What You Name is What You Get
Happy holidays from the Simply Great Schools team! Here’s to rest, reflection, and recharging for the important work ahead. We’re grateful for all you do to make classrooms and communities stronger.
Directing Students’ Attention
One of the most powerful levers teachers have is the ability to direct students’ attention. And yet, it’s one of the most underused.
Too many newer teachers hope students will notice the right things – starting work right away, working silently, participating in collaborative partner work, celebrating their peers – without ever naming those things out loud. Hope unfortunately doesn’t get you very far in creating an awesome classroom culture.
If you want a positive classroom culture, you have to narrate what you want to be true. When a student does something that matches the culture you’re trying to build, you name it.
“Samantha picked her pencil up and started immediately on the first problem.”
“Shareef is responding to his partner by first pointing out what he agrees with it.”
Now the rest of the class thinks, “Wait, I don’t want to be left out. I should do those things, too.”
Same with academics. If we want students to pay attention to the author’s craft, they won’t magically do it. We have to focus their attention there. Something like:
“Look at what the author does with word choice over the next three pages. It gets wild, and you’ll miss it if you’re not reading closely with a pencil in hand. As you read, flag 2–3 choices that stand out and jot a margin note about why you think she made each one.”
We promise you that is not lowering the rigor. It’s the opposite. It’s priming students to read intentionally. Now everyone reads with the same intention so that they can discuss with the same intention.
If you’re a leader coaching teachers, here are two simple ways to help them think more deeply about where they’re directing students’ attention in culture and academics.
Culture: If we asked students what you pay attention to them doing the most, what would you want them to say? What would they say? How can you use positive narration to bridge that gap?
Academics: What do you want students to notice as they read, solve, experiment, or analyze? What could you say before the task that would sharpen their focus?
Great classrooms aren’t louder, calmer, or kinder by accident. And they certainly don’t think any deeper by accident, either. They get that way because teachers consistently direct attention toward what matters most.
If you want students to do it, you have to see it and name it first.
A Simply Great Resource
Every spring, schools face the same challenge: how to help students show what they truly know on state tests, without losing weeks of meaningful instruction.
Crescendo is our comprehensive state test prep and review system built for real results. We design an entire scope and sequence that spirals the most critical standards, provides daily mixed practice, and builds student stamina and confidence, all while keeping instruction grounded in strong pedagogy.
We don’t do packets or cram sessions. We build coherent, data-driven plans that align your vision, your teachers, and your students to finish strong.
What's Most Important Right Now?
Plan for a Strong Start to the New Year
Choose 1-2 Key Habits
Don’t fix everything, fix the right things. Pick one or two habits that, if done consistently, would transform how classrooms feel and function.
Examples: Smooth transitions, calm starts, active student listening.
Create Shared Clarity
Make the habits unmistakably clear.
Define what “great” looks and sounds like.
Model it in PD and classrooms.
Explain the “why” so teachers see the connection to learning, not compliance.
Lead with Consistency
The culture you walk past is the culture you accept.
Align the leadership team on what to look for.
Give feedback anchored in the same 1–2 habits.
Celebrate progress visibly and often.
Keep it Simple & Steady
Resets fail when they try to do too much. Focus on daily consistency over big initiatives. One month of unified effort on a few key habits can shift your entire school’s culture.
How Can We Work Together?
Leader Curriculum: Our ready-to-use leadership curriculum saves leaders hundreds of planning hours while boosting retention and achievement through 50+ scripted PDs, practice clinics, and coaching tools.
Curriculum Implementation: We partner with schools nationwide to bring math and ELA materials to life, helping teams deliver instruction that drives measurable achievement gains.
1-on-1 Coaching: From superintendents to APs, we coach leaders at every level to run great schools, grow great teachers, and deliver great results for kids.
Keynote Speaking: We’ve inspired and equipped leaders at conferences and PD days with practical, immediately actionable insights that spark motivation and results.
Cohorts: Our customized leadership cohorts rapidly build skills through a blend of live PD, coaching, site visits, and robust resources that create lasting impact.
We need your help getting these tools into as many schools as possible.
Invite a colleague to subscribe — they’ll get practical insights and free resources straight to their inbox.
Refer a school or organization — if they partner with us, you’ll receive a 10% bonus of the final contract value and get a sneak peek at our new Feedback Rubric.