3-2-1: How to make changes that last, the key to productivity, and a simple way to find your true self
t’s start with three little reminders from Atomic Habits…
I.
“New goals don’t deliver new results. New lifestyles do. And a lifestyle is a process, not an outcome. For this reason, all of your energy should go into building better habits, not chasing better results.”
II.
“Improvements are only temporary until they become part of who you are.
The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader.
The goal is not to run a marathon, the goal is to become a runner.
The goal is not to learn an instrument, the goal is to become a musician.
Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.
This year, focus on the identity you want to build.”
5 lessons learned from top school administrators in 2025
In 2025, K-12 Dive’s conversations with school and district leaders covered best practices, challenges overcome and lessons learned on a variety of topics, from providing remediation to students to engaging with school communities. As 2026 gets underway, we’re taking a look back at those conversations to spotlight five key takeaways that offer guidance and insight as you enter the second half of the school year.
Keep an ear out for the voices that aren’t always heard
“I am responsive to the community I’m serving, a true public servant. And in our community here, the historically marginalized populations are sometimes not invited and, in certain cases, are just simply invisible. What I try to do … is not to put them to the side — because that would be inappropriate as well — but I hear them loud and clear.
This principal doesn’t want kids replacing their brains with AI
Buckeye Central High School Principal Dr. Michael Martin has developed a new strategy for using AI for educational purposes. It’s called the “80/20, 20/80 “rule. Its purpose: to keep students accountable for their work while using AI.
Step 1: 80/20
Martin says the rule applies to all use cases of AI, including a presentation he gave to his staff.
Over the course of six months, Martin did all the research, collected resources and developed a detailed outline, which he estimates was 80% of the work. The remaining 20% was done by AI, which offered suggestions to the outline without making changes to Martin’s original work.
The same principle must be applied to students’ use of AI to enhance learning, he argues, as AI must not be used for “cognitive offloading.”
“AI didn’t write the outline for me,” Martin says. “I did the research and read its suggestions and I made the changes.”
He adds that he brought the ideas. AI simply made his ideas better.
14 New Year’s Resolutions to Inspire School Leaders
“One of the unique aspects of working in public education is that we experience two natural points of renewal each year,” high school principal S. Kambar Khoshaba reflected this past summer. “January 1 marks the beginning of the calendar year, while August or September signals the start of a new school year and the return of our students. Both offer valuable opportunities to reflect, refocus, and reset our goals and strategies.”
For inspiration on how to make the most of your second reset of the school year, we checked in with recent contributors to The Principal Is In column to learn how they’re hoping to grow professionally in 2026.
How trust violations create a vicious cycle, and how to handle it
“I’m not going to tell them.”
That was the decision made by Charlie, an engineer working on an advanced project team to develop new technologies for his company.
“I know the solution, but I’m not going to give it to them.”
The team had been struggling with technical challenges for months. They’d resolved one problem after the other smoothly until the work ground to a halt a week ago, with an intractable problem that stumped the senior engineers. Every idea had failed, and no one on the team had any suggestions for the future. The whole project was on the verge of collapse.
Charlie sat silently in the meeting while knowing he had the solution — he’d tested it and was certain it would work. Yet he said nothing.
Charlie wasn’t a bad person — sabotaging team projects wasn’t something he’d normally do. But in this group, he’d been pushed to his limits.
School Shootings in 2025: The Fewest Incidents and Deaths in 5 Years
The overall number of U.S. school shootings in 2025 that resulted in injuries or deaths was lower than in any year since 2020, according to Education Week’s school shootings tracker.
Seventeen school shootings this year met the criteria for Education Week’s tracker—fewer than half the number that took place in each of the previous four years.
Seven people died in school shootings this year—down from 18 last year, 21 the year before, and 40 in 2022