Ep 115 — The Best Minimalist Teaching Tips From Season 6

One small shift can change your entire week as a teacher or school leader, but only if you can actually remember it when the day gets loud. That’s why we pulled together our Season Six highlights into one “mega” stream of pare-down pointers: the sharpest, simplest takeaways from conversations on focus, school culture, learning environments, meetings, literacy, and sustainable leadership.

We start with a core minimalist move: get clear on the real goal, then protect your attention like it matters, because it does. From there, we zoom out to teacher retention and the kind of school culture that keeps great people in the building, built through shared ownership and solutions that often cost nothing. We also explore what makes an effective learning environment, using a garden metaphor that helps us think about conditions for growth, and we come back to the power of asking questions so a school doesn’t drift somewhere it never meant to go.

Practical tools show up throughout, including Chris Fenning’s TPO framework for better meetings (topic, purpose, output), planning lessons with purpose, and small classroom routines like a daily two-minute edit to strengthen writing. You’ll also hear reminders to pare down systems instead of adding layers, to let go of perfectionism, and to keep things simple after a break so you can reset relationships and classroom expectations. We also share what’s coming next: a summer series dedicated entirely to listener Q&A, handing the mic back to you.

If you enjoy minimalist education, teacher wellness, and actionable instructional leadership strategies, subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave a review so more educators can find the show.

Transcript

Welcome And Highlights Preview

SPEAKER_19 0:14

Welcome to the Minimalist Educator podcast, where the focus is on a less is more approach to education. Join your hosts, Christine Arnold and Tammy Musiowski, authors of The Minimalist Teacher and your school leadership edit, a minimalist approach to rethinking your school ecosystem, each week as they explore practical ways to simplify your work, sharpen your focus, and amplify what matters most so you can teach and lead with greater clarity, purpose, and joy.

SPEAKER_07 0:45

Hello and welcome to this week's episode. We're diving into our season six highlights, always one of our most popular episodes of the year. We've taken the pair-down pointers from the end of each episode and combined them into one mega episode featuring wisdom from all of our wonderful season six guests. It's been a fantastic season with so many great conversations. So this is one bumper edition. We hope you'll enjoy it.

Know The Goal Then Focus

SPEAKER_07 1:12

Our first highlight today comes from episode 93 with Pete Hall, who had a great conversation with us about teaching kids who don't quite fit in the box. And he left us with a quote from Plato.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

You know, there's so many different things that I could probably say right now. I'm gonna go back to the big idea of so help me. Like, are you clear about what the actual goal is? I think that's that's gotta be the starting point is what is the actual goal. And then when it comes to really being able to focus yourself, you know, in the wise words of Plato, know thyself, right? So you've you have to you have to know what you're trying to accomplish and then what works best for you. So one of the things that works best for me is if I really have to work on something, and you mentioned I'm a prolific writer, if I'm working on some writing that I have to do, I have to shut everything else off. Like I have to. And you know, Christine, you'd mentioned before you you don't feel bad anymore that you got a full-time job and you got two books. You know that is fantastic. Really, that really is. Our my first book I wrote, I would journal throughout the course of my school school year, and then I published a book called The First Year Principal. I don't advise anybody goes back and reads that. You don't have to. My second book, though, Building Teacher Capacity for Success, that was about instructional coaching and leadership, was done at from 1 a.m. till 3 a.m. in the morning, four nights a week for about a year, right? So, and I had a co-author in that we would be on the phone in the middle of the night talking through all the different stuff we were doing. The the point being, you have to shut, I have to shut everything else off in order to be able to so phone put away, notifications turned off, shut my email completely off my computer, focus on the thing you got in front of you. Right. And I actually learned that lesson as a principal, sitting sitting in my office, working on my computer, and a teacher came into my office and knocked on the door. Hey, hey, Pete, you got a second? And I'm I'm typing, yeah. I the person's behind me, I'm typing, I'm like, yeah, go ahead, what's up? And she she doesn't make any sound at all. And I type, type, type, type, type, type, and I looked over and she's still there, and I'm like, what do you need? Tell me. Type, type, type, type, and she's silent. And eventually I stopped typing, I turned around and she said, Oh, now that now that I have your attention, we can talk. And it was such a powerful moment for me. I'm like, oh, thank you for you know doing that in a respectful way. You could have said, Hey, Pete, you beep, beep, beep, turn around. But she did it so respectfully, and it was a powerful lesson. If you're going to do something, do that thing. That would be my piece of advice. Identify what it is you're doing and then do it.

