🎓 Teachers, You Don’t Have to be the One Scoring Touchdowns to Help the Team Win 🏈
⏰ TL;DR
🧩 Resource of the Week - How Students Can Be Successful in School Mini-Lesson!!
💎 GEMs/GPTs of the Week - Grade & Feedback Partner ➡️ Gemini // Copy
🎓 HONOR ROLL ONLY - Lesson 10: Creating and Elevating Lesson Plans from Scratch from my AI Teacher Playbook Masterclass!
👋 REAL TALK
🏈 4th Grade Football Might Be the Most Stressful Thing in My Life 😂
This time of year beeeeee BUSYYYYYYY.School is rolling. Meetings are multiplying. Homecoming is coming at ya like an avalanche during the X-Games, and if you have kids you claim on your taxes, you’re probably leaving work just to start your second shift as an Uber driver, snack coordinator, equipment manager, homework monitor, and pro-bleacher-sitter.
I joke that one of the most stressful things in my life right now is coaching fourth grade football.
Which is ridiculous. They’re nine.
But here’s the problem: I severely want every kid to do so well.
I want everybody to get a chance to carry the ball. I want everybody to make the tackle. I want everybody to walk off the field feeling like they contributed..
But there’s only one football.
And, as much as we say, “We’re just here to have fun,” you know what makes fourth graders have even more fun?
Catchin that dub (aka winning).
So you’re constantly trying to figure out how to put kids in a position to succeed, while helping them understand that they don’t have to be the one scoring the touchdown to be an important part of the win.
And I think teaching is a lot like that.
There are going to be teachers who get recognized at faculty meetings. There are awards, shoutouts, Teacher of the Year, social media posts, and all the other visible wins.
Those things are dope. Celebrate those people. Encourage them to keep improving this school school and profession we care about.
But they’re not the only people making a difference.
My mom taught for 40 years, and I’m convinced she was the best teacher OAT (of all-time).
Don’t believe me? I literally get preferential treatment all over town because she taught half the county. 😂
I’ll meet somebody and they’ll say, “Your mom was my FAVORITE teacher.”
And yet, she never won Teacher of the Year.
Not once.
Does that mean she wasn’t one of the best teachers in the building? Of course not. The evidence is walking and working around our community decades later. HER TEACHING FED GENERATIONS! 😂 🙌
So if you’re in a season where it feels like somebody else is scoring all the touchdowns, remember:
You can change the outcome of the game without ever touching the football.
Every kid you encourage, every teacher you assist like John Stockton, every lesson you level up, every student you refuse to give up on…you’re impacting the win!!
And sometimes you don’t see the results until yearsssss later (or never). But it’s there. It’s happening. Trust me (or else you wouldn’t be going out of your way to read these emails and level up your classroom even more)!
BTW: there’s actually a practical benefit to being a great teacher: eventually, your tax-deductible children will need something at the DMV, doctor’s office, bank, or basically anywhere else in town, and somebody will say:
“Wait…are you Mr(s) (InsertYourNameHere)’s kid?”
Boom. Generational preferential treatment.
That’s the legacy you’re leaving. 😂
Keep showing up.
Keep getting better.
Keep helping the team win!
Never Stop Learning!
📥 THE DROP
🧩 How to Be Successful in Remote Learning
This week’s free resource is my How to Be Successful in Remote Learning Lesson!
And before you say, “Tyler…we’re not remote learning anymore,” STAY WITH ME, GOOSE!
The ideas behind this lesson weren’t really about that Zoom schooling that still gives us PTSD. I based a lot of it around Tinto’s model of student retention, which was developed around students success during in-person education! HAHA APPLICABLE!!
The big idea is helping students build the habits, connections, and support systems they need to actually be successful in school!
And, this is a PERFECT time of year for that reset.
Especially if Homecoming week is coming up and you know you’re about to have one of those class periods where you need something meaningful for 20–30 minutes between the dress-up days, pep rallies, schedule changes, and general chaos that is spirit week
Put on the video. Have students work through the activity. Then use it to help them identify the people and systems that can keep them accountable for their grades moving forward for the rest of their life!
It fills the time and gives that time a purpose!
Win-win!!!
💎 Gem/GPTs of the Week
Grade & Feedback Partner ➡️ Gemini // Copy
Grading takes timeeeeeeee.
Giving good feedback takes even more timeeeeee.
So this week, try my lil Grade & Feedback Partner in Gemini.
➡️ Open the Grade & Feedback Partner in Gemini
The idea is simple: use AI as a first-pass feedback partner, not as the teacher.
Give it the assignment, your expectations or rubric, and the student work. Let it help identify strengths, gaps, and possible feedback!
Then you review it.
You know the student. You know what you taught. You know whether that kid needs a three-paragraph explanation or one sentence saying, “You know better than this. Fix #4.” 😂
Ai can help with the repetitive part so you can spend more of your energy on the part that actually requires you as a human!
That’s the biggest win worth your timeeeeeee!
🔐 THE VAULT
Weekly highlighted tips, trainings, & resources just for the Honor Roll VIPs! 👩🏫
Admins ➡️ get full access for your ENTIRE school!
Honor Roll members, this week I’d recommend jumping into Lesson 10: Creating and Elevating Lesson Plans from Scratch from my AI Teacher Playbook Masterclass.A few lil points on why i personally like it:
⏳ Save Time – Streamline lesson planning so you can focus on teaching, not just planninggggg.
🎨 Customization – Adjust dat content to fit your students’ specific needs!
📚 Alignment with Standards – Use it to match lessons with state and district requirements as easily as possible!!
✈️ Places I’ll Be
Come hang with me if you’re nearby and/or want an excuse for a road trip! 😁
9.25.2026 Pueblo County School District 70
10.28.2026 District V FBLA - Middle School
10.29.2026 District V FBLA - High School
11.4.2026 GaETC
11.10.2026 Arch Ford ESC
12.2.2026 TETC
1.22.2026 Pueblo County School District 70
2.19.2027 NAREN Conference
3.4.2027 NCTIES
If you want me to speak/train at your school and/or conference, hit me up! 🙌
💌 Never Stop Learning!
