When Stephanie Farley asked fellow teachers how they felt about the presents they receive from students each year, she found that “while they roundly appreciate all of them, it’s clear they cherish the heartfelt notes, the student art, and the homemade or hand-crafted gifts.”
Whether it’s standing desks, beanbags or low tables, flexible seating helps students feel more comfortable, engaged, and in control of their own learning. Kathie Palmieri shares research showing how flexible seating can meet physical, social, and cognitive needs of students.
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.
Travel abroad is a chance for students to step out of their comfort zones, build connections, and develop a global perspective – to engage authentically with people and places beyond their cultural affiliations or national borders, writes middle school head Michael McLaughlin.
Media LIteracy / Wide Open Learning
by Megan Kelly · Published 12/15/2024 · Last modified 01/01/2025
Concerned by the News Literacy Project’s survey revealing teens’ difficulties in separating fact and fiction, Megan Kelly is finding as many classroom minutes as possible to build her students’ media literacy skills. She shares some quick activities her classes like best.
Building small but mighty habits that we commit to without having to overthink what we’re doing is a far more effective and lasting approach to not just getting each day done and dusted, but to also retaining feelings of accomplishment and productivity, writes Miriam Plotinsky.
Supporting learners through effective vocabulary instruction is critical to their success. Curtis Chandler offers a “crash course” – a compendium of key principles, strategies, and research-backed methods to help students build key vocabulary skills, whatever your subject area.
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.
The most important step in learning to solve math word problems is reflection, writes math coach Mona Iehl, “yet it’s often overlooked or sacrificed for the sake of time.” Iehl shares her workshop approach to problem solving and how she builds quick reflections into her lessons.
Exploring human experiences through personal stories promotes discussions that focus on facts and individual realities rather than generalizations and stereotypes and helps students develop empathy, compassion and understanding, writes Kasey Short. Reading suggestions included!