SPEAKER_07 3:52

Next

Culture That Keeps Great Teachers

SPEAKER_07 3:53

up, we revisit episode 107 with Carrie Bishop and Jessica Holloway for a great conversation about teacher retention. Their peer-down pointer was that if you want to create an irresistible culture for teachers, you just need to use the people in the building.

SPEAKER_08 4:12

One thing that we've come back to a lot here recently is prioritizing the people that you have to solve problems. And when you do that, you realize oftentimes the solutions to your problems are already in your building. You just have to get the right voices in the room in order to develop the solutions. And sometimes the solutions don't cost anything. They're restructuring something, changing something, rebound, adding something in. And so, you know, that also when you prioritize the people who aren't directly involved or impacted by whatever problem you're trying to solve, it also ensures that they have a voice, that they're valued, that they feel trusted to help solve this problem. And then there's a shared ownership in it, you know, going through the iterations of did it work? Yes or no, let's try something else. And they'll walk through that journey with you if they're part of it, versus, well, boss, it didn't work. What's your next solution? You know, and so if you prioritize the people you have to help you solve problems, oftentimes you are more successful and it's more sustainable.

SPEAKER_12 5:28

Um, mine's pretty simple. I would just say when we talk about making your school irresistible, what we're really talking about is the culture that you create. We talked a little bit about identity, but we know that culture each strategy for breakfast. And the reality is that you're building a culture. And as a school leader or even as a teacher who has influence, I mean, you get to decide what kind of teammate you're gonna be. We each get to have a hand in shaping culture. That is not something that someone who has a certain leadership role does. That's something we do together. We build a culture, and that's a big part of when we talk about identity. I think that's something that is extremely important and is going to determine whether people that you invite choose to join your team and whether people uh choose to stay.

Teach Like You Tend A Garden

SPEAKER_07 6:21

Now we're gonna jump over to a two-part episode we had with Dan Keller in 112 and 113. Dan shared with us the work that he is doing around what makes an effective learning environment. And his pear-down pointer left us with ideas for how we can maximize student growth.

SPEAKER_13 6:41

I think it's really helpful to consider that if we want to maximize the growth of our students, we want to immerse them in a learning environment that is highly effective. And I propose my best thinking from looking at this is that the metaphor of a garden may elicit the right responses within the educator to uh intrinsically align themselves with what the research suggests about what we should be doing. And that if we keep just thinking about tending a garden like tending our classroom or our school or whatever the learning environment is, the scale of it, if we just keep that idea that we are gardeners, I I think it will not only have the intended effect on the learners, but it actually also plenty of research behind this, it also just thinking about that nature metaphor has a calming effect on the educator, which then has a positive effect on the environment, which creates then a feedback loop that I think is positive. So lean into garden. I think the I I think there's something in that metaphor that is easy to take away and implement.

SPEAKER_07 8:09

Next

Questions That Improve Learning

SPEAKER_07 8:10

up, we go to episode number 94 with Sharon Skirtik. With Sharon, we discussed frameworks for high-quality learning in our schools and our districts. And her pear-down pointer was encouraging schools to take a moment to ask the questions.

SPEAKER_02 8:29

One thing I'm I would say, and I think it helps schools, is to ask questions. You know, I I think we know as learners that they learn a lot and based on how they have the space to ask questions. And I think schools can do the same. Taking and I know it's, you know, we talk about, you know, finding time, but it's it's super important for schools to take the time to understand who they are and to ask questions about the things they're doing. Because, you know, my colleague always says if a school doesn't know where they're going, they might end up someplace they don't want to be. And I think what I was talking about before in terms of, you know, that high-quality learning and that having a shared understanding of that is so important.

