Every time it’s evaluation season (now), I think about how anxious I get knowing this task is big and lurking. If my feedback to teachers is valuable, they can use it to develop their skills, bringing better teaching and learning to their students. Yet, the day-to-day humdrum of a busy school building, parental needs, and budget constraints increase my work load, and more than often, get in the way.

Balancing this task with being a visible leader is a delicate challenge. How can I save time, give better qualitative feedback, and help my school community through me being accessible?

Enter AI…

Let’s face it, teacher evaluations are one of the most critical, time-consuming, administrative tasks school leaders face, yet also warrant careful documentation, objective analysis, and the crafting of nuanced, actionable feedback. The emergence of large language models such as Gemini, ChatGPT, Meta, and others, offers an invaluable opportunity to streamline the narrative drafting and synthesis components of the evaluation cycle, improving quality and reducing time on the task.

Don’t let me sell you too hard–AI cannot replace the evaluator. The true power of AI lies in an integrated approach in which human judgment and professional discretion remain the cornerstones. Recognizing this helps me provide you with the roadmap to save countless hours while increasing the quality of your feedback.

This guide outlines a three-phase process for integrating AI into your evaluation process, ensuring integrity, objectivity, and a significant boost in efficiency. It’s not an end-all, and you can take from it what you want, adapt the other parts and add your own ideas. It provides you with rational, ethical reasoning, and I’m certain, a few prompts you will use again and again in your own school leadership routine.

Phase 1: The Analog Foundation (Evidence Collection & Preparation)

The quality of the AI-generated draft hinges entirely on the quality and objectivity you put into it. This phase is deliberately human-centric and serves as the foundation of the entire process.

1. Collect Objective Observation Notes: The process begins with traditional, human-led observation. I write all my notes in a factual, objective, evidence-based manner. I’m sure you do this part already. These should remain "dry, straight facts." At this stage, I avoid any subjective interpretation or judgment.

2. Standardize and Input Evidence: Transfer the raw, factual evidence into your official evaluation system. An important step here is a thorough check for grammar and structural clarity. Be sure that the foundational data is properly edited before engaging the AI.

3. Prepare Evidence for AI: Engage in the process of removing or obscuring personally identifiable information, which is the most important security feature before any data is entered into an external AI tool. It may seem like a waste of time, and now you may want to give up on the AI, but don’t. I still save at least half as much time on an output on the other side of the process by taking this step. Remove the teacher's name, names of collaborative partners, student names, and specific dates/times that could uniquely identify the educator. The evidence is now "blind" and ready to be inputted into the AI chatbot.

Phase 2: The AI Drafting & Narrative Enhancement

With a body of clear, objective text evidence, the AI chatbot is now ready for its part: drafting cohesive, well-phrased narratives. Using the chat history to maintain context is key to building a comprehensive final summary.

1. Generate Feedback on Pre-Observation Discussion: Use a specific, focused prompt to generate initial feedback.

• Example Prompt I Use: Use this teacher discussion of her lesson plan for an evaluation by the principal, to write 3 sentences of feedback, from the principal about the lesson:

2. Draft Narrative from Post-Observation Reflection: The AI excels at taking the teacher’s self-reflection and re-framing it into the third-person narrative required for the principal’s perspective.

• Example Prompt I Use: Use this teacher reflection of the lesson to write in the third person, from the principal's perspective in 3 sentences:

3. Capture Ongoing Evidence History: Context matters. Continue to input all relevant, anonymized evidence throughout the evaluation cycle using the same chat session. This ongoing history provides the comprehensive context the AI needs for the final summary step. By the way, you can always go back to a chat session in your AI chatbot history (here is how to do that in one LLM).

4. Craft Areas for Growth: A significant benefit of using AI is its ability to draft feedback in a consistent, objective framework.

• Example Prompt I Use: For areas to develop, use the entire history of evidence to write 2 sentences for areas of growth, framed in the positive (as in continue to...)

5. Synthesize the Performance Overview: This is where the time savings are most obvious. By utilizing the entire chat history—all the inputted evidence—the AI can generate a synthesized summary paragraph that links disparate pieces of evidence into a coherent narrative.

• Example Prompt I Like to Use: Use all of the above inputted evidence to write a 5-sentence overview of the teacher's performance.

Phase 3: The Human Refinement (Professional Discretion & Quality Control)

Remember, the output from the AI is a draft—not the final document. The ultimate responsibility and authority rests with you. This phase ensures the evaluation is accurate, fair, and, most importantly, personal, or what I like to call personification.

1. Review, Revise, and Personalize (The Final Check): This is the stage when your professional discretion comes through. The evaluator must revise all components of the AI-generated text, particularly when the AI drew conclusions or made interpretive statements.

2. Add Personal Context: Integrate that personified information that only you uniquely know about the teacher (e.g., their long-term goals, specific mentoring relationships, or particular contributions to the school culture) to make the feedback more authentic and meaningful.

3. Quality Control: Scrutinize the AI’s output rigorously for:

• Strange Wording/Tone: AI can sometimes be overly academic or use passive voice. Use your voice throughout, touching up this style.
• Redundancies: A common AI tendency is to repeat points or phrases, so look for and remove these.
• Content Conflict: Ensure the output does not counter your professional judgment or your school’s established evaluation criteria. (For example, I use the Danielson Framework).
• Alignment: Directly align the drafted narrative to the specific domain and component language of your evaluation system. Here, you can even ask the AI where in your evaluation framework these components are best suited, and of course use your professional judgement both with AI support and on your own.

Using the integrated, three-phase protocol, I have moved away from the tedious, time-consuming process of narrative generation. Instead, I get to focus my limited time on being objective and providing meaningful, personalized feedback, in less than half the time.

Like all new processes, this approach took me some practice so don’t give up after the first observation or two. You will see that as you get familiar with the process your time, and the quality feedback you give both get better!

In Part 2 of this two-part series, Tech & Learning, in partnership with PowerSchool, brought together school district experts to share advice about how they improved teacher retention by streamlining their onboarding processes, creating a supportive culture, and offering personalized coaching and professional development programs.

This webinar delved into:

• How to improve retention by putting staff in places to succeed, connecting their work with the strategic direction of the district, and providing frequent feedback
• Tips to transform real-time instructional coaching data into personalized goals
• Strategies to tailor professional development recommendations to boost retention

Participants included:

• Dan Ryder, Director of Design and Innovation, CRCS Overman Schools, Maine
• Dr. Todd Dugan, Superintendent, Bunker Hill CUSD #8, Illinois
• Dr. Leanna Mullen, Student Data Coordinator and RtI Data Coach, Egg Harbor Township School District, New Jersey
• Fred Scott, Retired K-12 Educator, Consultant, and Solutions Engineer, PowerSchool

SEE PART 1 OF THIS SERIES HERE

Key Takeaways

Understanding Next Gen Teachers

Mullen discussed how her district has done in-depth research on the new generation of incoming teachers, which are primarily GenZ and Millennials. The research confirmed that these new teachers are very tech-savvy as it is embedded in all they do, plus they really value PD and crave constructive feedback. She added their strategy is “the millennial sandwich of ‘You’re doing a great job, but here’s something you can do to improve, but you’re doing a great job!’”

Ryder added: “The thing I hear all the time is, ‘They have all grown up with tech. But they haven’t had to use it the way the teaching profession needs it. We make assumptions all the time about generations, but some folks don’t live and breathe in specific modalities. Like, we’re not putting out lesson plans on Snapchat. We’re using tools that they’re not used to.”

Time Is Of The Essence

Mullen also shared from her district’s research that they find that most teachers coming into a district will decide around Day 44 whether they’ll stay, so it’s critical to focus on that time.

Duggan’s district had a 100% retention rate last year. “We didn’t set out for that, it just happened,” he said. But he noted that over the past few years they’ve introduced a full-blown new teacher/staff induction program that coincidentally happens inside the 44-day period Mullen mentioned. In addition to offering PD, they insist that new teachers spend a full day observing a teaching peer in the building or even in another district. They also have a part-time instructional technology coach for support.

Culture Club

“We’ve arrived as a district at the conclusion that it’s our culture that helps us retain teachers,” Duggan said. In addition to the aforementioned PD, they provide an opportunity for teachers to apply for a mini grant to travel to a major education conference. Being able to do so helps teachers feel as if they are actual working professionals, and builds their self-esteem.

Ryder said that as a public charter school not affiliated with a specific town, they have limited funds and can’t just ask for money to pay more competitive salaries.

Therefore, they’ve adopted the “radical” idea of treating people as humans, which has gone a long way to making them want to stay. “Authenticity helps people be themselves,” he said.

PD Voice and Choice

Scott shared that PowerSchool has done a study around what educators are looking for from their PD, and noted that a few key points: They want evidence-based PD that is flexible in strategies; it should be not one-size-fits-all, and offer hybrid and peer-to-peer opportunities; and they want to have the opportunity to have reflection on their practices.

Scott also said that the areas in which new educators are most interested are:

• How to handle discipline and disruptive students.
• How do I address student interventions?
• Communicating with parents and too many meetings/committees.

Ryder echoed the desire for personalized PD, noting that each teacher is able to choose their own path based on their own needs. “Everyone is going to be able to choose the path that fits them best,” he said, which follows the learning paths they’ve created for students. “We’ve had a realization over the past few years: What is good for our learners is good for our staff.”

“Ultimately, choice is important, especially for Millennial/GenZ teachers, who want that opportunity,” said Mullen. Her district offers after- or before-school PD cohorts that focus on new strategies and networking opportunities. They try to provide a variety of modalities and tools, and have launched an innovation team that determines strategies and vets digital tools. New PD opportunities are also generated by this group.

Collaboration Education

“Collaboration is key for PD being effective,” said Duggan, noting that sit-and-get PD isn’t engaging for anyone. “Our district has PD days built into the school year for new teachers to collaborate and learn from peers.”

Mullen discussed using data to show what’s working and the key to building rapport with existing staff. “We want to make sure everyone is on the same page in regard to PD.”

Scott said that PowerSchool’s research showed three preferred PD modalities: common planning time, PLCs, and a collaborational friends group, all of which rely on educators working together.

“Collaboration works best when everyone is authentic and real and heard,” said Ryder. “Their actual needs are met, plus sitting down to collaborate and problem solve together creates moments such as, “I want to work with you on this because I need the answer too!” That’s an amazing synergy.”

• Tech & Learning Webinars

Finding good teachers can be a daunting task. Knowing that our kids are in good hands is important for educators as well as parents. Therefore, the recruitment and onboarding of qualified educators is of equal importance.

In this recent webinar sponsored by PowerSchool, Dan Ryder, Director of Design and Innovation at CRCS Overman Schools in Maine, Greg Bagby, Coordinator of Instructional Technology at Hamilton County Schools, and Fred Scott, K-12 education veteran, talked about the recruitment and onboarding process in the education space.

Watch the full webinar for free on demand here

Unique Recruitment Obstacles

While there are tried and true methods of hiring employees, more nontraditional methods have become popular, especially in the world of education, to overcome recruitment obstacles. Greg Bagby served as a teacher, principal, and is now working in the district office providing support to principals in the process of vetting new teachers for their schools.

