Many of the back-to-school tips available are targeted towards teachers, but it’s essential for students to have a great support system in place at home as well as in the classroom. The more informed your family is by asking your child’s teacher questions, the more seamlessly students can transition from summer to school. Below are some questions parents can ask teachers to better clarify what is happening in the classroom. Some of these questions may…
As our society becomes increasingly globalized, it puts pressure on education to globalize as well. What exactly this means isn’t universally agreed upon, however. In major world markets, the business world globalized decades ago, expanding beyond domestic markets in pursuit of more diverse audiences and stronger profits. The field of education is an entirely different case, and has been much slower to follow suit. When defining a global curriculum, one issue that must be confronted…
In practice, proficiency-based learning can take a wide variety of forms–there’s no universal approach! The following principles of proficiency-based learning describe the common features found in the most effective proficiency-based systems, and can therefore help teachers and schools learn how to best understand and utilize this method. All learning expectations must be clearly and consistently communicated to students and families. This includes long-term expectations like graduation requirements and standards, short-term expectations like learning objectives for…
Educators have learned much about the benefits of using projects for learning, and collaboration is easily recognized as an important skill for students to build. There are very few arguments against having students do group work together in class and on certain assignments. However, the challenge facing many educators lies in figuring out how to group students together in the most effective way. The following simple guide can help. 1) Do: Consider distance and access…
Interest in project-based learning has been on the rise in recent years, and the practice can now be found in some form or another all over the United States. But while interest in projects is high, a deep understanding of what makes project work meaningful and impactful to students is less pervasive, largely due to a lack of understanding of what kinds of projects make for high-quality learning experiences. There’s certainly a danger in an…
As young children begin to take notice of gender equality and the differences in social expectations for gender roles, the ways in which their teachers interact with them become more weighted. These interactions also create long-lasting effects in other areas of their lives, at times limiting their self-image and their perception of the opportunities that are available or appropriate for them. This trend is especially apparent in the shortage of women who pursue education and…
It’s safe to assume that high school students would probably cherish a little extra sleep in the morning, but did you know that studies show that starting school later for teens is actually healthier for them? Sleep experts have determined a shift in sleep cycles (circadian rhythms) in recent studies. This shift begins in adolescence and makes it more difficult for most adolescents to fall asleep as early as younger children or older adults. Typical…
I’m sure most, if not all, teachers can think of at least one student that was defined somewhere along the way as unreachable. The struggles of children who are challenging (often victims of exploited communities, neglect, and abuse) are so heartbreaking and extreme that as professionals, teachers need to share their stories and vent their feelings. It is equally important, however, for them to build from there, and for that they need awareness of and…
It goes without saying that teachers are very busy, so it’s not unusual to hear their concerns about the lack of adequate time to do everything teachers need to do: plan, individualize instruction, test, assign grades, collaborate, innovate, reflect and of course, teach. Not even teachers can add more hours to the day, however. The key to finding more time each day may be to use strategies that make the most of your available time,…
With school shootings and other tough topics now commonplace in our country’s nightly news, we not only have to worry about how the students of those schools are affected, but also about the tens of millions of other children in schools across the country who have since heard about what happened and now likely struggle with their own feelings of fear, confusion, and uncertainty. Parents and teachers alike may find the following guide helpful in…
