WEBVTT

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You know that feeling when you are racing
through your curriculum, you're checking

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off the standards and you're making
sure you've covered everything and then

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suddenly you realize your children can't
remember what they learned last month.

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Today I wanna talk about something
that's, uh, been transforming

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how I think about teaching the
difference between covering material.

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And creating learning traditions
because what if the most powerful

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thing that you can do isn't adding
more content, but building repeated

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practices that actually stick?

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Here's what I see happening, and
I've been guilty of this too.

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We treat learning like a checklist.

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We've got scope and sequence documents.

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You've got pacing guides, you've
got standards to hit, and so

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you move through that content
like you're on a conveyor belt.

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But think about what actually happens.

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You teach fractions in February and by
April they've forgotten how to do them.

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You cover the industrial revolution,
but when it comes up again the

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following year, it's like these children
are hearing it for the first time.

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We are covering the ground, but we're
not building anything that lasts.

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And meanwhile, there are these other
things that aren't even in your lesson

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plans that kids remember forever.

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The way you always start a math lesson,
for example, that one activity that you

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perhaps do every Friday, the special
routine when someone shares their

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writing, those repeated practices.

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They're doing something
that our curriculum isn't.

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So what is a tradition?

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It's a practice that you
return to again and again and

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again, and it creates meaning.

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Let me give you some examples.

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Let's say you've got Tuesday Book Club.

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You spend 15 minutes every Tuesday having
children share what they're reading,

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same time, same format every week.

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Month after month and after a month, they
start preparing what they're gonna say.

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After three months, they're coming
recommending books to each other.

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And after a year you have
real literary conversations.

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You don't need to teach a
unit on book discussions.

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You've already created a tradition.

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Something else.

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Maybe you've got a family read aloud
night and as a family, you read

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together every night after dinner.

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It's not a curriculum, it's just 20
minutes, same time, same spot on the

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couch, and by the time these children
get to high school, they still show up.

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Those thousands of hours together.

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Built more than reading skills.

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They built connection
and a love of stories.

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In my own classroom, I had investigation
time every Thursday and Friday morning.

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Children looked forward to those
days because on those days they

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worked on their personal projects.

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And this is how I built inquiry and
project-based learning into my lessons.

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Children looked forward to it,
they came to expect it, and over

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time they knew exactly what to do.

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This is what stayed with these
children even years later.

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And notice what all these have in common.

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They repeated.

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They're predictable and they build
something over time, it's something

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that a one off lesson never could.

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There's a real science behind
this, but let me explain simply.

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First, repetition builds mastery.

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When you do something once a week
for a year, that's 40 repetitions.

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You're not just teaching the
skill once and hoping it sticks.

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You're practicing it until
it becomes automatic.

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Think about how you learn to read,
not just from one grade lesson,

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but from doing it over and over.

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Second rituals, like
routines create safety.

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Kids learn better when
they know what to expect.

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When you have a tradition, there's no
anxiety about what are we gonna do today?

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They can focus all the energy on the
learning itself, not on figuring out

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the format or what they have to do.

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Thirdly.

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Traditions build identity.

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When you're part of something that
repeats, it becomes part of who you are.

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You're not just a child
who wrote a story once.

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You're part of Friday Writer Circle.

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That identity carries weight, and here's
the part that matters for families.

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Traditions create connection.

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When you have these shared practices,
you're building memories and

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relationships alongside the learning.

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20 years from now, your children will
not remember the worksheet on page

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47, they will remember the tradition.

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Okay, so how do you actually
build these into your teaching?

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Start with one thing.

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Don't overall everything.

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Don't make it complicated.

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Just pick one small practice
that you can commit to repeating.

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Maybe it's how to start off
each day or one activity every

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Friday or monthly tradition.

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Make it simple, not complicated,
'cause then you won't stick to it.

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The best traditions are simple
enough to do even on your worst days.

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Name it.

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Give it a name.

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Monday morning meeting,
or Wonder Wednesday.

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Names make things feel official
and and it helps stick in

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everybody's mind and protect it.

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This is the hard part.

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'cause when you're behind in your
curriculum, you'll be tempted

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just to skip the tradition.

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Don't.

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The tradition is doing deeper work
than that extra worksheet ever will.

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Let me give you a practical example.

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Say you want to build stronger
writing skills, instead of adding

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another writing curriculum,

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what if you created Friday Free Writes.

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Every Friday, 15 minutes,
everyone writes, you write too.

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Sometimes you share, sometimes you don't.

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But it happens every single Friday
after a month, children are gonna

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stop complaining about writing.

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After three months, they're going
to ask to share their pieces.

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After a year, they've written
50 pieces and they can actually

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see themselves as writers.

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You didn't add content,
you created a tradition.

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And here's what I want
you to take away today.

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The most powerful learning
often comes from what we do

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repeatedly, not what we cover once.

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Your curriculum will change.

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Standards will shift, but, but the
traditions you build, those repeated

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practices that create safety, skill and
connection, those will shape your children

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long after they've forgotten the content.

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Trust me.

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So this week I want you to
think about one tradition.

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You could start just one, make it small,
make it doable, and commit to it because

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you're not just teaching lessons.

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You're building a culture of learning,
and that happens through the things

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you return to again and again.

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Listen, I've started a private
Facebook group where you can share your

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stories, find support with like-minded
folks and get the help you need.

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I would love you to join us.

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I'll leave a link for
you in the show notes.

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Join and tell us what traditions
you are going to start or what

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traditions you have already started.

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I look forward to reading your responses.

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Thanks again for showing up.

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Thanks again for listening.

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Until next time.

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Stay blooming, curious, and
keep those traditions alive.

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I'll see you next week.

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Take

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care.