“Where Chattanooga is, we sit on the Tennessee-Georgia border and only until recently, like this year, the pay in my district was a little bit less than the surrounding districts were just across the state line,” said Bagby. “So it was a real challenge for us to recruit teachers to come to the district initially.”

The difference in support for public schools and their private counterparts also poses a hurdle when it comes to teachers deciding where to teach (and principals making public schools a desirable location).

Dan Ryder recalled how his district provides for students from a variety of backgrounds while also existing in a politically mixed environment, which influences the educational hiring process.

Fred Scott discussed how recruitment used to be a simple process for educational decision-makers and what teachers are now looking for in terms of employment expectations.

“There are three things that I have experienced in hiring large numbers of people and working with people. They want to be respected, they want their work to be inspected, and they also want to have solid expectations of what their job is. Those are the three things,” said Scott.

Being aware of what goals teachers have and where they want to be is important as it makes teachers feel more appreciated as employees and as people.

How to Recruit Quality Teachers

Regardless of the obstacles educational leaders may face, the recruitment process is important to providing quality education for students. Finding the right teachers might not involve the traditional recruitment process, as Ryder explained. At times, it might venture outside of the box.

“We started doing what most people do, which is put it out on your job posting sites,” said Ryder. “That’s been our primary driver for years. Then it was also going to your college fairs and visiting teacher prep programs, and that's been fine. But what has been really helpful for us to get the word out is using social media to constantly be talking about what we’re doing and that we’re always looking for people.”

Word of mouth seems to be a more preferred way to find educators who not only fit the culture of a school or district but also are genuinely interested in working in that particular environment. Using platforms such as Facebook can be great ways to provide insight to what happens inside the school.

Using searches for larger districts can help to refine the type of teacher for which you may be looking. In this case, traditional recruitment can help, but modern recruitment practices can also help to refine the educators who will become a perfect fit for a particular school or district.

How to Onboard Educators Successfully

After you find the right candidates, how you bring them into a new culture is key to helping create a solid relationship.

Scott explained that creating a clear communication path between teachers and their higher ups is important to fostering continuing success. Being clear on what teachers need to do in the classroom is also important. Providing support, training, and resources can make the difference between successful and unsuccessful teachers.

Bagby mentioned that he treats prospective teachers like they are already part of the team. This may involve in-class activity, but it can also feature out-of-the-class activities such as inviting teachers to lunch. Talking about teaching and expectations in a comfortable environment can help people relax, Bagby said, and giving teachers a stress-free introduction to the culture of a school can go a long way in helping teachers have a fruitful beginning in a new school or district.

• Tech & Learning Webinars

AI has now reached into almost every area of education. A large portion of the focus seems to be on specific AI-based platforms such as ChatGPT, Dall-E, and Google Gemini, or whether and how school districts should go about allowing and using AI in their classrooms.

One area that has not been extensively focused on is how AI is being addressed within teacher education programs. As pre-service teachers are being prepared to instruct, assess, and support millions of students in the years to come, the instruction they receive regarding AI use in K-12 classrooms is critical.

Every teacher education program is distinct in their format and focus, with many aligning with individual state standards and requirements. Recognizing this, here are three areas of focus that teacher education programs should consider regarding the inclusion of AI in this curriculum. These practices and general advice for addressing AI in teacher education programs may prove helpful as we all try to figure out how to best move forward.

1. AI in Teacher Education: Train the Trainer

Given that access to ChatGPT and other generative AI platforms did not become widely available until late 2022, it is likely that most teacher educators have not even been trained on AI and its use in the classroom as they have with other learning technologies.

Teacher education programs need to provide their faculty with training and PD for AI technologies to build their teacher educators’ AI literacy so they have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to support their pre-service teachers’ AI foundational knowledge development and use of AI within teaching and learning spaces.

Included in this is providing teacher educators with an understanding as to the potential harms of AI and ways to address them in their own teaching, as well as how to prepare their pre-service teachers to recognize these harms.

2. Develop AI Methods Coursework

While it would be an unrealistic expectation to provide pre-service teachers with a robust computer science education, they should at a minimum be exposed to foundational knowledge around AI.

Methods courses are essential to teacher education as it provides authentic opportunities for students to learn how to teach core subjects such as science and mathematics. A similar AI methods course, or content within other methods courses, could be created to provide pre-service teachers with practical opportunities to use AI in K-12 lessons. AI methods coursework could include field-based experiences in schools and/or AI simulation labs and the development of pre-service teachers’ AI literacy skills as foundational content.

Google and Adobe, among other sources, offer free basic AI literacy courses to help get started.

3. Model Ethical and Responsible AI Practices

Practicing what you preach instead of “do as I say, not what I do,” is the way to go. With the confusion and mixed messages around the perils and greatness of AI, and different bans on AI in certain school districts, pre-service teachers need to see how the faculty within their teacher education programs are using it in their own instruction.

Consider:

• Exposing pre-service to diverse scholars, such as former MIT Media Lab’s Dr. Joy Buolamwini, who founded the Algorithmic Justice League and was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in AI in 2023. This will support pre-service teachers’ capacity to be critical consumers of AI content.
• Demonstrating how prompt engineering works (hopefully a topic covered in the train the trainer sessions), and the potential outcomes of AI depending on what and how something is phrased and asked.
• Situating the use of AI technologies into a respected inclusive framework, such as Universal Design for Learning, so pre-service teachers can see how AI technologies can be used to represent content students, engage students in learning, and provide students different ways to demonstrate theory learning. This keeps the use of AI technologies on pedagogies focused on specific learning opportunities and outcomes.

If pre-service teachers have not been exposed to intentional preparation on using AI in education, or if they have not had the opportunity to see how AI is used in classrooms, how can we expect them to tackle its use in K-12 education after graduation? Teacher educators have the responsibility, duty, and challenge to prepare pre-service teachers, and certainly, addressing AI in teacher education should be a priority.

• Free Classes from Google and Adobe That Certify Educators Have Basic AI Literacy
• 3 New Tricks for Veteran Teachers
• Navigating AI Biases In The Classroom

Congratulations and welcome to teaching! As you start your professional journey, Tech & Learning is here to support you with experience and expertise from our team and advisors, who have substantial time in front of a class doing what you’re about to do. We know it can be daunting, and a little scary, but we’re here to help you succeed with this new teacher starter kit.

To help build your teaching toolbox, we offer this regularly updated assortment of resources, tips, and advice from education professionals such as yourself for using edtech, implementing digital tools, navigating technology in the classroom, and just approaching teaching altogether.

For the latest tools and guidance for teaching with AI, check out our AI Starter Kit for Teachers.

Professional Development

5 Pieces of Advice for New Teachers - Asking questions and making sure to give yourself time off are among the advice veteran and award-winning educators offer for new teachers.

11 Edtech Tips for New Teachers - Advice to help new teachers implement digital tools into their classrooms and instruction.

5 Google Classroom Tips From Its Developers - The Google Classroom product manager and adaptive learning project manager at Google share tips for utilizing the popular learning management system.

6 Google Scholar Tips From Its Co-Creator - Google Scholar can be a great tool for teachers and their students. Here’s how to get the most out of it.

5 Edtech Books Every New and Seasoned Teacher Should Read - These edtech books support professional learning for teachers in all academic areas and grade levels.

10 Effective Online Learning Practices - How to prepare for effective remote and distance learning.

5 Summer Professional Development Ideas - Summer is the perfect time to take advantage of great learnings and have enough time to put those learnings into practice in your planning for next school year.

Top Sites for Educator PD - Professional development is an ongoing process for any educator. Looking for the best ways to impart knowledge to students and staying current with the latest learning trends is critical.

Leveraging Technology to Support Lesson Creation and Instruction - Intentional use of technology is important to ensure that we do not get lost in the options and lose focus on why we are incorporating it in the first place.

Leveraging Technology to Better Engage Learners in Lessons - With so many technological teach tools available, finding the right one to engage your students can be a challenge. Here's advice on how to get started.

Leveraging Technology to Assess Student Learning - Leveraging technology to assess student learning is a viable option to make it more engaging and fun.

How To Become a Google Certified Educator - The Google Certified Educator program offers the chance for teachers to gain practical PD while earning a badge to demonstrate their edtech expertise.

Providing New Teachers with Remote PD and Modeling - Strategies to support new teachers with technology as they navigate these trying times and remote learning.

4 Lessons From Remote Learning - Despite its challenges, remote learning has changed in-person learning for the better, says one Kansas City educator.

How to Write in Plain Language for Teaching - Using plain language for school websites and family communication is an effective way to assure understanding, especially when translation is involved.

7 Things to Know About Being an Online Teacher - Online teachers should be open to learning new technology and be excited to provide individualized feedback to students.

Teacher Burnout: Recognizing and Reducing It - Signs of teacher burnout include emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a feeling of no longer being effective at your job. It’s important to listen to these feelings and make changes.

I Took CASEL’s Online SEL Course. Here’s What I Learned - CASEL’s new online SEL course takes 45-60 minutes to complete and provides a lot of information in an efficient manner.

Class & Classroom Management

5 Tips for Talking to Social Media-Addicted Teens - Talking to social-media addicted teens requires meeting them where they communicate, according to Nicole Rice, author of Does Your Teen Talk? No, But They Text, Snap, and TikTok

Classroom Engagement: 4 Tips From Students for Teachers - Four students share their advice for teachers looking to create more engaging and impactful classes.

5 Tips for Implementing Active Learning - Active learning provides ways to get your students engaged without needing to revamp how you teach.

Growth Mindset: 4 Ways to Implement it In Class - Growth mindset works for specific students in specific instances but educators should be careful when implementing it.

Busting the Myth of Learning Styles - The idea that different students have different learning styles pervades education, but cognitive scientists say there is no evidence learning styles exist.

3 Ways You & Your Students Can Use Microproductivity - Breaking down large tasks into smaller, easier-to-complete ones can save time and help educators and students tackle daunting projects.

Implementing Authentic Exploratory Research into Teaching - Authentic exploratory research provides an opportunity for reality-based learning.

How to Address School Shootings With Your Class - Listening to students and providing a safe space for sharing their concerns is key when discussing school shootings.

Best Practices for Trauma-Informed Teaching - While trauma-informed care is part of many therapeutic plans of school counselors, teachers see students on a daily basis so it is often necessary to embrace and employ trauma-informed approaches to teaching.

5 Lessons for Teachers from Ted Lasso - How the optimistic soccer coach models some good behavior for teachers.

5 Teaching Tips from The Coach and Educator Who Inspired Ted Lasso - Basketball coach and math teacher Donnie Campbell, one of the inspirations for Jason Sudeikis’ Ted Lasso, shares his strategies for inspiring young people in the classroom and on the court.

5 Ways to Engage Reluctant Readers - How technology and student choice can help engage reluctant readers.

Websites, Apps & Digital Tools

Best Tools for Teachers - If you’re new to teaching or looking to learn more about digital tools for teachers such as Zoom, TikTok, Minecraft, Microsoft Teams, or Flipgrid -- and all the related apps and resources -- here’s where to get started. We cover the basic features for each one, plus provide tips and advice to get the most out of your experience.

Edtech Lesson Plans - Designed to provide a template for implementing specific popular digital tools into your instruction and classroom, these free lesson plans include Flip, Kahoot!, Wakelet, Boom Cards, TikTok, and many more.

