A new school year can be filled with excitement – and stress. 5th grade teacher Kathie Palmieri suggests you SOAR into fall as you plan your structure and organization, assess your classroom, review and reset so you and your students can take flight in a welcoming environment.
With the school year starting so differently from what everyone had hoped, AP DeAnna Miller recounts the challenges her district is facing, including pushback on the decision to require masks. She admires the commitment of educators to support kids’ learning, no matter what.
Back to School / Wide Open Learning
by Megan Kelly · Published 08/22/2021 · Last modified 08/27/2024
Sharing Identity Slides can be the first step in building a classroom community of acceptance, risk-taking, growth, and reflection. Megan Kelly is excited that she and her sixth graders can start on that path with a simple activity that also assesses skills in three areas.
Worry, anger and fear are not worthy expenditures of a teacher’s precious energy, writes Dina Strasser, as she prepares for a pandemic fall in a new school. “I am inviting us to look upon our exhaustion as a gift. It will teach us what is necessary and what is not.”
Michelle Russell has found the first 10 days of teaching her hybrid classes even more exhausting than her first year in the classroom. But she’s learning fast how to help her math students adjust to a new reality – and to find the time and support she needs to prosper.
Future of History / Social Emotional Learning
by Lauren S. Brown · Published 08/30/2020 · Last modified 09/11/2020
As Lauren Brown heads back to school for a year like no other, she considers how to combine academics and SEL support across the content areas. Along with activities for the first days of virtual or physical class, she offers three guidelines to engage kids all year.
Middle grades kids are returning to school from many different developmental places. Distance learning this fall will demand skills students will need to learn effectively but mostly don’t have yet. School leader Jody Passanisi shares strategies to build 7 essential skills.
Amid the uncertainty facing teachers and principals this fall, Ronald Williamson and Barbara R. Blackburn offer strategies to keep the safety of students and staff uppermost, to communicate often with your school community, and to sustain your school’s culture.
Two Teachers in the Room / Universal Design for Learning
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 06/30/2020 · Last modified 08/02/2023
As we consider what school will look like this fall, teaching coach Elizabeth Stein shows how the Universal Design for Learning gives educators flexibility to teach effectively within and without any learning space – fully in person, fully remote, or using a hybrid model.
Co-Teaching Teams / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 09/03/2019 · Last modified 07/19/2024
Whether you began the school year weeks ago or you’re just launching, it’s time to consider what you hold most important when you think about a successful co-teaching partnership. Elizabeth Stein shares an experience from her own career that unwrapped three essentials.
