Teachers and administrators are settling into a rhythm for the new school year. We are planning and implementing lessons and thinking reflectively and responsively about student needs, providing for challenge and support, and relentlessly pursuing student engagement and achievement.

Traditional academic content lessons and activities take up a large portion of a child’s day at school. But there are also many in-between spaces, transitions between learning moments…lunches, recesses, breaks, etc. where talented teachers continue to exercise their skills in facilitating connections defined by care and developing children marked by strong character, academic achievement, and creative confidence.

Phillip Done says it better than anyone in this excerpt from his book Close Encounters of the Third Grade Kind: Thoughts on Teacherhood. Read it. It gives life to the every-day sparkling moments of teaching that cannot, nor should ever be, scripted or planned or standardized.