Teaching can be a lonely profession in some ways. Once the classroom door closes, it’s just you and your students — and your conscience. No one’s there to check if the lesson is good enough; that decision sits with you. The hardest part isn’t having a bad lesson — it’s deciding to do something about it. Because the moment you act on that little voice pushing you to do better, you always wish you’d done it sooner.

We’ve all been there — a lesson starts to unravel, the students go off-task, and our first thought is, “Why can’t they just behave?” But here’s the uncomfortable truth: sometimes it’s not them. It’s us.

We often forget that 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds don’t think like adults — yet we expect them to. This blog explores how projecting adult logic onto children can lead to frustration, and why understanding their developing way of thinking is key to helping them learn and grow.