Families across the world have been troubled by the news and images from Russia’s invasion and the war in Ukraine. When our children turn to us to help them understand scary news, we might feel afraid of saying too much—or not enough—and so avoid a conversation that could be a powerful way to help children learn about themselves and the world. Here’s what a handful of child development experts say about what parents, teachers, and…
Read More »Nearly every holiday we celebrate starts with a story. That story gets told throughout the years until it becomes legend, at which point people decide that the legend is worthy of celebration. Somewhere on the way to legendary status, the original story often gets embellished to the point where it becomes difficult to separate truth from legend. Such is the case with the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. March 17 is here, and it…
Read More »in Teachers, Teaching Your Child Writing Strategies, Writing
Everyone has a story to tell, and everyone has their own unique writing voice. Storytelling is sometimes what excites students the most; it’s an invitation for them to read, observe, dissect, understand, feel, and write. Through writing stories, we learn about our past, current, and future selves. We get an intimate glimpse of our joy, loneliness, sacrifice, anxiety, heartbreak, anger, fear, guilt, surprise, and all the nuanced emotions that make us human. Storytelling is also…
Read More »Teaching a child with dyspraxia can be a frustrating experience due to the wide range of symptoms they may present. However, while dyspraxia is a neurological condition that commonly causes movement and coordination issues, it does not affect intelligence. Children with dyspraxia are perfectly capable of learning alongside their peers, they may just need some extra attention and support from time to time. Awareness is the first step and can make all of the difference…
Read More »The first time you hear that your 7-year-old is weak in “executive functions,” it sounds like a joke. No kidding—that’s why they’re a first grader, not a CEO. But executive functions are the essential self-regulating skills that we all use every day to accomplish just about everything. They help us plan, organize, make decisions, shift between situations or thoughts, control our emotions and impulsivity, and learn from past mistakes. Kids rely on their executive functions…
Read More »Most years, we might have wished that education was more present in the news. This year, though, gave truth to the old saying, ‘be careful what you wish for.’ Here are the best and worst pieces of education news in 2021, listed in no order of importance. The obvious choice for worst piece of education news: the COVID-19 pandemic that sickened and killed countless numbers of our students and members of their families, along with…
Read More »The importance of teaching living poets can be highlighted by Amanda Gorman. When the young Black poet in a canary yellow coat dazzled audiences at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, high school teacher Melissa Alter Smith was ready. Using a lesson plan from a friend and fellow teacher, she’d prepared her students to watch Amanda Gorman’s performance and analyze her words. Other teachers took notice, too, and additional lesson plans about “The Hill We Climb” circulated…
Read More »For Muniya Khanna, strong emotional reactions and increased social discomfort are predictable responses as youngsters emerge from more than a year of isolation and students re-adjust to altered routines caused by the pandemic. Khanna is a clinical psychologist in Pennsylvania who specializes in treatment of childhood anxiety. She explained that anxiety is part of the body’s fight-or-flight response to uncertainty. While in-person activities may be billed as a “return to normal,” Khanna said it also…
Read More »in High School, History, Teachers
Last fall, teacher Michael Palermo called the crew of Christopher Columbus to the witness stand. Wilfredo Lopez Murcia, a student at Wakefield High School in Virginia, strolled to the front of the classroom, followed by classmate Jhonnatan Moya Miranda. “Hello, mates,” Wilfredo quipped, giving a short salute to his peers. Wilfredo and Jhonnatan were about to defend themselves in The People vs. Columbus, et al. trial, a social studies role play that encourages critical thinking…
Read More »Addressing the differing needs of students can make teaching reading a daunting task. Students are expected to have a deep understanding of what they read and provide answers grounded in text. One way for students to interact with the text is through close reading, which can become a powerful classroom tool for fiction and nonfiction texts across grade levels. Teaching close reading to younger students is very doable–here’s how. SETTING THE STAGE At the beginning…
Read More »