Atomic Teaching Habit #4: Be Real – Make Classroom Learning Authentic

The Problem with Fake Learning

Schools are artificial environments, constructed with the intention of preparing students for the real world. But let’s be honest: we’ve overcorrected. Too much of what happens in classrooms today is fake. The things we require students to do are often so far removed from their lived experiences that they’re either going through the motions of the game of school—or worse, they’ve checked out entirely.

The atomic habit I challenge you to adopt today is simple but powerful: Be Real.

Make it real. Never be fake.

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Where We Are in the Series

If you missed the first three atomic habits—Just Smile, Have Fun, and Just Breathe—I encourage you to check them out. They form an emotional habit stack designed to get you in the right mindset to be your best each day.

This post marks the beginning of a new habit stack: teaching practice. These next few habits focus on what we actually do in the classroom. My promise to you remains the same: micro habits that are easy to adopt, and when practiced consistently, will compound into transformational change.

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What Does It Mean to Be Real?

To be real means to make classroom learning experiences authentic and grounded in real world application.

Grant Wiggins, known for his work on Understanding by Design, introduced the idea of authentic assessment back in the ’90s. Rather than selecting answers on a multiple-choice test about Civil War facts, students should do something real with those facts—create something meaningful that connects those facts to universal human themes and present it to a real audience.

Real means real life.

I want what students do in classrooms to be life, not just preparation for it.

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How Do You Create Authentic Learning Experiences?

You might be thinking, “Miles, this all sounds great in theory, but I’ve got standards to cover.”

I hear you. But please don’t think standards prevent you from being real. If anything, our obsession with checking boxes has made learning artificial—and we have the power to change that.

Start here:

Assume that learning is living and students are creators.

Your job as a teacher? Create an environment where students can live and create as part of their learning. That’s it.

Still feel abstract? It should—because the current system of teaching and learning is so misaligned with what it should be that when we hear real alternatives, our minds nod but our feet hesitate. Please don’t move on yet.

Let me ground this:

Being real means that learning leaves a visible, authentic mark.
What students create is the evidence of what they’ve learned.

Worksheets? Selected response tests? Five-paragraph essays that go straight to the trash? That’s not real. And students know it.

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Practical Ideas for Real World Learning

Let’s take a common unit: the Civil War.

Most teachers start with a goal:

“My students are going to learn about the Civil War.”

They teach the key events, give a test, maybe assign an essay, and occasionally go “outside the box” with a poster or diorama. I’m going to say something that might sting:

None of those are real.

They’re school activities. They’re fake. And they’re not helping students live their learning.

Try This Instead:

I’m still teaching the Civil War—standards matter—but I’m going to set a real goal for that learning:

“My students will create a living Civil War experience for our local VFW.”

Each student or group will design a display that teaches others about an aspect of the war that interests them. But more than facts, their display must convey an enduring theme from their learning. It will go up February 1st, stay on display for three months, and on opening night, students will present to VFW members, friends, and families.

Now that’s real.

This can be done with any unit, in any subject. What students do in class should lead to something meaningful outside of class.

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Why Authentic Learning Works

There’s no shortcut or cheat code for this.

When students create real world projects, they can’t play the game of school—because there’s no game. There’s just life. They learn because they get to be real.

And teachers? We stop delivering content.
We start facilitating meaningful learning experiences.
And that’s when real teaching—and real joy—shows up.

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The Last Word: Make It Real

I know posts like this can raise questions, doubts, and pushback. I invite it. Please engage in the comments if you’re wondering how to make this habit work in your context.

The Atomic Teaching Habit of Being Real can start today. Right now.

It doesn’t require a new curriculum—just a new lens.

Let’s move away from the fakeness that leaves students disengaged and create classrooms where authentic learning and real world engagement are the norm.

Let’s Be Real.

Previous Habit: Just Breathe