David Steckler

risk or rust

A simple question guiding every lesson and decision: choose to act or watch potential fade.

The Classroom Truth

Most people think teaching is about knowing everything. It's actually about modeling curiosity. Every day I walk into class with 7th graders who challenge me in ways I never expected—and that's exactly the point.

The students who struggle the most often teach me the most. They force me to find new paths, different explanations, better metaphors. They reveal the gaps in my thinking before I even know they exist.

The Long Game

Nine years at Highlands has taught me something unexpected: the most important lessons happen in the margins. Between the curriculum and the conversations. Between the code and the coffee breaks with my dog Pixie.

Travel changes perspective. Puerto Vallarta reminded me that learning happens everywhere—not just in classrooms. The best educators steal ideas from everywhere: street vendors, sunset conversations, failed experiments.

AI is just another tool in the workshop. I use it to solve real problems, but I don't pretend it's magic. It's helpful, sometimes brilliant, often frustrating. Like most useful things.

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