One of my favorite restaurants, Cafe Miranda, has the coziest dining room, about the size of a small living room. In fact, the restaurant is built into a small house.

Each table at this restaurant had its own unique pair of vintage salt and pepper shakers. Kitschy decor was everywhere. Even the walls of the bathroom were covered with souvenir plates from around the world. A beautifully landscaped and decorated outdoor terrace, heated on cool nights by a wood fire, doubled the restaurant’s capacity.

I’m using the past tense because only a few days into the pandemic, all of that stuff became irrelevant. So did the restaurant’s complex menu, impossible to recreate with most of the team furloughed.

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It’s 1:00 PM on a Monday — time for electives at The Little Middle School. This week, students can choose between photography, catapult-building, and creative writing.

However, one eighth-grader comes up to a member of our teaching team with a request. “Can I do some more math instead?”

As the adult in charge, it’s so easy to say no. It’s easy to justify that decision, too. We could say that our students should be open to learning new things even if they’re not immediately interested. We could point out the unfairness or inconvenience of granting a special request to one student.

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Parents who are considering one of my academic programs for their child frequently ask about assessment.

How will you find out what my kid can do? How will you know what she’s learned?

My answer, in part, is that my team and I eschew fill-in-the-blank and multiple choice type questions in favor of open-ended questions where a student can demonstrate her knowledge and skill.

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Over the years, students have come to me for advice on how they might pursue a career in music.

My answer is brutal, honest, and practical. It’s not based on luck or talent. It’s focused on hard work, focus, bravely putting yourself out there, and building a network and a following.

I bear no judgment toward those who choose a different path. It’s wise to give up on a dream if you realize that you’re not willing to put in the work or make the sacrifice that allows you let go of everything else and focus only on the actions that make your desired outcome possible.

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It’s a major stressor for lots of inexperienced teachers:

“How do I get kids to calm down in order to start the day’s lesson?”

A pattern of ignoring chaos leads to more of it. In this spirit, experienced teachers will suggest that the teacher not do anything until order is established. They should wait for appropriate behavior if it takes the whole class period.

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