Last week, Charles House and I sat down to talk through one of the core practices in the FUSE library: the Culture of Learning Speech. If you joined us live, you heard the research behind it and a handful of stories about how fellows are using it this fall. Here is everything you need to actually sit down and write your own.
Most teachers spend the first days of class on rules, homework, and grading. That’s necessary. It’s not enough. Students walk into a new classroom carrying assumptions from every classroom they’ve sat in before, and left to guess, they assume the worst. A teacher asking a struggling student to come in for tutoring gets read as a threat. A cold call gets read as a setup to embarrass. Not because the teacher intended that, but because nothing was said out loud to correct the assumption.
This misinterpretation has a name. Dr. David Yeager calls it the Adolescent Predicament, and we get into it in the recording. Puberty raises a young person’s hunger for status and respect faster than their confidence that they’ll actually get it. That gap between what they want and what they’re sure of is why an ambiguous action from an adult defaults to the worst interpretation. It’s the safer assumption when you don’t know where you stand.
Being a good teacher and letting it show over time doesn’t fix this. That’s “show, don’t tell,” and it’s too slow. A semester can pass before actions alone settle the question in a student’s mind. The fix is “tell, then show”: say what you believe first, then let your policies and your language confirm it. Adolescents notice fast when what an adult says doesn’t match what an adult does. They are society’s best hypocrisy detectors. That’s why the speech needs an actual policy behind it, not just words.
The module organizes a strong speech around three parts. Below is each one, with a line from a sample speech to show what it sounds like in practice, and a few questions to help you write your own.
1. Beliefs & Values - say what you believe, out loud
Teachers assume it’s obvious that they believe in their students. It usually isn’t. Students who’ve struggled in a subject before have often concluded, quietly, that the subject “isn’t for them,” and that belief doesn’t correct itself just because you’re a nice teacher. You have to name it directly.
From the sample speech:
“I believe every single one of you can learn, grow, and succeed in this class. I know this class can feel tough at times, but struggling here does not mean you are not capable. It means you are learning. That is exactly what is supposed to happen.”
To write your own, answer this: What do you actually believe about struggle in your class? Not what you’re supposed to say, but what you’d tell a colleague after a hard year. Write that down first, then simplify it until a fourteen-year-old could repeat it back to you.
2. Policies & Routines - make sure your policies say the same thing
This is where belief becomes credible instead of just nice. If you tell students that mistakes are normal, but your grading punishes a first attempt as harshly as a final one, the words don’t hold. Pick one real policy that backs up your belief, and say it plainly.
From the sample speech:
“Tests in this class are not a final judgment on you. They are checkpoints that help us see what you understand right now... After you take a test in this class, you will have the chance to revise your work... If you correct your work, you can earn back half of the points you missed.”
To write your own: pick the one policy you already have that proves your belief is real, revisions, retakes, participation grading, whatever it is. If you don’t have one yet, build it before you write the speech, not after.
3. Language & Communication - define the moments that get misread
Every class has two moments that go sideways without warning: someone makes a mistake, and someone has a question. Left undefined, both moments carry the same risk: looking dumb, looking behind. Naming them ahead of time takes the risk out.
From the sample speech:
“In this room, mistakes are not something we shy away from. They are a normal and courageous part of learning, because they mean you are challenging yourself instead of only doing what already feels easy... When you have a question, please ask. You are not interrupting me, you are contributing to the whole class’s learning.”
To write your own: think of the specific moment last year where a student’s face told you they thought they’d done something wrong just by asking or missing an answer. Write the line that would have told them, in advance, that they hadn’t.
Putting it together
You don’t need all three sections to be long. The sample speech above covers all three in well under a page. What matters is that all three are there: belief, backed by policy, made concrete in language. Any one of them alone doesn’t hold up. A belief without a policy is just a slogan. A policy without belief feels bureaucratic. Language without either is just a nice thing to say once.
Write a draft, read it out loud, and cut anything that doesn’t sound like you. Give it more than once. The first week matters, but so does the week of the first hard test, when students need to hear it again.
Want some feedback on your speech? Drop it in the comments or send us a chat and we will share our thoughts with you.
If you’re a principal or district leader and want this taught across a whole campus, not left to individual teachers to try on their own, reach out. We’ll talk through what a FUSE partnership could look like for your school or district.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fuseteach.substack.com
