Why I Believe Classrooms Need More Joy (and a Lot More Student Voice, Too)

available from Pembroke Publishers

Last year, I became an Assistant Principal in an incredible Elementary School. On Friday, I was a classroom teacher in one school, and on Monday, I was an AP in a whole new school. I saw immediately that it is not just my classroom or my school - all of our classrooms are complex and teachers are working to meet the needs of all learners. We are working with big groups of students who speak dozens of languages, bring diverse strengths and challenges, and learn in so many different ways. It’s beautiful, but it’s also hard.

And yet, here’s the thing I keep coming back to: learning should still feel joyful.

Even in the busiest, most complicated classrooms, kids deserve to laugh, to be curious, and to make choices about their learning. And teachers deserve to feel that spark too.

This is why Erin and I wrote Students in the Driver’s Seat: Bringing Voice, Choice, and Joy to Learning in Your Classroom.

We’ve both seen classrooms where kids have little say in what or how they learn. They sit, listen, complete the worksheet. It’s compliance, not engagement. But when students are given a voice—when they have real choices in how they show their learning—everything shifts. The room comes alive. Kids take risks, share ideas, and start seeing themselves as learners who matter.

And teachers light up too. There’s nothing quite like the moment a student says, “Wait, we get to do it this way?” and suddenly the whole class is buzzing with energy.

In the book, we share:

• Practical tools (like our “flat sheets”) that help kids take ownership.

• Real stories from Grades 4–9 classrooms—the messy, funny, joyful ones.

• Strategies for supporting all learners, including English Language Learners, kids with ADHD or autism, and students who need extra challenge.

• Ways to bring back joy, even when teaching feels overwhelming.

Every day, walking through classrooms in my school, I see the reality: it’s tough. Teachers are juggling so much. But I also see possibility—kids who want to be curious, and teachers who want to feel energized again.

This book is our way of saying you don’t have to choose between meeting outcomes and making learning joyful. You can do both. And it doesn’t have to be perfect—it just has to start.