Andrea Michelle, a high-energy educator who has been teaching high school for eight years, believes students can learn about more than literature in her English classes – they can learn critical life skills too.
In a recent video interview with the Student Research Foundation, she described how she elevates classroom discussions and experiences to a higher level. Read more
What are the most critical skills students need to succeed after high school? Briana Stone, who teaches high school English in Texas, has thought about that question, and pinpointed these two abilities . . . Read more
“Increase the Human & Financial Benefits of Student Success Initiatives,” an important new study you can download from Civitas Learning, suggests some effective new ways that educators can use student data to improve graduation rates and foster other positive outcomes.
Although the report focuses on student success at institutions like the University of Central Oklahoma, Utah State, and Austin Community College, we feel that lessons from the report can be used to improve student success in K-12 too. Read more
Of course, teachers want their students to enjoy everything they do in the classroom. But according to a thoughtful post, “Why Realistic Classroom Expectations Are Important” that middle school teacher Brent Modak wrote for the Asset Education blog, expecting every student to love every lesson is counterproductive. Read more
“Some 300,000 public-school teachers and other staff left the field between February 2020 and May 2022, a nearly 3% drop in that workforce, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Worn down by the challenges of teaching through the past few years, more educators say they are considering doing the same: A National Education Association poll conducted this year found 55% of teachers said they would leave education sooner than planned, up from 37% last August.”
A number of articles have offered advice in the last few weeks.
One good reading is “Veteran Teachers on How to Talk with Your Students About the War in Ukraine,” an article that was published on TeacherVision.com. The article recommends sharing feelings and building empathy . . . allowing ample time for students to raise concerns they would like to discuss. . . and guiding discussions to control the topics that students introduce. Read more
National Black History Month is observed this February across the United States. How will you be celebrating in your classroom? What lessons and experiences will you offer your students?
Like many teachers, chances are you will profile and study notable African-Americans from the past. There are so many, of course, that it can be hard to decide whom to choose. Should you have your students learn more about Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, Dr. Martin Luther King, John Lewis? Who, exactly? Read more
Black History Month is an opportunity to remind all Americans of the important role Black teachers have played in empowering communities politically and socially. But today, it is particularly critical to convince more African Americans to join the profession. The U.S. faces a looming teacher crisis and: Read more
How are students adjusting as they return to live classrooms? The answer is, they are adjusting in different ways, depending on thousands of variables that include life at home and their emotional and social maturity. Some students are simply happy to be back at their desks. Still, others are finding the transition moderately difficult. And then there are other students who are having an extremely difficult time making the transition. Read more
What do schools need to do to keep students healthy during the future phases of the Covid-19 pandemic?
We recently found a list of recommendations from healthychildren.org. We like it because it covers both the well-known measures that schools should take, and also less-than-obvious steps that are easy to overlook. We recommend that you take a few minutes to review this list.
Here are some highlights. Read more