SPEAKER_07 9:20

Next,

Meetings And Lessons With Purpose

SPEAKER_07 9:21

let's jump over to episode 106 with Chris Fenning. We spoke with Chris about what we can do to improve our meetings, and his peer-down pointer was about the TPO formula and checking whether the topic, purpose, and output for a meeting is clear.

SPEAKER_17 9:37

Yes, the the one takeaway from this to to make everything better in all meetings is whether you're sending an invitation or you're receiving an invitation. If the topic, the purpose, and the output aren't clear, ask. If you're receiving it, ask. If you're writing the invitation, put them in. Topic, purpose, and output. Those things will help you plan a good meeting, introduce a good meeting, run a good meeting.

SPEAKER_07 10:05

In episode 111, we spoke with Sarah Cordova about all things literacy with a very special lens on how useful picture books can be in our literacy instruction. The pear-down pointer she left us with was to prep and plan with a purpose.

SPEAKER_06 10:24

I I think I would come back to prep with purpose. Really, really thinking about what do I want my students to take away from this lesson, uh, almost work backwards, and then how do I get there efficiently, effectively, and an engaging way? It's like the three E's, right? We want to be effective, we want to be efficient, and we have to be engaging. But I think planning with purpose really allows us to cut out some of the things that maybe we don't need to do. Maybe we want to do them, but I don't know that we need to do them. And I think it just makes us more intentional in what in what we do. And, you know, I think that is the key. Intention and purpose are the keys in this in this profession. So yeah, I hope that I hope that works.

SPEAKER_07 11:17

We spoke with Judith and Lorena from Roma Planners in episode 96. We had a great discussion about their teacher planners as well as being teacher entrepreneurs as well. And their pair-down pointers were about focusing on your own needs and your priorities.

SPEAKER_03 11:36

What helps me, to be honest, before I was pretty much on looking at the outside, looking at what was happening outside of me. And what is helping me now is just I look what I need, and I focus more on what I need, and then I can give others what they need. If I don't do so, I would say focus on your needs before you want to focus on others' needs, because that will help you be more productive for others in that say, like you will be more helpful to others if you don't take care of yourself.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Yeah, for me, I think focusing on priorities means having a structure where I can identify those priorities. So, as we said, we have this overwhelming environment in the classroom, in the school in general, and having this structure that I can control, that it's under my control, then helps me even if there is noise and movement and things changing outside, then I can control what I'm doing and switch things based on what's happening outside, right? But but yeah, making sure that I did what Lorena said, that if you are in a good place, no, you are focusing on your well-being and you have things under control, then it's going to be easier to prioritize and and focus on what matters.

Relationships That Solve Hard Problems

SPEAKER_07 12:56

We had a great conversation with Randy Zagenfuss about human-centered schools back in episode 108. And his peer-down pointer was a great reminder about the power of conversations.

SPEAKER_14 13:08

I think that the message that I've been coming back lately is there's no problem or challenge the world has right now that can't be solved with a good conversation or multiple good conversations, not just one. There's a lot of complexity out there. But I think that we in the world that we're living in right now, we are missing that relational piece. We see too many people pointing the fingers. And and when you see people pointing the finger, that is not agency. They don't want agency, they want to blame somebody else. That is not agency. When you hear people pointing the finger, hold the mirror up. Okay, because you have to ask yourself, what am I doing to contribute to that problem? So I go back to, I think my my best piece of advice would be whenever you're experiencing a challenge, ask yourself, how can a relationship move this forward? Who do I need, who do I need to have a conversation with to do this? So if I'm feeling pressure from those constituents, who do I need to build a relationship with? If if there's a student who's a nudge, who do I need to have a relationship with? And it will definitely be the student, but also who else to do that. So I I just think that and I like that message because we live in a world where we're so worried about the technology and the AI taking away what it means to be uniquely human. And I think the more that we can practice being uniquely human in systems that are are very good at dehumanizing, building the relationship is always a good first step.