Google Education Tools & Apps - Google Classroom is the most popular digital tool in education, due to its cost (free!) and the multitude of easy-to-use apps and resources related to it. Many school systems rely on it because of its accessibility, ease of use, and flexibility.

Best YouTube Sites and Channels for Education - Safe-viewing tips and education-focused channels to help take advantage of the fantastic free educational videos YouTube provides.

Top Flipped Classroom Tech Tools - Flipped educators shared their favorite resources for their flipped classrooms.

Fact-Checking Sites for Students - Student research sites and apps that are safe and unbiased, and specialize in debunking claims and providing objective, researched analysis.

First Day of Class: 5 Edtech Tools That Can Make it More Engaging - These interactive apps will help keep your students active and engaged as they get to know you, each other, and what to expect this year.

Top Sites and Resources to Support LGTBQ+ Students - It’s estimated that nearly two million American youth aged 13-17 identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. These students are at relatively high risk for becoming the targets of bullies, violence—and even committing suicide.

Best Digital Icebreakers - Ease into the new school year is with fun and engaging digital icebreakers.

Best Free Virtual Escape Rooms - Virtual escape rooms incorporate riddles, puzzles, math, logic, and literacy skills, and can help create team-building opportunities as well as boost critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving.

Tech & Learning Reader Favorites - These top Tech & Learning articles explore the latest ideas, resources, and tools for teachers and students.

Teacher Tech & Devices

Best Desktop Computers For Teachers - Get the ultimate education-focused desktop computer that's ideal for teachers.

Best Laptops for Teachers - Get the best laptop for teachers both in class and for remote learning.

Best Tablets for Teachers - The ultimate tablets for use by teachers in class and for remote learning.

Best Laptop Docking Stations For Teachers - Get the ideal laptop dock for teachers working between remote and classroom lessons.

Best Webcams for Teachers - The best webcams for education, be it for teachers or students, can make all the difference.

Best Ring Lights For Remote Teaching - Create the perfect lighting for video teaching to give the best remote learning experience.

Best Headphones for Teachers - The best headphones for teachers in remote learning situations can make a huge difference to the quality of a lesson.

Best Laptop Cases for Teachers - The best laptop cases for teachers could offer freedom of movement without sacrificing tech.

Best Hardware for Teachers - Computers, monitors, webcams, headphones, and other edtech hardware for your in-person or online classroom.

Edtech Tips & Troubleshooting

How Do I Livestream a Class? - To livestream a class it's easier than ever before and here's what you need to know to get started right now.

How Do I Screencast a Lesson? - A screencast is, essentially, a recording of your computer screen -- and you -- with audio narration over the top.

How Do I Create a YouTube Channel? - If you want to create a YouTube channel for your class, this is everything you need to know.

How To Teach Like An Influencer - Students spend more and more time online, so using digital tools to successfully engage and educate can be useful.

Why Do My Webcam and Microphone Not Work? - Webcam and microphone not work? This is how you can get up and running.

Why Can't I Print from My Computer? - If you've asked why can’t I print from my computer, it's time to take a breath of relief as we reveal all you need to know.

How Can I Extend My Laptop Battery Charge for a Full School Day? - If you've asked 'How can I extend my laptop battery charge?', you've come to the right place.

Using Virtual Reality (VR) to Enhance Existing Lessons - Virtual reality can enhance educational experiences and is a powerful way to foster student engagement.

Teaching a VR Lesson: 5 Questions to Ask - Before teaching a VR lesson or an AR lesson, there are some questions teachers should ask themselves.

How to Set Up Virtual or Augmented Reality in Schools for Free - While the relatively new technologies may seem expensive and complex initially, either can be very accessible.

Showing Movies & Videos in Class - Using films, documentaries, and video clips can be a good way to deepen lessons and build engagement, but there are pitfalls to avoid.

Video Lectures: 4 Tips for Teachers - Creating short and engaging video lectures for students is a growing trend at education institutions.

4 Tips for Hosting School Webinars - Webinars should be as interactive as possible and allow for hands-on practice.

Zoom/Video Conferencing Best Practices - Researchers at Stanford University and the University of Gothenburg find those who look at the camera are viewed more favorably by other Zoom/video conference participants.

Creating A Roblox Classroom - By creating a Roblox classroom, teachers can provide opportunities for collaboration, creativity, and more.

The learning never stops for teachers. Even if continuing education were not required by law, educators would still strive toward deepening their subject knowledge, keeping up with the latest research, sharpening their classroom skills, and learning to use education technology tools.

The following professional development sites for education will help teachers refresh and update their practice, connect with fellow educators and, in some cases, earn continuing education credits. All provide substantial free or modestly priced PD content.   

Top Sites for Educator Professional Development 

Modern Classrooms Project Professional Development
The Modern Classrooms Project’s mission is to help educators implement a self-paced, mastery-based instructional model, supported by technology. To access the free 52-lesson Modern Classrooms Essentials course, simply create an account and start learning. The course covers the principles of the instructional model and how to implement it, lessons, blended instruction, and interviews with teachers and students who have adopted the techniques.  

EdWeb Educator PD Webinars
Looking for a faster way to do professional development? Explore these free one-hour webinars covering topics from AI and misinformation to high-impact tutoring and literacy scaffolding, arranged in order of date/time. Free account required. Continuing education credits available.  

OK2ASK Free Education Technology Virtual Workshops
A modest but practical selection of free professional learning opportunities, with live upcoming sessions focused on feedback for students, questioning strategies, building content, and coding. Convenient on-demand content is also available. Certificates provided for participation in live sessions. Bonus: Save time and hassle by registering for all or multiple sessions at one time. 

Next Gen Personal Finance Virtual PD
Founded by educators and entrepreneurs, the nonprofit Next Gen Personal Finance aims to ensure that all students and teachers have access to high-quality, free financial literacy resources. Browse the selection of free online PD related to finances and math, or check out the free on-demand PD. Self-paced modules are built on the Nearpod platform, but no subscription is required. Teachers can also earn NGPF certification via free certification courses in banking, budget, credit, behavioral economics, and more. Visit NGPF Academy to view all PD options. 

National Geographic Online Courses for Educators
What is the National Geographic Explorer mindset and how can you teach it to your students? These and other key pedagogical concepts are examined via the lens of science, photography, exploration, and experimentation. Create a free account, enroll in PD courses, and start learning how to take your teaching to the next level. 

KQED Teach
Free self-paced online PD focusing on media literacy and creation. Earn eight micro-credentials to become a certified PBS Media Literacy Educator. Bonus: Two free online storytelling workshops, October 25 and 26, 2023.  

Teaching Channel
An online video-based community for teachers, Teaching Channel is a great resource for lesson ideas, video coaching, and earning credits toward PD requirements. The robust social network connects educators with shared interests to one another. Free and premium content.

Annenberg Learner
A rich trove of professional development and classroom resources, searchable by grade and subject. These terrific in-depth videos examine a diversity of topics, from teaching algebra to applying neuroscience research findings in your classroom. Free. 

OER Commons Professional Learning & Teacher Training
Explore tens of thousands of free preK-20 open education resources, curated by the nonprofit OER Commons. Connect with fellow teachers in topic-specific forums and search free OER PD/Training resources by standards, education level, subject, and type of material. 

ReadWriteThink Strategy Guides
Whether you're interested in learning a new teaching strategy or polishing your existing approach, these guides will be valuable assets in your efforts. Each strategy guide includes information about the research basis, classroom implementation, and lesson plans. Topics include writing, teaching with technology, inquiry-based learning, and more. 

Stanford Graduate School of Education Youcubed
Research-based ideas, strategies, and tools to elevate your math instruction to the nth degree. Youcubed provides a multitude of math resources to learn from and use, including lessons, activities, videos, and PD classes. Most important is the focus on growth mindset in the math classroom and task-based teaching to engage and inspire students. Extensive free online resources and paid workshops.

PBS Learning Media
An abundance of free resources for professional development, including standard-aligned videos, lesson plans, interactives, and more. Six elements of PD are explored in detail, from planning and preparation to assessment to learning environment and more. Searchable by grade, type of resource, popularity, and date created.

Tech & Learning’s Professional Development Hub
Check out Tech & Learning’s PD Hub, in which we showcase articles about how to incorporate the latest edtech tools into your classroom instruction and more. 

• 7 Tips For Scaling Professional Development At A Statewide Level
• How It's Done: Building A Video Library For Professional Development
• Best Free Social Networks/Media Sites for Education

Student collaboration is an important aspect of teaching and learning. As we prepare students for career and college, we must ensure that they have experience developing soft skills, one of which is the ability to work with others. Many tools are available that can be used to engage in collaborative learning, but there are also the “nuts and bolts” in preparing students for successful collaboration. 

Focusing on the four main areas of collaborative work for K-12 teaching and learning is key, so consider incorporating these best practices as you create opportunities for your students to learn to work together.

Student Collaboration: Group Development - How do you choose group membership?  

Choosing groups can be tricky. Some students are more vocal than others, while others may be a bit reserved. You also have students with different interests and, as students get to higher grades, different motivation and academic goals. 

Whichever way you choose, it may be helpful to develop a preference inventory using Google Forms to match and/or mix groups by interests, experience, levels, personality traits, etc. You could also leave it to chance and use Random Group Generator. 

Topic Selection: How do you get students to agree on what to focus? 

Once you have groups, the topic and/or approach to the project will need to be decided. To ensure that one student does not solely determine the direction to go, and that each group member has a voice in the decision-making, you could have each group member prepare and record on VoiceThread a one-minute “elevator pitch” with their idea. Using VoiceThread will allow all recordings to be on the same slide, and group members can vote and comment on the idea they like best. 

Groups may also decide to take parts of different group members’ ideas and combine these to create a new idea for the group. This would also help students practice their public speaking and negotiation skills. 

Content Development: Who does what and how do you ensure each student contributes?  

Larger projects with different components work well for group collaboration because there are enough tasks to keep everyone busy. Have students outline the components of their projects, and make sure each group member can lead a certain piece. For example, there may be a research component, writing component, presentation slide component, and so forth. 

By using an open online idea board such as Padlet, each group member can have a space to organize and facilitate the content development for the section they are leading. And all of the project materials and links can be housed within one online space so every team member has access.  

Assessing the Final Product: How do you grade collaborative work? 

While group projects can be very exciting, in order for us as teachers to know how students are progressing, there needs to be an assessment piece. 

Typically assessing group projects can be challenging as often one or two students carry the load. However, by following the practices here, each group member will have an equitable role and contribution to the project, allowing you to use your typical assessment measure and rubrics to determine if the learning objectives were met. If you want to leverage digital tools to assess student learning, you can do this as well in a group setting.  

So many ways are available to engage students in collaborative learning opportunities with their peers, and although working with others can sometimes be taxing, when ideas come together, the end result is often more robust and complete. Try using some of these practices to set up your students for fun and seamless collaboration. 

To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here.

• How To Help Students Build Collaboration Skills With Online Tools
• 4 Simple Steps to Design Collaborative & Interactive Online PD With and For Teachers

With the ever-increasing presence of technology in our classrooms and our daily lives, it is more important than ever for teachers to be aware of the risks associated with using technology with students. We need to understand the potential perils as well as the safeguards and what to do if there is a security breach. 

