As I sit on day one of a brand new school year, I have the same rosy-hued view of what education will look like this year that I have every year. I see a vast curricular joy enveloping every student that walks in the door. They will take what we have to teach them. They will use it to be great. And then the bell rings. And then I give misguided directions to a student looking for their first period class. And then I try to remember to both do the paperwork and do the educating. And then it is last hour and a sheen of stress sweat has taken over my body. And I forgot the curricular joy. And the using it to be great. As Jennifer Gonzalez reminds us in her podcast, Cult of Pedagogy , we often hit an "easy button" in education because the task before us is great and the time and resources are diminishing. It is easy to add fluff we then feel responsible for grading, to decrease active engagement because we are not provided enough time to plan, and to add assessments that are oft...