According to Love Our Children USA, every year over three million children are victims of violence and neglect. Our society seemingly focuses less on the importance of simply showing love and more on the expectations children are supposed to have. Let’s love on our kids a little extra, raise awareness for those in need, and be reminded of the fact that this should be a part our everyday lives and not just on a specific…
Deborah Rosenthal has learned a thing or two about online learning. She starts her virtual kindergarten class on Zoom every morning with a song — today, it’s the Spanish version of “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” Her students clap along. There’s a greeting from the class mascot (a dragon), yoga, meditation and then some practice with letter sounds. Rosenthal teaches Spanish immersion in a public school in San Francisco’s Mission District. Most of…
While YouTube is better known for Taylor Swift and video game commentary than higher education, the video hosting platform has gone from a potential classroom distraction to a multifaceted learning tool. To date, YouTube has more than one billion users in 91 countries—that’s almost one-third of the population with Internet access. Of all the videos watched in a single day around the world, one billion of those are learning-related videos. That includes edutainment (often hosted…
When schools closed in March 2020, districts immediately took steps to provide free meals to students, and that need has continued. Since the start of COVID-19, 1 in 5 households with children in Massachusetts is experiencing food insecurity, nearly doubling pre-pandemic numbers. Thank you to our teachers for helping with meals in classrooms, supervising lunch throughout school buildings, and handing out grab-and-go meals. School meals are available for students even if they are learning remotely.…
Slumped bodies, rolled eyes, defiant words, and off-task behaviors announce (not-so-subtly) that instruction isn’t working. So what can teachers do to encourage participation and task completion when students are reluctant to participate or complete tasks? When it comes to engaging reluctant learners, there are no guarantees or magic words, but certain principles and strategies can help harness the intrinsic motivation that lies at the heart of each learner. Here are 5 ways to engage reluctant…
There are a variety of tech tools and methods out there to teach writing that can make the process easier and more fun for both teachers and students. While not every high-tech way of teaching writing will work for every class or every student, there’s enough variety that there’s bound to be something for everyone. Here, we offer just a few tech-focused ways to help students learn grammar, essay-writing, and, most importantly, why good writing…
It’s possible that there is no time in the history of education that our systems of educating have been so out of touch with the communities. Growing populations, shifting communities, and increasingly inwardly-focused schools all play a role. In light of the access of modern technology, social media, and new learning models that reconfigure the time and place learning happens, it doesn’t have to be that way. Schools can evolve while simultaneously growing closer to…
Teaching with art and incorporating art inquiry into the classroom is a powerful way to engage students with diverse learning needs, improve critical thinking and social-emotional skills and make learning relevant to students’ lives. Many teachers shy away from teaching with art, however, which causes their students to miss out on these potentially transformative learning experiences. Teaching with art creates opportunities for novelty in the classroom, which stimulates students’ minds, activating different ways of thinking…
While it is always important to recognize how much teachers matter, this year is especially significant. Many teachers have worked around the clock to move their teaching online and to support their students while schools are closed. Social distancing can make it tough to show teachers how much you care, but there are still plenty of options. From e-cards and thank you videos to classroom goodies or decorations, here are 20 ways you can show…
Here are two questions teachers can think about as they reflect on their daily instruction: when students enter the classroom, are they happy to be there? And, when they leave, are they smiling and feeling positive about their experience? If not, a few small changes may need to be made. Every student wants a positive teacher to help make their day better and their class more enjoyable, and it’s something every teacher can achieve. Here are 3…
