Lindsey Cermak is from the Minnesota Literacy Council and the Open-Door Learning Center Northside.

In a talk called Taking the Pressure off to Take the Pressure Off, Lindsey shares a personal revelation. She sees pressure crippling her students and realized in trying to be a perfect teacher, she adds to that pressure.

Drawing a distinction between perfection and excellence, Lindsey asks us to join her and consider our own practice. She invites us to model authentic success and failure in our classrooms, and asks us to be courageous and more vulnerable with our students.