Teachers have long known that feeling safe and secure in school helps students focus their energy on learning, and the research bears that out: a 2018 study found that when teachers deliberately foster a sense of belonging by greeting each student at the door of the class, they see “significant improvements in academic engaged time and reductions in disruptive behavior.” Some of the below activities for classroom community building take less than five minutes. They’re…
Peaceful, student-led protests and activism have been a powerful force for change throughout American history. In 1925, for example, students at Fisk University staged a 10-week protest to speak out against the school’s president, who didn’t want students starting a chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. In 1940, almost 2,000 students protested after New York University decided to pull a black player from its football roster to accommodate the University of Missouri’s segregationists. And campus-based activism, including…
In a year full of challenges, figuring out how to implement outdoor learning may feel like a tall task for teachers. It’s too hot in Arizona. Too muggy in Mississippi. Too snowy in Maine. And in cities everywhere, “too dangerous.” Kass Minor has heard many of those objections in recent months. It’s a similar response that comes with “anything that’s outside people’s experience,” she said, but like her husband, Minor took her students outside regularly…
As protests against racial injustice spread to communities large and small in this year, many educators have been pushed to examine how systemic racism harms students. Some have publicly proclaimed the steps they will take to create anti-racist schools, including diversifying classroom and library bookshelves. That task may be easier than ever, thanks to six years of advocacy by the We Need Diverse Books campaign. “There’s no excuse for the books in your classroom and…
There is a new study that suggests a big sister can make a powerful difference for their younger siblings. But there’s no personal angle for the authors of the study: economists Pamela Jakiela and Owen Ozier of Williams College in Massachusetts. “No! I’m an only child,” Jakiela says with a chuckle. “And Owen is an older brother.” They were prompted to do the study after reading that many parents in Kenya give daughters a huge…
There are many fun activities for families to enjoy in the Boston area in July 2023. Check out our list of July activities and events happening around Boston and have a wonderful month! Find 4th of July Fireworks Near You in MA! Many towns around Boston celebrate on different dates and times, so you are sure to find a display to fit your schedule near you. Find out where they’ll be shooting fireworks off nearest…
Poetry is a mindfulness practice for award-winning author and poet Clint Smith, but as a young person, Smith felt that poetry wasn’t for people like him. Smith said that teaching poetry can feel intimidating when presented as if it’s a “geometric proof or a code that students are supposed to unlock.” He recommends that teachers instead emphasize that no interpretation is wrong. Online resources for teaching poetry can show young learners “that there are poets…
This article on climate change is a repost from KQED. Are you a kid — or do you know a kid — who is learning about climate change? It can be hard to know where to start. So we made a guide about how it’s changing the planet and how to deal with the big feelings you might have when you hear about it. Click here to print a paper version of this comic at home or…
Wearing an effortless smile and a crisp, gray suit with a cloth lapel flower, Tommy Nalls Jr. projects confidence. Which is the point. In a ballroom full of job candidates, no one wants to dance with a desperate partner. And, as badly as his district needs teachers, Nalls doesn’t want just any teacher. “They have to have this certain grit, that certain fight,” says Nalls, director of recruitment for Jackson Public Schools, in Mississippi’s capital…
There are many fun activities for families to enjoy in the Boston area over April vacation. Check out our list of activities and events happening around Boston in April 2023. Have a great break! Family Concert: Music, Magic, and More When: Saturday 4/15/2023, 12:00 P.M. to 2:00 P.M. Where: Boston Symphony Hall Age: kids, teens, adults Cost: $20 Bring the whole family to Symphony Hall for this fun and engaging concert series, designed to encourage…
