Classroom Management

Remember, Online Learning Isn’t the Only Way to Learn Remotely

2 weeks ago Jennifer

Opinion

—Getty

5 ways to activate students’ passion during a school closure

By

Kate Ehrenfeld Gardoqui

“What a whirlwind time we are in. It’s changing so fast!”

Emails like this one from a Maine principal filled my inbox this week as the school leaders with whom I work rushed to prepare their faculties for imminent school closures.

The anxiety is shared by students. Suddenly everything is uncertain. Everyone in the education system is facing a deluge of questions as parents and teachers struggle to figure out how to continue students’ learning when the school building is closed.

The challenges are

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My 5 Basic Rules for Talking to Young Students About Coronavirus

2 weeks ago Jennifer

Opinion

—Getty

Students are anxious about COVID-19. Teachers must face this difficult conversation

By

Ivy Higgins

“Has there ever been a worse virus, Miss Higgins?” Juan asked during a class conversation about the COVID-19 this week. I had opened up a discussion of the topic when I realized that students were understandably anxious about the coronavirus outbreak. As teachers, we must lean into conversations with students that other adults might find difficult. By following a few basic rules I can assuage fears, connect current events to fundamental learning concepts, and arm my 4th graders with strategies to protect themselves. Here’s

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Why I Created ‘Book Groups’ for My Students

3 weeks ago Jennifer

First Person

By

Christina Torres

I have always loved reading. As a kid, I described it as a “movie in my head” that played whenever I dove into a story. I’ll never forget the thrill of eagerly flipping the onion-skin pages of a Scholastic catalogue, putting messy stars next to the titles I hoped my parents would get me.

When I became an English teacher, lots of kids told me they hated reading. This didn’t shock me, but I was unsure how to handle it. It’s hard to understand something you haven’t experienced. How could my students not enjoy the

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Culturally Responsive Teaching Is Promising. But There’s a Pressing Need for More Research

3 weeks ago Jennifer

Opinion

—Vanessa Solis/Education Week. Source image: Getty

Understanding the nature of the impact on students is critical

By

Heather C. Hill

Culturally responsive teaching, culturally relevant pedagogy, culturally sustaining pedagogy. By any name, it’s a very timely topic, brought into the spotlight by a new wave of recognition that the nation’s schools have failed too many students of color for far too long. Hopes are high that by better grounding education in students’ lives, cultural responsiveness, or just CR, will be the fix we need. As a result, you likely have participated in a CR workshop, used CR materials, or

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How Teachers Are Talking to Students About the Coronavirus

4 weeks ago Jennifer

—Getty

At the Foreign Language Immersion and Cultural Studies School in Detroit, DaJuanna Travier’s 5th graders can raise any topic on their minds during their Friday restorative discussion circles.

This past week, they wanted to talk about the coronavirus.

They asked Travier if the virus is man-made, or if it was purposefully created to hurt people, she said. A few said they were afraid to travel.

Travier tried to tell her class the facts and stay positive, giving them space to talk about their feelings. She knows her students watch the news, and she understands why they’re curious. “It’s a

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Don’t Blame Teachers for Selling Their Lesson Plans. Blame the System That Makes It Necessary

1 month ago Jennifer

Opinion

—Pixsooz/Getty

Why should teachers give away their work for free?

By

Kat Tipton

When I was hired to be a 1st grade teacher, I was given absolutely no curriculum for reading or science. While my school did have a math curriculum, it was out of date from the brand new, controversial Common Core State Standards and did not match our assessments. Instead, I was told to plan with my colleagues.

This often led to me scouring the internet for good resources. While some coworkers were willing to share, they rarely sat down and explained what they were giving me,

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I’ve Changed How I Grade My Students. You Should, Too

1 month ago Jennifer

First Person

—Elenabs/Getty

By

Miriam Plotinsky

It never fails to amaze me that when people are faced with broken systems, their response is often to continue trying to work within those systems rather than disrupt the status quo. Take diets, for instance. Research has repeatedly shown that the overwhelming majority of diets fail in the long term, yet people continue to try new diets in the hopes that a magic bullet will finally appear. Similarly, our educational processes increasingly neglect to yield upward trends, whether schools are looking at student attendance rates on the decline or lower rates of student

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Do You Have to ‘Love’ Every Student? And What If You Don’t?

2 months ago Jennifer

—Getty

Decades of research—and conventionally held wisdom—say that positive teacher-student relationships matter. But do you really have to love every student? And what if you don’t?

“We go into [teaching] with the idea that we’re going to love our students, we’re going to be like the teachers in the movies, … all of the kids are going to be motivated, there’s going to be a soundtrack, it’s going to be amazing,” said Vickie Crockett, a high school English/language arts teacher in Atlanta. “I think we allow ourselves to get boxed into [the idea] that we’re just going to fall magically

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Praise Seen as Effective Classroom-Management Tool

2 months ago Jennifer

What the Research Says

“Effects of Teachers’ Praise-to-Reprimand Ratios on Elementary Students’ On-Task Behaviour”

When teachers use more praise and fewer reprimands in the classroom, it seems to help students stay on-task and behave better, according to a new study.

“The higher the teachers’ [praise to reprimand ratio], the higher the students’ on-task behavior percentage,” Paul Caldarella, a professor of counseling psychology and special education at Brigham Young University, wrote in a report published last week in the journal Educational Psychology.

In a randomized experiment, Caldarella and his team spent three years observing teachers and students in 151 K-6

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Educators & Parents: Explore Digital Financial Literacy Resources & Enter the Cha-Ching™ Money Smart Kids Pledge Challenge This Spring

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Teaching TV Production In A Digital World

2 days ago Jennifer