Grammar instruction has barely changed since our grandparents were in school. It’s time to flip that script. ELA teachers Patty McGee and Tim Donohue share fun, effective techniques to help students evolve into grammar rock stars. Welcome to the FANBOYS conjunction fan club!
Artificial Intelligence / STEM By Design
by Anne Jolly · Published 05/20/2025 · Last modified 06/28/2025
Every student needs to understand AI basics, including its potential and problems. They need to be aware of current AI tools and understand how to use them. Perhaps most important, they need to understand the social and ethical issues AI can create. Anne Jolly shares ways to get students started.
Alex Shevrin Venet guides educators on how they can become effective, equity-centered, trauma-informed changemakers to provide healing and justice at school. Her book includes many insights, moments of reflection and useful exercises, writes education consultant Randy Ross.
Teacher Michelle Russell likes to have some short activities on hand, in case she needs to fill extra time during math class. Here she shares several fun fillers that are easy to access, don’t require prep, and increase students’ math fluency, logic skills, or number sense.
Communication, adaptability, and problem-solving are among the “soft” social-emotional skills that are behind-the-scenes champs of the learning process. Literacy interventionist Kelly Owens shares 10 ways she is weaving the “intangibles” employers prize into existing lessons.
By developing the skill of reframing, teachers can navigate challenges with greater ease, foster a more positive mindset, and build resilience that benefits us and our students. Tools for changing our perspective include pausing, pondering, and persisting, writes Julie Hasson.
Recently when Michelle Russell noticed that winter had drained the joy from her math classroom, she set out to reignite the glow. Checking with other teachers in person and online, she found tools that work. Trashetball, row games, and buzzer competitions top her new list.
Creative writing exercises offer low stakes, high engagement opportunities for students to build writing skills while also having fun. Kasey Short shares a rich collection of character, plot and setting activities to help kids develop their voices as writers through the year.
Authentic STEM projects integrate technology seamlessly, so that it plays a genuine role in helping students research, solve and communicate the results of their challenge. STEM expert Anne Jolly suggests ways to include artificial intelligence tools in the learning process.
Stephanie Farley has come to realize that she’s a hybrid kind of person – she enjoys the blurring of traditional lines between categories. Here she shares how she uses elements of fiction to help students conceptualize and improve their nonfiction writing. And vice versa.
