Relentless

To be excellent at anything, you can’t give your time, talent, and energy to everything.

When we watch Olympic athletes, or anyone who performs at a high level, they have one thing in common: they are relentless about what matters most, and just as relentless about eliminating what matters least.

When it comes to Student Accountability, we have to be the same way.

Structure matters. Discipline matters. High expectations matter.
Classwork matters. Studying matters. Exams matter.
Giving students the grades they earn… matters.

Some will say, “But my students live in poverty.”
So they don’t need structure and discipline? They don’t need rigorous coursework?
Some will say, “But their home lives are tough.”
So we lower the bar? Stop grading work? Give them A’s, B’s, and C’s just for effort?

No.

High expectations matter for all students.
Challenging assignments matter for all students.

If we’re not careful, we will continue to drift and keep replacing accountability with excuses, keep replacing consequences with social programming, and keep replacing hard work with gimmicks.

Gimmicks don’t work. There is no magic formula.

The only magic is in the work… the classwork, the studying, the tough exams, and the relentless pursuit of mastery.

Let’s be relentless about holding students accountable to their coursework, their grades, and their behavior.

Let’s stop babysitting, and let’s start having real school.