These essential topics can open opportunities to support critical thinkers and problem solvers. Fortunately, there are tremendous resources available to you online.

One of the best sites for educators is Common Sense Education, which offers many free resources to support us as teachers, students, and the community. Before diving into any other site, it would be worth reviewing their research, lessons, and other resources. 

Many aspects of cybersecurity need to be considered, however, there are three significant areas worth focusing on for your classroom.

Classroom Cybersecurity: Password Protection 

One of the most important things you can do to protect yourself from cybersecurity threats is to create strong passwords that are at least 12 characters long and include a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. In addition, you should create unique passwords for each account you have. To keep your passwords safe, you can use a password manager or write them down in a safe place. 

There are excellent resources to support teaching about password safety:

• Sphero lessons teach the fundamentals of password creation while using the Sphero BOLT. Minimal coding knowledge is needed to create robust opportunities for students to explore password safety and other aspects of cybersecurity. 
• Cyber.Org has ways to test our password strength and many lessons to enrich our understanding of cybersecurity. 
• Nearpod's 21st Century Skills Program has additional content that a district can purchase to highlight all aspects of digital literacy, including password protection. 

Think Before You Click 

Phishing scams are a common way for hackers to steal personal information. Phishing emails often look as if they are from legitimate companies. Still, these are designed to trick you into clicking on a malicious link or downloading a virus. A simple pause and examination before we click can help keep us safe. 

There are so many fun ways to help our students practice these skills, including:

• Be Internet Awesome offers excellent activities, slide decks, and games for your upper elementary students. The games are fun and engaging enough that students will be excited to share what they learn with one another. 
• EverFi has an entire unit on digital wellness that will take your students through every aspect of their digital wellness. Lesson 4 explores identifying threats and helps them learn more about passwords. 
• CIAS uses CyBear characters and card games to teach all about cybersecurity. Request your free classroom pack of cards and print these tremendous offline activities to teach about cyber attacks and safety. 

Using Technology for Good 

Students need strong support when engaging online with others. As we teach character education, SEL, and DEI, we must support students' social media use. 

Students need to know essential terms such as bystander, upstander, and ally. While much teaching in the past has focused on what not to do online, we have the opportunity to help students see the potential that our online presence can do to bring social good. 

Exploring our online world in the classroom can seem daunting, but there are so many incredible resources available, including:

• StopBullying.gov is a great place to help us understand the warning signs and give us a toolkit to share with students to help protect them. 
• DigCit Institute offers month-long celebrations during which students and teachers share all the great ways they use technology for good. Check out their month-long #GlobalStudentShowcase recordings from April 2023 and follow them on social media for more opportunities to learn and participate. 
• Butter is a movie that your students will be on the edge of their seats while watching. It tackles mental health, suicide, and bullying in an engaging film. Then, check out the free curriculum created by Lisa Highfill, one of the Hyperdocs creators, to engage your students on these complex topics. 

To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here.

• Best Cybersecurity Lessons and Activities for K-12 Education
• 4 Cybersecurity Tips for Schools

The last thing some of us want to do in the summer is take a class but the reality is summer is the perfect time to take advantage of great learnings and have enough time to put those learnings into practice in your planning for next school year. 

ISTE is again back in person this year, for example, and there are various online events and opportunities of which to take advantage. 

However, if you are more than tired of virtual conferences and can’t find any in-person events to attend, here are five ideas for summer professional learning.

1. Join or start a summer book club 

This is a great way to keep your community connected over the summer with very little effort. Some incredible books are coming out this summer and you can always read those that you didn’t have time for. 

Some favorites include: 

• Educational Technology for School Leaders 
• Planning for Technology: A guide for school administrators, technology coordinators, and curriculum leaders 
• Happy Teachers Change the World 
• No More Culturally Irrelevant Teaching 
• Cultivating Genius 
• Disruptive Thinking 
• Breaking Bold 

2. Enroll in a free workshop for certification 

Several organizations offer certifications now, including ISTE, CoSN, Microsoft, Google, Apple, and many others. These certifications are typically free and you can take the classes at your own pace so you can spend time at the beach and then check when it’s convenient. Once you become certified with an organization, you become part of the community of certificated professionals and typically have access to resources that are only available to that select group. These certifications can help improve your resume and enhance your teaching for next year, too! 

3. Visit parks 

Most national and local parks have professional development programs for teachers that are year round! For example, the Bureau of Land Management has Project Archaeology, which teaches scientific and historical inquiry, cultural understanding, and archaeological stewardship. Teacher workshops are offered across the country and online. The National Park Services offers the Teacher - Ranger - Teacher program to 250 educators for a summer professional learning experience. The Department of Interior hosts a website with all of the details related to professional development for educators, and most everything is FREE! 

4. Take an online course 

Several organizations offer free online PD to teachers year round. You can complete the courses in your own timeline, even while sitting poolside catching some sun. 

Here are just a few sites that offer free courses: 

• PBS TeacherLine offers a wide variety of online courses to teachers, and some even offer an opportunity to earn graduate credit. 
• Coursera is widely used in higher education and offers incredible courses developed by universities and made available through this open university format. Courses are completely free, online, and self-paced! 
• Sanford Inspire offers free resources for SEL that include recorded webinars, plus complete courses that enable you to earn a certificate. 
• Learning for Justice offers self-guided learning resources supported by recorded webinars focused on social and emotional learning and other topics, including diversity, leadership, and empathy. 
• The Library of Congress lets you create your own path and personalize PD with documentation that can be submitted to earn CEU with your district if you need that service. Completely online and free! 
• The STEM Connection offers STEM PD designed to help teachers implement STEM in the classroom. Some sessions to highlight are STEM Quick Wins and STEM for Unique Needs Youth. 
• And don’t forget Tech & Learning, and the rich resources available, including edtech tool primers, lessons plans, and more. 

5. Last but not least: Reflect and journal! 

You may not be able to earn CEUs for this professional development but summer is a time to think about how you navigate your instruction, leadership, and overall management of time and task in the previous year, and reflect on how you might improve your efficiencies and processes next school year. Journal new tools you're exploring so that you can recall what you want to use in the classroom when you are planning for next year. Now is also the time to record any celebrations or noteworthy moments from last school year that can motivate you next year!  Keeping a mind on continuous improvement is always a winning way to develop your skills! 

So, five tips on PD you can do in your PJs or swimsuit all summer long. Have a wonderful summer! You’ve earned it!!

• Best Tools for Teachers
• T&L PD Hub

School librarian Mindy Engler isn’t a big fan of the term “reluctant reader.” 

“Really, teenagers are all reluctant readers to some extent,” she says. “Especially with everything they divide their time with, to sit down and read a book takes a lot sometimes.” 

Engler is the high school library media specialist at Canton City Schools and offers these successful strategies that utilize both technology and good old-fashioned classroom management. Using these approaches can help inspire reluctant readers … er, teenagers, to spend time with books. 

1. Engaging Reluctant Readers: Provide Access  

Giving kids a chance to read in whatever format they want, whether that’s a print book, ebook, or audiobook, is key to the success Canton City Schools have had around reading, Engler says. 

“Students have access to a school library right here, and two different apps for ebooks,” she says. One app is Sora, which was added during the pandemic, and which kids use to check out books during breaks from school and on the weekend. 

“I love showing people our checkout stats, where I can see that kids are checking out a book at 9:30 on a Friday night,” she says.  

2.  Sustained Silent Reading in The Classroom  

A number of teachers within the district devote a certain amount of time each class or every other class to reading. “They allow students to choose whatever it is that they want to read,” Engler says. 

This practice helps eliminate one of the main obstacles to reading for students (and adults): lack of free time. “With teenagers being busy and having so many other things vying for their attention [it helps] to actually give kids some time in class in school to read a book of their choice,” she says. 

3. Book Club  

Engler has hosted a book club since 2018. Once again, student choice is a key component of the approach. 

“Students choose the books that they want to read,” she says. “I have a big list that I show them, and we show book trailers, and then at the beginning of the year, they choose all the books that look interesting to them.”  

They then narrow it down to one that they read over a nine-week period during which the emphasis is on reading for pleasure not memorizing facts or looking for themes. 

“Another part of getting kids to read is to make it fun,” Engler says. “There's no tests on it. We just read the book and come to the library and have a book discussion.” 

4. Teachers Modeling Reading 

Teachers in the district encourage reading for pleasure by posting what they’re reading, not on social media, but literally on doors outside their offices or classrooms. 

“I have that outside my office, things I'm currently reading and currently listening to and what I've read,” Engler says. Students are also encouraged to share what they’ve read and Engler will post it on a big bulletin board. These efforts help foster an ongoing conversation around reading.  

5. Prioritize Student Choice in Reading 

Engler is an advocate for students choosing what they read when they are reading for fun. “If it's your choice, you're going to be invested in that,” she says. “We tell students if you read the first 50 pages and it's not interesting, it's okay to put that book down and pick up another one that you would like to read. Verse novels, graphic novels, rereading favorites -- all of that is part of that student choice.” 

While Canton City Schools still has required readings, Engler advocates for adding some level of student choice to that process as well, if feasible. “I always say, ‘You can teach things that are in the standards such as setting and theme with any type of books.' So if kids are maybe not as engaged in one book, maybe have lit circles and they can choose a couple of different books." 

• How to Get Students to Read for Fun
• Listen Without Guilt: Audiobooks Offer Similar Comprehension As Reading

Ted Lasso has many lessons for teachers when viewed through an education lens. This shouldn’t be surprising as the show, which has its season three debut March 15 on Apple TV+, was inspired by an educator. Star and co-creator Jason Sudeikis, who plays the perpetually optimistic and perpetually mustached title character, based Lasso in large part on Donnie Campbell, his former real-world high school basketball coach and math teacher. 

I interviewed Campbell in 2021, and it was easy to see why Sudeikis had been so inspired by him. Like the fictional Lasso, Campbell prioritizes human connection, mentorship, and relationships above all else. As an educator, I find the motivational strategies Lasso has shared on screen so far to be helpful and a good reminder of what a true teacher and mentor can do when we’re at our best.  

• See Also: Teaching Tips From The Coach & Educator Who Inspired Ted Lasso

I’m looking forward to what season three has in store. In the meantime, the first two seasons of the show serve as good reminders of just how far positivity, curiosity, kindness, and caring can go toward inspiring and leading students, and also just how bad tea tastes. 

Here are my teaching tips from Ted Lasso. 

1. Subject Matter Expertise Isn’t Everything  

When Lasso arrives in England in season 1, he knows next to nothing about soccer (even by the end of season 2 his knowledge seems pretty rudimentary), but that doesn’t stop the eager Yankee from helping his players grow both on and off the field, even if actually winning soccer games is only sometimes a part of that growth. It’s a good reminder that our job as a teacher is not always to teach students what we know but help guide them on their own education journeys, mentoring or coaching them on their accumulation of knowledge rather than imparting our wisdom to them. 

2. Curiosity is Key  

In one the show’s signature scenes, Lasso engages in a high-stakes dart game and surprises everyone with his bullseye striking abilities. “Guys underestimated me my entire life,” he says in the scene. “And for years, I never understood why. It used to really bother me. But then one day I was driving my little boy to school and I saw this quote by Walt Whitman and it was painted on the wall there. It said: ‘Be curious, not judgmental.’” 