SPEAKER_07 14:50

Panny

Tiny Practices That Build Skills

SPEAKER_07 14:51

McGee visited us in episode 105 to talk to us about her approach to grammar. And she left us with a pear-down pointer about a daily two-minute edit practice.

SPEAKER_10 15:06

One of my favorite, as I like to call simple, powerful, and free things that we can do. Pretty much that's all I've shared here. I'm into I call it SPF approved. Simple, powerful, and free approved is a daily two-minute edit. We're seeing a lot of grammatical mishaps, let's say, because sometimes grammat grammar doesn't need to be followed to the T if it's intentional. But sometimes we wait until the very end to do any editing. And if we want that editing muscle to really stay strong and continue to grow, simply setting a timer for two minutes and saying to students, we're not instructing during this time, go back to your piece and edit it. Edit it for spelling. We could give them a focus or edit it for spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. And two minutes on that. It won't be the whole piece. Just try it out and make sure that it's as sound as it can be.

SPEAKER_07 16:11

We had a fascinating chat about place-based science education with authors Whitney Aragaki and Kirsten Milks in episode number 97. Their peer-down pointers were it's okay to not know everything and encouraging us to create a list of student questions.

SPEAKER_18 16:33

So I I talked about starting small, right? And and the power of that. I think another really important one is that it's okay that you don't know everything. You know, I've worked in systems with evaluations where teachers get dinged if they can't answer every single student question. That's that's not how we model learning for people, right? I don't know, but we can find out, or I don't know, who could we ask? Boy, those are some really powerful ways that you can model for learners what it looks like to go out in the world and and learn things. And I think that acknowledging that you don't have all the answers yet, but that you're learning alongside students, it like frees up a lot of that shame that I otherwise have felt about not yet knowing. I think that'd be my tip.

SPEAKER_05 17:23

So along those lines, I want to share something when we talk about talking to elders and talking to others in the community. It is a joy to see how students connect. It is also, it also can be a pain point if they don't know what to ask, or if the elder does not know how much to share. And so a pair down point that I'd like to share when talking with talking with community and talking with elders is helping students create a list of questions and having a common list of questions that they can come back and share with each other afterwards. So it's the three questions, it's it's a way to start the conversation, it's a way to frame a potentially uncomfortable, why are you asking me this kind of thing in the intermediary? And it's something that would align with how how and what elders can and should make share with students. So that's something that I'd like to suggest.

Fewer Systems Less Perfection

SPEAKER_07 18:20

In episode 109, we were lucky enough to have returning guest Ellie Rodman give us an update on what she's been working on within school systems. The pear-down point is she shared with us is that adding more systems might not necessarily be a good thing.

SPEAKER_09 18:38

Even as someone deeply committed to systems, we need to recognize that more systems and more layers aren't always necessary and aren't always the answer. So sometimes the next step forward is thinking about how are we paring down? How are we pulling back? How are we taking the easier path around the mountain instead of trying to create, you know, and blaze like one more trail forward and really thinking about how are we making space for things as much as we add new things to our daily action plans.

SPEAKER_07 19:15

The wonderful Josephine Hunt visited us for episode 101 to talk about student resilience. And she referred us to the systematic training of effective parenting and teaching programs for her peer-down pointer.

SPEAKER_16 19:31

I would love for them to look into the systematic training for effective teaching or systematic training for effective parenting, the curriculum and program. I have nothing to do with it. I just happen to be lucky to get the knowledge of that. And then I trained myself in it and I implemented it, and I find it to be very eye-opening and effective. And so, and I've been practicing it for over two decades. And so if I could educate other educators, that would be a direction that I would love for them to, you know, look into because it will absolutely help the intrinsic motivation.

