Hey friends,
We are officially through the first part of the Summer Tour, with stops in Grand Junction, Colorado, Baldwin County, Alabama, and the Utah Gifted Conference.
And wow.
I love this work. I love seeing people in person. I love connecting with amazing educators who are doing incredible things in their learning environments. There is something deeply energizing about being in rooms full of people who care so much about kids, curiosity, creativity, and possibility.
Also, a very special thank you to everyone who saw the Summer Tour poster and immediately turned it into a SPOT THE MISTAKE puzzle.
As I commented in several places where I posted it, there were… let’s call them “many opportunities for revision.” It feels a little like 2024, when AI was still generating humans with six fingers. I have a feeling we will look back at 2026 and laugh:
“Remember when AI couldn’t pin locations on a map?”
That is so 2026.
And in case you were wondering, here is an image of Brian’s actual airplane routes for the Summer Tour. Because apparently, I am living inside a very specific kind of connect-the-dots puzzle.
Next week, I am taking some time off for a real vacation.
Angela and I are spending the weekend with her family at the Lake of the Ozarks, and then just the two of us are heading out on an Arkansas Adventure to Bentonville and Rogers.
Yes. Arkansas.
And I am genuinely excited.
I want to see the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art expansion. I want to visit Onyx Coffee Lab, which I will boldly and without apology call one of the best coffee experiences in the world. I want to eat James Beard-nominated food. And yes, I absolutely want to visit the Walmart Museum.
Yes. Really.
I have also been taking some time to reflect on the things I created this past year that seemed to make a real difference. One that keeps rising to the top is The Real Me Mad Lib.
I have heard from so many educators who have used it with their learners, and what I keep hearing is this:
It helps students find language for who they are.
It gives them voice.
It gives them just enough structure to say something honest, brave, funny, vulnerable, and true.
I have also had the chance to use it with multiple groups of gifted kids, and their responses have stayed with me. Several students reported feeling seen. Not “managed.” Not “fixed.” Not “challenged enough.” Seen.
That matters.
Especially for learners who are often carrying around big ideas, big questions, big feelings, and big contradictions without always knowing where to put them.
The Real Me Mad Lib was born during Season 3 of the Great Teacher Alliance, where Andi McNair and I spent the year exploring The Arc of Becoming. We closed out that season at the beginning of June, and now we are getting ready for Season Four: BUILT DIFFERENT.
Registration is now open, and we begin in September.
This season is all about what it means to create learning experiences for students who do not always fit the mold—and what it means to sustain ourselves as educators while doing that work.
BUILT DIFFERENT is centered around four big ideas:
Notice. Stretch. Matter. Sustain.
We will think together about how to notice what students are really showing us, how to stretch learning without simply adding more work, how to help students feel that their thinking matters, and how to build classrooms—and professional lives—that are creative, humane, and sustainable.
This is not a sit-and-get webinar series.
It is a professional learning experience with heart, humor, reflection, practical tools, and a community of educators who are willing to ask better questions. Andi and I design each session to feel like a creative reset button: part idea lab, part conversation, part “oh thank goodness, I’m not the only one thinking about this.”
Space is limited, so if you know you want to be part of it, be sure to register today.
REGISTER FOR GTA SEASON FOUR: BUILT DIFFERENT
As always, thank you for all that you do.
I know this work can be beautiful and exhausting. Sometimes both in the same five-minute span. I hope you are finding some time this summer to create a few core memories. I hope you are laughing. I hope you are getting outside. I hope you are eating something wonderful, reading something strange, and letting yourself be a person beyond your calendar and your inbox.
Be good to yourself.
Take the time.
Enjoy.
Rest.
Relax.
Repeat.
With gratitude,
Brian
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