Lasso realizes that those who underestimate him shared a common trait: lack of curiosity, and never stopped to wonder about him as a person or ask questions about his expertise. 

Curiosity is what makes Lasso who he is and one of the most important attributes students can have. Once we get students curious about learning, the rest is easy. Okay, easier. 

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Incorporate Ideas From Others  

One of Lasso’s strengths -- arguably his only -- as a soccer strategist is his willingness to incorporate ideas others have without his ego or authority being threatened. Whether taking advice from Coach Beard, Roy Kent, or Nathan (at least in season 1), or learning trick plays from his players, Lasso is always willing to listen to new ideas. This is particularly important for teachers who now need to constantly adapt to new technology and be willing to reach out to colleagues and students to learn about everything from new digital platforms to what kind of music students are listening to. 

4. Positivity Isn’t a Miracle Cure 

“Be positive” is Lasso’s motto but in season 2, he and other characters learn positivity alone isn’t always enough. The season frequently features darker themes and not-so-happy-go-lucky twists, much to the dismay of some viewers. And while we can debate the merits of the direction season 2 took from a dramatic perspective, it’s certainly true in life and in the classroom that just being positive can’t overcome all obstacles. No matter how hard we work and upbeat we are, we’ll encounter stumbling blocks, obstacles, and losses. Avoiding toxic positivity means not glossing over the struggles of students, colleagues, and ourselves. In other words, even if we choose to see the cup as half full, we have to acknowledge that sometimes it’s half full of tea. 

5. Winning Isn’t Everything 

Lasso cares more about the players on his team than he does about winning. And while that might not be the attitude you’d prefer the coach of your favorite sports team to have, there’s a lesson there for teachers. As educators, we’re rightly concerned with scores and how well students understand the subjects we’re teaching, but although assessment of student academic performance is important, the impact of a good class is about more than just the final score or grade, and education is not zero sum. Often as adults look back at their education, they don’t remember what an educator or mentor taught them about a specific subject, but they do remember the way that educator cared about them as a person, and got them excited for class, whatever that class was. Sometimes it really isn’t the final score that counts but how you played the game. 

Bonus Lesson: Tea is Terrible 

This vital lesson about “garbage water” is likely not part of your curriculum but it should be. 

• 5 Teaching Tips From The Coach & Educator Who Inspired Ted Lasso
• How Next Gen TV Can Help Close The Digital Divide
• Encouraging Students to Become Content Creators

Formerly known as Kidblog, Fanschool is a fun social communication, blogging, and portfolio-type platform that can be used in teaching and learning. This Fanschool lesson plan can help you implement the tool in your classroom.

Fanschool is a great alternative to traditional social media platforms such as TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook as it provides a bounded and safe online space for students. It offers many interactive features that can be used to strengthen student engagement during teaching and learning, and allows for teacher moderation.

For an overview of Fanschool, check out What is Fanschool and How Can it be Used for Teaching? Tips and Tricks.

Below is a sample lesson plan geared toward the English Language Arts (ELA) subjects, specifically focused on the topics of expressive communication and creative writing for high school students.

Subject: English Language Arts (ELA)

Topic: Expressive Communication and Creative Writing

Grade Band: High School

Learning Objective:

At the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

• Draft a series of short, creative dystopian stories
• Post a series of short, creative dystopian stories within a social communication online space
• Communicate online with peers regarding their work

Fanschool Lesson Plan: Teacher Instruction 

Using a slide deck through a presentation edtech tool, such as Google Slides, teachers can create a lesson focused on what creative writing is, how to write short stories, and genre writing.

For this specific lesson, a few slides can go into detail on dystopian stories. Even if students are not immediately familiar with the term dystopian, you can share with them that many popular books that have been turned into movies are dystopian stories. To do this, you can use The Maze Runner, Hunger Games, the Divergent series, and The Giver as examples of the dystopian stories, sharing what the societal state and nuances of each are. This would provide students with not only an idea of what dystopian stories are but inspiration for their own dystopian stories.

Student Fanschool Pages Creation 

Providing students with the opportunity to publish and use their authentic voices to share their learning, and engage with their peers and teachers is at the core of Fanschool. Over several weeks/months/academic year, have students create 5-10 entries that are creative short dystopian stories. The teacher can decide the time frame and how often a new story should be posted.

Each story should include the narrative text, but also related images and/or links to other related content. Some students may want to have each story build off of the previous one, or each story can be new, such as an anthology. It is also fruitful to provide students with choices and allow them to use their strengths to demonstrate their learning.

Peer Interaction 

After each student publishes one of their creative short dystopian stories on Fanschool, peers from the class should read at least three other stories and add comments, ask questions, and offer alternative plot points. It is the hope that the author and readers will engage in several rounds of expressive communication, similar to on traditional social media platforms. Teachers can moderate the discussion, pose additional questions, and share additional resources.

What if My School District Does Not Allow Social Media? 

What makes Fanschool unique is that it is designed as a bounded social communication tool, which is different from traditional social media outlets such as TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. The content and conversations that will occur within the Fanschool platform created by students will only be accessible by other students in the class, their teachers, and families as authorized by the teacher.

What Resources Does Fanschool Provide to Families?  

Fanschool incorporates families into the use of the platform and offers the opportunity to create a parent account. Within the account, parents can connect with their children’s content and conversations within Fanschool. In addition, Fanschool provides dedicated content and resources for families who homeschool.

What was once Kidsblog has grown to Fanschool; a robust social communication platform that students would want to contribute to, while giving teachers the chance to document learning and progress. Give this Fanschool lesson a try and see how it benefits your students’ and their families' engagement in learning.

• What is Fanschool and How Can it be Used for Teaching? Tips and Tricks
• Top Edtech Lesson Plans

Ask any educator why they chose to become an educator, and answers may include “To inspire the next generation,” “To impart learning on young minds,” or “To instill the love of learning in every child.” But what exactly is the love of learning, and can teachers instill it in their students? 

The Positivity Project suggests that when a person masters new skills and topics on their own, they have expressed a love of learning. Bard College in New York calls out “the Love of Learning” on its website by posting, “Love of subject is measured by the extent to which a teacher spends time, of his or her own accord, working on scholarly endeavors in his or her chosen subject.”

Measuring the love of learning can be as easy as taking a personality test online. In 2003, a dissertation entitled “Defining and Measuring the Love of Learning” was published and represented an attempt to create a tool to measure the love of learning. There were weaknesses in the methodology, but evidence suggested it could be possible. 

Montessori education is probably the best example of demonstrating the love of learning through how the classroom is designed and the students interact with the environment and their work. Many traditional classrooms attempt to allow students to personalize their learning journey but are often sidetracked by ensuring students are prepared for standardized assessments.

Instilling a Love of Learning 

Instilling this love in our students can provide many benefits and have long-term effects on their future careers. A love of learning can: 

• Increase curiosity 
• Improve abilities 
• Build courage 
• Enable you to enjoy work more 
• Encourage out-of-the-box thinking 
• Provide a positive example to others 

This list represents what can be seen in almost every lesson a great teacher presents, however, teachers building their greatness may need assistance. 

Some ways to address the love of learning in the classroom might be to provide hands-on learning experiences within the lesson, enabling students to explore options and possibilities as they are challenged to solve a problem. Another may be to share your passions with your students and let them see how exciting it can be to have a passion for something that you strive to know more about daily. 

Making learning fun sounds easy, but it has to be fun with intention, so finding interesting activities to incorporate in your lessons, or different approaches to introducing the subject matter, can be ways to liven up lessons. For example, Socratic seminars are taught through discussions to help engage the students in meaningful dialogue to increase curiosity and challenge thinking and can certainly make a lesson more interesting, especially on less dynamic topics.

Modeling the Love of Learning 

Ultimately, the best way to encourage your students to love learning is to model your love for learning and teaching, and be supportive and encouraging as they struggle to master concepts. 

John Miller’s recent book Love and Compassion speaks to educators attending to love and compassion through their teaching. It suggests that teachers can teach basic skills without love, except there must be love to make a real difference in a student’s life. 

It is always important to remember that to love others, you must first love yourself, and, as teachers, we must love what we do. Teachers who feel loved exude love through their work, which affects all they come into contact with. Love is the major difference between teaching as an art and science. Let there be love!

• Bringing Back Joy to the Classroom
• Restoring Hope and Optimism in Schools

Teacher burnout isn’t new, and districts are continually finding new ways to recruit—and retain—new and seasoned educators. Here are some innovative ideas for your district to consider. 

Recruit & Retain Teachers: Digging Into the Data 

Dan Cox, superintendent of Rochester CUSD 3A in Illinois, was concerned about many things when the pandemic lifted, particularly how to move forward. He attended a conference session on teacher morale and discovered EAB, a company that helps districts drive change through data-driven insights. With the guidance, Rochester is now refining core instructional strategies, creating postsecondary pathways, boosting staff and student mental health, improving community trust, and creating conditions for employees to thrive. This year, they are focusing on the last one.

As part of the teacher morale collaborative, the goals are to diagnose the main causes of low teacher morale, prioritize these, and co-design solutions. Cox acknowledges that it’s challenging work. “We as a society are great at identifying problems, but not as great at fixing them,” he says.

Already, the district has completed a teacher morale survey and is starting to share results, such as that 88 percent of district leaders say teacher morale is worse than five years ago, and 70 percent of teachers feel that they are not the best teacher they can be. The district’s typical morale work, such as offering swag, cookie trays, and dinners, has been too superficial and they need to go deeper. 

They’ve diagnosed two major issues—time and resources, and recognition and value—and are forming a group of teachers and district leaders to go through a list of potential causes that are causing low morale in these two areas. Then they’ll gather qualitative data at the building level and develop action plans. “By co-designing solutions and involving teachers in the process, we think we’ll build some confidence and advance our culture,” says Cox.

Let Teachers Work Remotely 

District 99 Downers Grove in Illinois lets teachers work offsite—but with appropriate parameters. 

“Our top two values are care and trust,” says Superintendent Hank Thiele. “We are showing that to our staff with this flexibility option.”

To earn the offsite privilege, teachers and full-time staff must follow the district’s four tenets:

• Be at school when you have responsibility for students. 
• Be at school when you have responsibility to another staff member. 
• Be able to respond if someone calls you. 
• Be able to return if there is an emergency. 

“As long as it isn’t negatively impacting your responsibilities, we trust you can work where you’d like,” adds Thiele.

Teachers are generally on campus during the workday, but they might go to Starbucks to do some grading or pop into the grocery store during a planning period. Thiele says the feedback has been mostly positive, although some people have had trouble adapting to it. “You have to plan for the face-to-face; it takes a little forethought.”

Thiele hopes that offering perks such as flexibility makes staff want to stay at District 99, be productive, and have more energy to help more students.

Build the Pipeline 

To increase its teacher pipeline, Benton Harbor Area Schools in Michigan joined the Urban Teacher Residency Program, a Department of Education-funded partnership with Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo Public Schools that provides financial and academic assistance for paraprofessionals, bus drivers, custodians, and other district employees to earn teaching certification while they work. 

