Stop Adding Initiatives: Put Humans Back at the Center of School | Alyssa Sabbatino | TEC107

<p>What if the problem in education isn’t that teachers need another strategy, program, platform, or initiative?</p><p>What if we need to get better at recognizing what good teachers are already doing—and build from there?</p><p>In this episode of the <strong>Tech Ed Clubhouse</strong>, I talk with <strong>Alyssa Sabbatino</strong>, National Board Certified Teacher, former administrator, educational leader, keynote speaker, and professional learning consultant.</p><p>We get into initiative fatigue, teacher burnout, Portrait of a Graduate, competency-based learning, restorative practices, AI, grading, professional learning, and why schools keep making things more complicated than they need to be.</p><p>Alyssa makes the case that meaningful school improvement starts by listening to teachers, recognizing the practices already working, and connecting initiatives instead of continually piling new ones on top.</p><p>We also dig into:</p><ul><li><p>Why compliance-based professional development rarely changes practice</p></li><li><p>Why art, music, technology, CTE, and other special-area classrooms may already be models for Portrait of a Graduate</p></li><li><p>The problem with a school system obsessed with grades instead of learning</p></li><li><p>Why collaboration, adaptability, empathy, ownership, and risk-taking matter as much as content knowledge</p></li><li><p>How AI can become a thought partner instead of a replacement for professional judgment</p></li><li><p>Why restorative practices should be woven into teaching—not turned into another checkbox</p></li><li><p>Why small, authentic human interactions can matter more than another schoolwide initiative</p></li></ul><p>One of the biggest themes in this conversation is simple:</p><p><strong>Schools are full of people.</strong></p><p>Teachers get overwhelmed. Administrators get overwhelmed. Kids are still kids. And when we forget that, even good ideas become compliance exercises.</p><p>As Alyssa puts it, authentic restorative work and human connection can’t simply be turned into another initiative.</p><p>If you’re thinking about <strong>Portrait of a Graduate, standards-based grading, professional learning, AI, school culture, or what meaningful change in education should actually look like</strong>, this conversation is worth your time.</p><p><strong>Connect with Alyssa Sabbatino:</strong><br><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssa-sabbatino-nbct-ba343014b/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">LinkedIn:</a><br></p><p><strong>Tech Ed Clubhouse</strong><br>Conversations about teaching, technology, learning, and the people doing the work.</p><p></p>