Teaching First
Before there is a platform, a model, or a rubric, there is a teacher noticing something — a puzzled look, a question that lands sideways, a moment where the room leans in. That instinct is the first and most reliable instrument we have, and most of instructional design is really just the disciplined work of honoring it. When we start with the tool instead, we end up designing for the tool’s convenience rather than the learner’s understanding. This post is about putting the teacher’s judgment back at the center of the process — and treating every method, technology, and template as something that serves that judgment rather than replacing it.