“Our issues with the teacher shortage started long before COVID,” says Elizabeth Gayle, chief human resources officer for Benton Harbor. “We were one of the first districts to hire a full-time recruiter, we’ve increased teacher pay to the highest level we can afford, and we’ve begun offering retention pay.”

Because the district’s student body is 94 percent Black, Gayle is working with HBCUs to bring in new teachers to gain experience—even if it’s only for three years. 

Benton Harbor is in a rural area that doesn’t have many jobs, so recruitment is challenging. Gayle is hoping to be able to offer free or discounted housing for teachers, and is exploring ways to offer daycare and other incentives.  

To increase employee retention rates, they partnered with the regional education service agency to provide high-level mentoring. 

“Everyone—including me—has a mentor for extra support,” says Dr. Kelvin Butts, interim superintendent. “Our newer teachers have a more structured program that includes assistance in writing lesson plans and using software. Our more seasoned teachers and administrators receive help with resources.”

• How to Recruit New Teachers
• How College Students Are Helping to Solve the Substitute Teacher Shortage
• ‘Grow Your Own’ Teacher Programs: What To Know

While we are more than two years removed from the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching and learning are forever changed. And, that is OK. 

Yes, the pandemic caused a rush to remote and online teaching that many of us were not prepared for. However, at the same time, it necessitated that we be flexible, creative, and explore pedagogical techniques that we would not previously engaged with or prioritized. 

Now that we’re moving into post-pandemic teaching, educators need to remember certain things for their instructional approach.

1. Post-Pandemic Teaching: Be Flexible

One thing that the pandemic has taught us that we must always remember is flexibility. The lesson may not always go as intended, students may not connect with learning activities as you had hoped, and assessment scores may not indicate the level of growth you know your students are capable of. However, we must always remember to be flexible, patient, and allow mistakes. When students know that their teacher is flexible, they can work without pressure and the risk of stifling their creativity is minimized. 

2. Be Ready to Pivot

Related to but different from being flexible is being able to pivot at any time. Similar 

to how we had to pivot to remote and online learning during the pandemic, we must be prepared and ready to pivot again. 

For example, your school may need to pivot from remote to virtual learning, or pivot from traditional instruction to teaching to support learning loss. For some, we may need to pivot back to in-person instruction and/or dual audience learning, from fully online learning. Whatever your transition is, remember to be ready to pivot with the same goal of supporting student learning.  

3. Humanize Learning 

As educators, we know that learning should be student-centered and personalized to meet the individual needs of each student. At the same time, we cannot ignore the persistent trauma many of our students have faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has impacted them in many ways. 

As you go about planning lessons and teaching, be sure to humanize instruction and make time for reflection and mindfulness, creating space for students to bring their whole selves to the classroom. Connect students to other resources and educators such as school counselors and social workers who can also support healing and restoration post-pandemic. 

4. Integrate Culturally Responsive Practices 

Culturally responsive teaching connects with the dimensions of digital equity that we could also continue to keep at the forefront. Racial trauma has still impacted many students, and teachers are starting spend more time integrating anti-racist teaching practice into their work. 

Start with a culturally responsive mindset, and remember to continue to acknowledge and reflect on your own implicit biases that you may be bringing into your work as a teacher. Evaluate your lessons and make sure that students’ cultural and linguistic heritages are represented in content and learning activities. 

5. Leverage Edtech Tools 

Edtech tools were already being used widely before the pandemic. What changed was how we used edtech, who uses it, and the availability of many options. 

Edtech tools are interesting on their own, however, when used to carry out learning objectives within a lesson plan, these become pedagogically useful, can help teachers save time with grading, and can engage and excite students in the learning process. 

Use these lesson plans to get started with a wide variety of edtech tools such as Flip, Padlet, and Storybird. Do not be nervous to use gaming-based edtech tools such as Minecraft and Roblox for your lessons too! If you feel like you are learning on the job using edtech tools, consider training to become a Google Certified Educator. 

By being flexible and ready to pivot instruction while also humanizing learning experiences, integrating culturally responsiveness, and leveraging edtech tools, teachers will be able to help students continue to learn, develop, and grow in a post-pandemic world that supports them academically, socially, and personally. 

• Best Practices for Trauma-Informed Teaching
• 5 Mindfulness Apps and Websites for K-12

Girl and boy scouts are motivated by badges, why not school students? 

So what is a digital badge, and how can it be used to motivate a student and engage them in learning experiences? Also, what are the simple steps required to create digital badges, and how do you connect these to learning activities?

What Are Digital Badges? 

Digital badges are digital credentials that are ubiquitously recognized to represent the mastery of specific competencies, skills, programs, etc. Badges can be based on individual skill sets, or a combination of skills. 

How Can I Motivate Students with Digital Badges? 

There are many uses for badges within teaching and learning. Of the uses of digital badges, motivating students is an excellent option. 

Many times, students do not see the value of what they are learning as the concepts can be too abstract or not directly connected to their current worldview and lived experiences. For example, while understanding how to calculate percentages as a child may seem pointless, it comes in as a useful skill as an adult when calculating sales prices when shopping and balancing personal finances and spending. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to convince students of the importance of learning something for the future. 

The good news is that knowing of the potential to earn a digital badge, or a series of badges at the end of the learning experience, can be very motivating. Not only will students have the digital badge to share with their family, they will also have a credential that can be added to a portfolio, which can be used when applying to colleges or even their resumes for employment. 

Turn earning digital badges into a friendly competition. This could be a monthly, quarterly, or yearly competition, or based on certain units. Similar to gaming in which students earn points or access to higher levels of the games based on their play, earning digital badges can offer similar motivation. 

What Are Examples of Connecting Digital Badges to Learning Activities and Assignments? 

Connecting the earning of digital badges to multiple competency areas is a great way to motivate students to engage in learning activities, beyond just a one-off experience. 

For example, in science, there are many different content areas. You could create a science digital badge that students can earn after successfully completing four science lessons:

1. Environmental Science Lesson Using Wakelet - Competencies for students to master toward earning a science digital badge includes being able to: 

• Locate online content related to course-learning goals 
• Digitally storing content in a robust online repository 
• Storing shared content and resources within an online repository 

2. Anatomy and Physiology Using Google Jamboard - Competencies for students to master toward earning a science digital badge includes being able to: 

• Identify major human body parts 
• Describe the functions of different human body organs 

3. Weather Lesson Using WeVideo - Competencies for students to master toward earning a science digital badge includes being able to: 

• Define meteorological vocabulary words 
• Analyze weather patterns 
• Accurately report weather forecasting hypotheses 

4. Biodiversity Using Canva - Competencies for students to master toward earning a science digital badge includes being able to: 

• Describe the components of biodiversity, including ecosystem, genetic, and species 
• Create a multimedia presentation that demonstrates a robust understanding of the types of biodiversity 

How Do I Create Badges? 

Many different options are available for creating badges. One free option is  Accredible Badge Builder. 

What is nice about Accredible is the ability to import images to be used for the badge icon. You can design the badge as you see fit, changing the color, text size, and style. 

The steps to create a badge are very simple:

1. Go to Accredible Badge Builder. 
2. Click “Badge Designer” in the upper left-hand corner. 
3. Choose the background shape that will be the overall shape of your badge. Dozens of options are available from which to choose.
4. Click “Text” to add text to the badge. This would be the name of the badge, for example “Science Expert.” 
5. Click “Images” to upload any background images. 
6. Click “Icons” to add graphics that associate with the badge. 
7. Click “Ribbons” to add ribbons to the badge. 
8. Download your badge as either a SVG or PNG file. 

You can skip any of the steps 5-7 if you do not want to include any images, icons, and/or ribbons. Email the digital badges to students and let them share with their families. They can also be included in their portfolios, and badges also can be printed and put in a frame!

As you try new things to engage your students in the learning process this school year, try using digital badges. You may be surprised with how it motivates and engages them.

• There’s a Badge For That
• Classroom Engagement: 4 Tips From Students for Teachers

Abbott Elementary is a mockumentary-style sitcom television series created by Quinta Brunson, who stars as Janine Teagues, a second grade teacher at the fictional Abbott Elementary School in Philadelphia. Since premiering in December 2021, the series has become a popular and critical hit, particularly resonating with educators who see it as close to depicting actual school building dynamics.

Brunson, the daughter of a kindergarten teacher, based the show on her own experiences attending school in Philadelphia with her mother and her favorite teacher, Ms. Abbott. In addition to featuring Janine’s evolution as an instructor, the show mixes humor with many real-life outside-the-classroom challenges facing educators, from struggling without proper funding to navigating district politics.

“My goal with the show is to make people laugh, but I do hope that it gets people thinking,” Brunson told the Los Angeles Times. “And [that] it puts a little bit of pressure on the people who need to be pressured a little.”

Although a TV comedy, Abbott Elementary does offer lessons that real-life teachers can appreciate.

Abbott Elementary: Always Students First 

Despite being underfunded, understaffed, and under the rule of a principal (Janelle James) who, at first is more interested in boosting her own status as a social media influencer than boosting educational outcomes, Janine and her fellow teachers constantly put the needs of their students before themselves. At times that means intentionally embarrassing themselves to engage students, starting their own garden to grow fresh vegetables for the students, and even obtaining rest time rugs from less-than-reputable sources, all in the name of doing what’s best for the students.

By letting the students’ needs guide their actions, the teachers of Abbott Elementary ultimately help themselves to make the right choices and grow as educators and humans.

Collaboration and Communication Is Essential 

In multiple situations, Janine teams up with colleagues to accomplish a range of goals, including easing the transition for students from one grade to the next and handling disruptive students. In one episode, Janine and her fellow idealistic teacher Jacob Hill (Chris Perfetti) take over the enrichment program together, and when they realize the success is inadvertently causing bad feelings among students who are not participating, they create a rotational enrichment program for all grades.

Schools are complex social environments, and it’s impossible to succeed in one as a teacher or a student without the help of others. Learning to work together and communicate with one another is a significant component of finding success.

Mentorship Matters 

Janine constantly talks about how much she looks up to her fellow teacher Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph), looking to her as a mentor (and even accidentally calls her “mom” at one point). Barbara takes Janine under her wing and provides instructional guidance and tough love as needed.

Janine also learns from her other colleagues, including Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter), a savvy and seemingly Philly-tough teacher, who appreciates Janine’s wide-eyed optimism while tempering her youthful exuberance. 

In one episode, veteran teachers Barbara and Melissa give teaching tips to Gregory (Tyler James Williams), a young teacher who is struggling to connect with his students. They share how over the years they’ve learned that what seem like inane questions from students sometimes could be examples of critical thinking and that occasionally injecting a little fun (and dancing) into instruction can make a big difference.

Just as educators serve as role models and guides for students, they themselves need to learn from more experienced colleagues as they progress through their careers. They can then turn around and share that experience and knowledge with the next upcoming generation.

Be Open to Creative Problem-Solving 

Partially because of the TV sitcom structure, challenges presented at the beginning of an episode are rarely ever resolved in a straightforward manner. For example, when trying to control the viral challenge of “desking,” (in which students record themselves jumping from desk to desk when teachers’ backs are turned and then post on social media), the teachers at Abbott first try to get the students to stop via traditional means such as explaining the dangers of the activity. Eventually, they come upon the solution of recording and posting a clip of Jacob, the most “uncool” teacher, doing the trend and thus the “cool” allure is subsequently busted.

