SamTastic Weekly Tip: 3/31/26 - Try the M-C Challenge

This week’s tip: Try the M-C Challenge

Can you concentrate long enough for meta-cognition to occur?

Cognition refers to the mental processes by which we acquire, process, store, and use information. For leaders specifically, cognition matters because most leadership failures aren’t failures of effort or intent — they’re failures of thinking.  That’s also what makes meta-cognition — thinking about your own thinking — so strategically valuable.  This process often results in revising strategies and conclusions.

So, today’s tip is a challenge.  Can you avoid distraction long enough to read one of the two articles, below, and then think about your thinking?  Both articles relate to your work as a school leader.  Both contain information you can use when working with teachers, staff, parents, and students.  This challenge will take about ten minutes.  Can you reach a point where you are thinking about your thinking?

There’s a Good Reason You Can’t Concentrate

New York Times, March 27, 2026

Guest Essay, Cal Newport, author, Deep Work

“When I published my book “Deep Work” 10 years ago, I argued that email and instant messages were degrading our ability to concentrate on hard mental tasks. I recommended putting aside long stretches of time for uninterrupted thinking and to treat this cognitive activity like a skill that you can improve through practice. The term “deep work” quickly entered the vernacular, and I started to hear people and companies use it without even realizing its source.

But the problems I focused on in “Deep Work,” and in my writing since, have been getting steadily worse. In 2016, my main concern was helping people find enough free time for deep work. Today, I think we’re rapidly losing the ability to think deeply at all, regardless of how much space we can find in our schedules for these efforts.” Click here to continue reading: https://bit.ly/41EUE2g

Chromebook Remorse: Tech Backlash at Schools Extends Beyond Phones

New York Times, March 29, 2026

Natasha Singer reported from McPherson, Kansas

Inge Esping, the principal of McPherson Middle School, has spent years battling digital devices for children’s attention.

Four years ago, her school in McPherson, Kan., banned student cellphones during the school day. But digital distractions continued. Many children watched YouTube videos or played video games on their school-issued Chromebook laptops. Some used school Gmail accounts to bully fellow students.

In December, the middle school asked all 480 students to return the Chromebooks they had freely used in class and at home. Now the school keeps the laptops, which run on Google’s Chrome operating system, in carts parked in classrooms. Children take notes mostly by hand, and laptops are used sparingly, for specific activities assigned by teachers.

“We just felt we couldn’t have Chromebooks be that huge distraction,” said Ms. Esping, 43, Kansas’ 2025 middle school principal of the year. “This technology can be a tool. It is not the answer to education.” Click to continue reading: https://bit.ly/4bSrAJn

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It is budget time in most schools and districts.  Be sure to include your SAM services for the 2026-27 school year.  You can request an early invoice now by using this link: https://bit.ly/40GtA33  

Consider budgeting for the 20^th Annual National SAM Conference, too.  The conference provides an opportunity to learn from SAM teams across the US and an amazing array of national and international speakers, authors and thought leaders in leadership, education, and psychology.

20^th Annual National SAM Conference announcement video: https://www.wevideo.com/view/4003300281 

What does a SAM conference look like?  https://bit.ly/4cxGEw7