SPEAKER_07 20:04

And now to what has got to be one of my favorite pear-down pointers of this season. In episode 98, we spoke with Pete Turner about his work on kids accessing media rated for older audiences. His pear-down pointer is to think like the Blair Witch project.

SPEAKER_15 20:23

I think my my my tip would would be sort of going back to what I just said. Like think like the best horror films. If you accept that the Blair Witch Project is one of the best horror films ever made, that is a film that didn't have a completed script. Its actors didn't uh weren't professional actors, its directors had never done it before. It was all largely kind of improvised. So I guess what I'm saying is trust yourself and and maybe tying in with you you guys' next project, like things don't have to be perfect. Things don't have to be perfect straight away, especially if it's stopping you from moving forward. I know too many people who procrastinate because they're trying to get things perfect first go. Don't don't do that. Just try and try and try and get your thoughts out of you.

SPEAKER_07 21:28

Casey Watts joined us in episode 104 with a really thoughtful discussion around her work in clarity in schools. And her peer-down pointer was all about asking questions to find our focus and our goals.

SPEAKER_11 21:46

Yes. Okay. Here is my peer down pointer. And I'm gonna say three different things. Okay. Number one, what are you focused on? Number two, what are goals that are related? To that focus. And then number three, this is really important, ask your people about that focus and those goals. The most important thing anyone can do when they are really trying to gain clarity for themselves and create clarity for other people is gain insight. You have to know what other people are thinking, what they're what thoughts they're processing, what they've done and what they haven't done in order to gain clarity for yourself and create clarity for your people. So one of the strategies I talk about in the book and then I teach to instructional leadership teams is going on listening tours. And you are simply listening. You're asking some really thoughtful, intentional questions, and then you're just stepping back and listening, taking notes and saying, thank you. That's it. That's all we have to do. That's a first step to starting to gain clarity and create clarity.

Clarity After Break Plus What’s Next

SPEAKER_07 22:54

For our final highlight, we're going to go back to our very first episode of season six, episode 91, with our good friend Nicole Dissinger. And she reminds us that after a school break, it is good not to overplan.

SPEAKER_10 23:12

Yeah, I think my just my one thing would just be don't overplan. Right?

SPEAKER_04 23:19

Just keep it simple to start. Like doesn't mean you have to do it for weeks on end, but at least the first few days, I would say just keep it really simple and just focus on your relationships and resetting your classroom expectations and resetting your classroom culture and then go from there. Like don't over plan too. Like don't plan like three weeks out in advance. Like just do the first couple days and see how things go. Like just try to keep like your workload minimum so that you can enjoy your students too coming back. And you're also then ready for whatever might come because you don't have like an agenda of like everything that needs to be accomplished.

SPEAKER_07 24:07

And that brings us to the close of season six and what a season it has been. We have really been lucky to welcome some truly wonderful guests, and we hope that the conversations, stories, and highlights here have been as meaningful for you to listen to as they've been for us. Thank you for all of your continued support. We do want to announce something new. This summer, for the first time, we will be running a summer series dedicated entirely to listener QA. So we'll be drawing on questions sent in from listeners around the world, and it's our way of handing the mic back over to you. So we hope you enjoy it and we look forward to connecting with you throughout the summer and season seven after the summer. Until then, take care. This episode is sponsored by Plan Z Education Services, supporting educators with forward-thinking professional learning that puts both student impact and teacher wellness at the center. Driven by a vision to teach less, impact more, they help educators find purpose, prioritize what matters, and simplify their practice. Learn more at planzeducation.com.

SPEAKER_19 25:20

Thank you for listening to the Minimalist Educator Podcast. Join Christine and Tammy and guests again next time for more conversations about how to simplify and clarify the responsibilities and tasks in your role. If today's episode helped you rethink, reimagine, reduce, or realign something in your practice, share it in a comment or with a colleague. For resources and updates, visit planzeducation.com and subscribe to receive weekly emails. Until next time, keep it simple and stay intentional.