Funding, supplies, and administrative support are often in short supply in real life. However, there’s no limitation on ingenuity, creativity, and perseverance when addressing challenges. Keeping an open mind and being flexible can result in unexpected solutions and successes.

Remember the Joy of Teaching 

Even with all the challenges in each episode, the team at Abbott Elementary ultimately continues to draw strength and inspiration from their love of teaching. As Janine says when Gregory tells her that his military father doesn’t want him to pursue education as a career, “Teaching is the best job in the world.”

Of course, in real life problems are not solved in 22 minutes (plus commercials). Given all the hurdles and vast range of personalities present in any school, teaching can be an extraordinarily challenging experience. It’s important to welcome joy in the classroom as well as support your mental health and identify and reduce burnout.

Or as Melissa says: “We care so much, we refuse to burn out, otherwise you open a whole other box of Panera’s problems.”

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Watch any toddler trying to recite the alphabet or count their numbers while jumping up and down, and you cannot help but notice the pure joy in learning letters and numbers. 

Every teacher aspires to see the ecstasy of acquiring new knowledge in their students, and now more than ever, teachers should strive to make the classroom a place of happiness. The emphasis on social and emotional learning through the curriculum is undoubtedly focused on raising awareness to have a more cohesive and engaged classroom. Still, it takes more than SEL to have joy in a classroom. 

As recently as 2018, psychologists were still debating the concept of joy, and the body of work related to joy in psychology remains relatively small. Still, a group of psychologists, philosophers, and theologians are working to connect the research on joy into a more unified collection of work as part of an interdisciplinary project called the Theology of Joy and the Good Life at Yale University. 

Harvard Graduate School of Education is also pondering the topic of joy in teaching. In the recent article, the author quotes Decoteau Irby, who describes an erosion of joy in our schools and notes that although learning isn’t always a joyous experience, the confidence gained by academic struggle does produce joy. Gholdy Muhammad’s equity framework, as shared through her book Cultivating Genius, includes joy as one of its five pillars.  

Instilling Joy in Learning

How can a teacher move from SEL to JOY? Consider the definition of joy, and work backward from there. Keeping in mind that within the definition, we learn joy takes two forms: passive and active. Passive is connected to feeling contentment, and active involves a desire to share feelings with others and involves engagement. With this in mind, we think of ways to engage the learner in more positive, less overwhelming, and intrinsic ways. 

To get started infusing more joy in your classroom, consider these ideas:

• Offer students an opportunity to experience some form of success throughout the day because small achievements serve as catalysts toward meeting greater learning goals. 
• Incorporate play! All grade levels and all subject areas can incorporate elements of play. 
• Offer choices. A student who has options can be inquisitive and creative. 
• Be patient and allow student’s enough time to enjoy the activity. This is similar to wait time in questioning but feels much longer when trying to apply to practice. Yet, it can make a difference in your student's level of engagement. 
• Allow students to choose activities that align with their interests and abilities. 
• Encourage collaboration and creativity. 
• Be flexible. The learning environment greatly influences whether a student wants to learn or shut down. Try to create a flexible classroom that accommodates a variety of interests and skill levels. 

Students naturally want to learn (remember our toddler), and allowing the opportunity for them to have positive experiences through learning ultimately leads to joy. Our schools are full of emotions, and joy should be the leading one. 

• Innovation in Education
• What Is SEL?

Despite a very vocal minority, the vast majority of the U.S. believes that teachers have done a great job during the pandemic, says Justin Reich, director of the MIT Teaching Systems Lab. 

“There are all kinds of institutions in society that people have gotten frustrated with or lost faith with during the pandemic, but according to national polling, local schools are not one of those institutions,” Reich says. 

This is seen in poll after poll measuring public satisfaction with schools regardless of who is conducting the survey. An NPR poll recently found that “by wide margins – and regardless of their political affiliation – parents express satisfaction with their children's schools and what is being taught in them.” The survey found that 88% of respondents agree “my child's teacher(s) have done the best they could, given the circumstances around the pandemic.” And 82% agree “my child's school has handled the pandemic well.” 

There is even often majority agreement on topics such as required masking in schools or other COVID mitigation efforts. A National Parents Union survey conducted in January asked parents how they felt their school had handled the Omicron surge and more than 70% of respondents said they had handled it well. 

“We’ve asked questions in a bunch of different ways,” Reich says. “Like how satisfied are you with your school, with particular features of instruction, with your school's approach to managing COVID. And generally speaking, no matter how we ask the question, we find that supermajorities of Americans are satisfied or very satisfied with their local public school and their teachers.” 

However, surveys conducted at MIT’s Teaching Systems Lab indicate the vocal criticisms teachers experience are drowning out the larger support. “We have some reports out there that are based on interviews with 100 teachers in various places at various times, and they absolutely feel criticized and attacked,” Reich says, adding that teachers frequently don’t realize that despite this, the majority of their community is behind them. “They're only aware of these really vigorous attacks.”  

Why This Message of Support for Schools Isn’t Getting Through  

Despite this clear support for teachers and schools in polls, if you scroll through Twitter or consume right- or left-wing leaning media, you might come away believing that faith in schools is at an all-time low. This inaccurate impression likely arises for a couple of reasons, Reich says. 

First off, there’s a disconnect between the way many people view the work their local public school is doing and education as a whole. “It has been the case for decades that Americans rate their local schools much more highly than they rate schools across the country in general,” Reich says. “The other thing I think driving this is having a Republican party that has latched on to some disaffection with school, certainly some of it legitimate and some of it total fabrication.” 

This helps create an imbalance in which those critical of schools are far louder than the supporters. 

“The people who are satisfied with schools, most of them aren’t passionate about it, say like a Red Sox fan or something like that,” Reich says. “They like schools in the way that they like the post office. The people who don't like schools are rabid in their frustration.”

Showing More Teacher Support 

Reich believes more can be done to let teachers know that their communities are behind them. He frequently tweets about these pro-teacher polling numbers and thinks educators should be made more aware. “I think that it's worth school communities celebrating the widespread support that they have among the public,” Reich says. 

He also believes the public can do more to show its support. You do not need to have a child in the district to volunteer at your school or show up at a Board of Education meeting to voice your support for what schools are doing, he says.  

“I think educators have done an extraordinary job over the last couple of years, and that  more of us can take more time to show our appreciation,” Reich says. 

• Teacher Burnout: Recognizing and Reducing It
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As school districts around the country continue to struggle with teacher shortages, an increasing number of education leaders are developing their future educators from within their own classrooms. Such a “grow your own” teacher approach can help build diversity and shape an instructional staff that reflects a district’s demographics.

“We know that approximately 60% of teachers work within 20 miles of where they graduated high school,” says Joshua P. Starr, chief executive officer of PDK International, which runs Educators Rising, a teacher education organization and program. “But all too often the demographics of the workforce don’t reflect the demographics of the student population. We need to have a much more diverse teaching force, we need to inspire a new generation, and we need to fit into a busy high school schedule.” 

“What we've got to do is reimagine, rebrand, and reprofessionalize the teaching profession,” says Shuana Tucker, Chief Talent Officer for the Connecticut State Department of Education, which has implemented Educators Rising at districts across the state, along with other efforts focused on cultivating homegrown teachers. “For me, being an educator is one of the most noble professions out there. In my role as chief talent officer, I'm constantly looking for ways to recruit and retain teachers as well as to expand and diversify the talent pool.”

For districts interested in grow your own teacher programs, there are a few things to consider.

Grow Your Own Teachers: ‘Make the Road By Walking’ 

While school districts typically provide traditional career pathways such as engineering, auto technology, or computer science, teaching often is not encouraged in the same way. “We need to re-frame the career path so kids see it as one step in a lifelong journey of service,” says Starr. 

For example, Educators Rising offers schools and districts a CTE pathway program, with a full curriculum. The organization works with school leaders to adopt its program and forge partnerships with higher education institutions to help build pipelines of future educators. It offers multiple education career entry points for students, such chapter after-school programs and teaching fundamentals programs.

Starr encourages school leaders to start organically with conversations with local teacher organizations, nearby higher education institutions, and teacher prep schools about developing teacher pathways. “Make the road by walking,” he says.

Be Proactive

Many students never consider a career in teaching simply because they’re never asked or presented with the opportunity, says Starr.

“It’s amazing what happens when kids are asked to serve,” he says. “They’re more likely than not to step up. But when they’re not asked, they’re not going to raise their hand. If an adult who they respect taps them on the shoulder and gives them the opportunity, they’ll step up. They like to serve and be part of the solution, and oftentimes, adults just don’t ask.”

Starr suggests encouraging students who are already serving in a teaching, leadership, or mentor role, such as one who is working as a camp counselor, teaching Sunday school, or tutoring younger kids. Athletes who are team captains also may be open to a career in education. “Principals and coaches may say, ‘Hey, you’re a coach or a leader on your team, have you considered teaching?’” he says. 

Another way districts who have grow your own pathways encourage students to return as teachers is to present a letter to graduates of the program guaranteeing a job within the district upon completion of their higher ed degree.

Representation Matters

In addition to an overall educator shortage, there is a particular dearth of male teachers of color. As students are more likely to be engaged when there is an educator who looks like them at the front of the classroom, encouraging young men of color to consider a career in teaching is critical.

More than 50 percent of the Educators Rising program includes students of color. “We’re very intentional about that, as are the schools,” says Starr. “And from the research that’s emerged over the past few years, representation makes a difference.”  

Connecticut’s teacher development efforts have focused on recruiting males, says Tucker, adding that they’re piloting a program to specifically attract men of color. “We also want to expand to ELL students,” she says. The department recently held an in-person symposium on increasing education diversity that attracted more than 150 students from around the state.

Tucker and her team have also sought out diverse organizations, such as an African American male fraternity, the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS), and the National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE).

“Having those partners at the table to understand the work that you're doing and support the work that you're doing is very critical,” says Tucker. 

Partners and Allies Needed

Not only are partnerships essential in cultivating diversity and representation, but such alliances are necessary for grow your own teacher programs that span the education spectrum, from middle schools to post-secondary institutions. 

“The key to success is having people work with you who are passionate about this work,” says Tucker. “That makes all the difference in the world. Your work will go further with what it is that you're trying to do. I can only carry my message so far, and I only have a certain amount of bandwidth.” 

Nineteen schools in Connecticut have adopted the Educators Rising program, including clubs and the curriculum being utilized at the high school level, says Tucker. The state has also partnered with higher ed institutions to offer dual credit education courses and advise high school juniors and seniors, who can take up to 6 or 9 credit hours that are then transferable into their four-year college education program. In addition, the Connecticut state college and university system will be offering the same statewide curriculum by Fall 2023 to ensure those credits are transferable across community colleges and traditional four-year universities.

“You have to make this a community-led initiative,” says Starr, noting that having a detailed adoption framework, such as Educators Rising has, is key. “It only works if the local stakeholders embrace the idea because there are so many different pieces you have to pull together. Hiring, certification, funding, courses – a range of folks have to be involved.”

Finding an inspiring teacher who the kids like and respect is also critical, as their influence can help a student consider education, says Starr. For example, in the New Britain Public Schools, the Educators Rising advisor is a Latina female teacher, while in East Hartford Public School, the advisor is the athletic director, who has been encouraging the athletes he works with to consider the profession, says Tucker. 

