t run a classroom in years.

Good teachers know the truth: “It depends.” No single method, curriculum, or acronym works for every student or every class. What works one period might flop the next. Teaching isn’t about following a script, it’s about reading the room.

Every once in a while, we should have a PD session where all school staff talk about teaching simply. No jargon. No acronyms. No data slides. Just an honest, human conversation about what really happens in classrooms—free from all the pedagogical clutter.