Teaching Can Be Just the Beginning

Another approach to recruiting students is having them understand that teaching for five or ten years at the start of their working career can be very valuable in building desirable skills and experience, says Starr. As with military service, it can lead to other opportunities and professions.

“STEM and finance and medicine are all great, but we don’t talk enough about the value of service academies or of community service, whether it’s as an educator or something else,” says Starr. “And quite frankly, we need to do more of that.’ 

For instance, after classroom teaching, they can go into edtech, policy, school and district leadership, or educational consulting. Or move into another field altogether.

Ultimately, once kids get into a grow your own program, administrators, partners, and other stakeholders have to make sure that they work together to retain students while building school culture and climate, says Starr. 

“This is just one piece,” he says. “If a pipeline leads into a leaky bucket, there’s going to be a problem. I want people to understand that this needs to be a comprehensive strategy.”

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The news is changing rapidly, and there is much uncertainty following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s important for teachers to follow the news themselves so they can answer their students’ questions. But it’s also okay to say you don’t know all the answers now but we may know more later this week or next. Children count on trusted adults, including teachers, to help them make sense of world events. 

Here are some ideas from Andrea Barbalich, editor-in-chief of T&L’s sister publication The Week Junior, to guide classroom conversation and provide information to help children understand the Ukraine crisis.

Discuss what’s happening 

On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine, an independent country to its west, launching the largest military attack in Europe since World War Two (1939-1945). Ukrainian soldiers and citizens are fighting back, and people around the world are standing in solidarity with Ukraine. At least 3.5 million people have fled the country since the conflict began.

Explain why Russia invaded Ukraine 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he believes Ukraine is part of his country, not independent. He has also said that he wants to stop Ukraine from strengthening its ties with the United States and other countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, a military alliance of 30 nations in Europe, North America, and Eurasia). Putin sees NATO as a threat to his control of the region. 

Talk about the history of Russia and Ukraine 

Give a brief history of the region and a geography lesson. Look at a map of the region to show where Ukraine and Russia are and to point out the countries where Ukrainian refugees are going. 

Share what other nations are doing in response 

Governments around the world have imposed economic sanctions (punishments) on Russia. They are trying to punish Russia financially by blocking transactions with Russia’s central bank and other financial institutions. Sanctions have hurt the Russian economy badly. Governments are also sending weapons and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and humanitarian organizations are helping in the region. 

Explain what is being done to help people 

Focus on the helpers, from the nations and nonprofits sending food and supplies, to the neighboring countries taking refugees in, to the regular citizens helping refugees get settled in their new communities.  

Ask children what they know and what they think 

Open a dialog with students. Giving them a chance to share their thoughts helps them feel empowered, and letting them know you are there to listen is reassuring. If they are worried about something that is inaccurate, you can correct it. 

Give students opportunities to help 

There are many concrete steps children can take, such as the following:  

• Support a relief organization as a classroom. Collect donations to ship to a humanitarian organization of students’ choice. (A few ideas: Save the Children, Unicef, or Voices of Children.) 
• Write to an elected official to share opinions. Students can find out who their local, state, or federal representatives are and email them. 
• Reach out to others with kind words and empathy. This could be a local Ukrainian or Russian family or someone who has friends or family members in the region that is affected. 
• Create a peace poster to share in a window or on a door at home, in a school classroom or hallway, or with The Week Junior. A template is available here. 

For a free, downloadable Teacher Guide with lessons and activities to teach students about the Ukraine crisis, visit us at The Week Junior. 

• Teaching The Russia – Ukraine Conflict
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“We can’t wait until things get back to normal.” That’s a common phrase uttered in and around households all across America. This pandemic has forced us to rethink many of the things we normally do over the course of our day, from online grocery shopping to dining out. Education has seen probably one of the most disruptive changes to traditional learning during this COVID-19 pandemic. 

With all of the disruption, public attention has shifted to helping students recover from “learning loss.” As with many of my fellow educators, I find this phrase to be extremely negative. There are students who were displaced academically by this pandemic (especially those in underserved communities). But to say it was all a loss is deficit thinking. It focuses too much attention on where we have been, not where we need to go. 

We are NOT going back to normal in K-12 education. That would be a disservice and a waste of all the new skills educators have learned. All that technology leaders have been advocating for in schools for the past decade came to fruition rapidly when schools shut down in March 2020. Now that schools are providing devices and access like never before, we have a massive opportunity in front of us. Focusing on learning loss doesn’t build off of this increased access for students. 

I think it’s time for a new phrase. 

I did some digging to find the word that would acknowledge the past but also drive change for the future. It just so happened I was searching while waiting for my car to get serviced when the phrase slapped me right in the face. 

We need Learning Realignment. 

Here’s the definition of realignment:

“The action of changing or restoring something to a different or former position or state” -- this was the phrase that I was looking for as it identifies the changes that we need to keep moving forward. 

So, keeping with the automobile analogy, here are 5 ways to realign learning. 

1. Replace Spark Plugs 

Gone are the days of students showing their understanding by just turning in a written paper or diorama (don’t get me wrong, I love dioramas). This shift to online learning has really shown all that’s possible in a blended learning environment, especially around student outcomes. 

Unfortunately, we still tend to navigate to the things we know. 

So, instead of writing a paper, the student writes a Google Doc. Or instead of creating a tri-fold poster board, it’s a Powerpoint presentation. Students can now demonstrate their learning in so many ways. 

Here are just a few:

• Create an infographic 
• Code a game
• Invent a prototype
• Create an animation
• Participate in an online debate
• Make a movie
• Write and perform a rap
• Design a virtual world (aka, a fancy online diorama)
• 3D print a solution
• Record a podcast

I recently witnessed an amazing creation by teacher @TriciaFugelstad using EyeJack (now AR Academy in the app store). This tool allows kids to create their own augmented reality overlays on everyday objects or images, which can be a deeper dive into a topic while adding a layer of extra engagement. As most schools are Chromebook schools, I was excited to hear they have just developed an AR extension for education as well. A tool such as this represents the possibilities of differentiating how students demonstrate their understanding.

We need to be preparing kids for their future and creating opportunities for students to demonstrate a variety of skills. Recently, the World Economic Forum met to list their Top 10 Job Skills of Tomorrow, which includes innovation, resilience, creativity, critical thinking, and active learning. As schools move forward, they need to identify ways to embed these skills in the day-to-day life of students. We shouldn’t limit learning to only technology that we are comfortable with as that, in turn, limits the students.  

Enjoying this article? Carl Hooker -- and others -- are presenting live and in-person at Tech & Learning's Regional Leadership Summit in Orlando on Jan. 24, 2022 (the day before FETC begins). 

Superintendents, CTOs, CAOs, instructional and district tech leaders, please join us to share and discover the great education work going on in your area. More info and register here 

2. Check Batteries

The past 20 months have taken a toll on teachers. The great resignation is a real thing in many businesses but especially in education. Increasing stress, anxiety, and pressure on an already overworked and underpaid profession might be some of the biggest drivers of this. The additional duties, learning standards, and high-stakes tests while dealing with a “time famine” could also be a major issue. 

Whatever the reason, educators need to recharge their batteries before getting back on the road. This is especially true in my area of expertise, professional learning. Requiring teachers to attend training when they are already stressed doesn’t create an optimal learning environment. Instead, we should be looking for asynchronous options for those pressed for time. 

Any time I’ve been in a school district, I make sure to get into a classroom to teach a lesson. Administrators should be the instructional leaders in a school or district, however, they spend a lot of their days making major decisions that impact learning in the classroom and don’t always get to see the effects. By substitute teaching in a classroom, they get to witness the impact of their decisions while also allowing teachers to take an extended break. 

The other thing instructional leaders can do is re-assess the current district goals and pare back what they don’t need. This “strategic abandonment” of old initiatives can be freeing for staff who already have a lot clogging their head space. Chances are many initiatives and missions changed when the pandemic hit, so now is the time to re-prioritize what is important in your district going forward.

3. Check the Oil

One of the unintended consequences of the pandemic was that teachers had to really scale back much of what they were teaching and prioritize which standards were most important. This reduction in curricular load allows students time to dive deeper into topics rather than just taking a surface-level approach to learning. 

When you check the oil in your car, you have a dipstick. In schools, that dipstick is assessment. Most that we give in schools are fact-based, synchronous assessments meant to check a student’s knowledge. While those have a time and place, it shouldn’t be the only way we measure student growth. Using asynchronous, collaborative projects and building in time for the student to explain their thinking makes learning less about the product and more about the process. 

One thing I really struggled with as a teacher was providing time for reflection. Taking just a few minutes at the end of the day or week for students to reflect on their learning has a major impact on what they retain. The psychological impact of reflection and experiential learning was a major driver of the Kolb Learning Cycle. Creating opportunities for students to reflect and then tracking those longitudinally should be the norm. 

In our schools, we used Bulb to create ePortfolios for students, parents, and teachers to track that longitudinal growth. By doing this in an ePortfolio platform, students can reflect on their learning while also building a digital resume of sorts for when the time comes to apply for college or enter the workforce. 

All of this means we have to change how we assess students and shift time focused on standardized assessments. In Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind, the authors point out that there are three primary types of assessments taking place in the classroom. Assessment OF learning, assessment FOR learning, and assessment AS learning. The more that we can allow time and strategies for students to own their learning through assessment will largely impact their learning journey.  

4. Change the Filters

This isn’t about internet filters or actual air filters, though both have a place in schools these days. This is more about changing things that filter creative thinking in the classroom. That change can happen physically and mentally. 

I’ve always believed that the most flexible learning environment isn’t necessarily one that has a lot of expensive furniture or fancy technology. It exists right outside your school doors. During the pandemic, many schools threw energy and effort into expanding their outdoor learning spaces. My own daughters helped remake logs into chairs as part of their Girl Scout project. The benefits of being outside (whether permitting) include an increase in vitamin D from sunlight and more oxygen to the brain. 

Adults also need a change from time to time. Some of my most effective professional learning takes place outside the school building as well. Taking staff to alternate locations to learn rather than uncomfortable library chairs or terrible cafeteria lighting is impactful. When asked to provide feedback, staff have mentioned the feeling of “thinking differently” when outside of their school building and “more focus, because I wasn’t worrying about my classroom down the hall.” These psychological effects on adult learning is also why I think the in-person conference will always carry value in professional development. 

The other filter that needs to change is a mental one. We need to remove the filters we put around success and failure. Creativity and curiosity are important by-products of risk-taking but in environments where that is stifled, it can be crippling to innovative thoughts. I’ve always believed that students won’t take risks unless their teachers take risks. Extending that a bit further, teachers won’t take risks unless leaders take risks. 

We live in an era of public scrutiny which pushes schools toward conservative approaches in instructional practice. The opposite should be happening as without failure and risk-taking, creativity is drowned in a sea of unoriginality. 

5. Balance and Rotate

The final component in this realignment builds upon all the other parts in this tune-up. Before the pandemic, schools largely relied on a single mode of Instructional delivery. Australian thought-leader Brett Salakas cautions that when you have only one method of getting instruction, learning is at risk should that method be cut off.  

Traditional, lecture-based, synchronous face-to-face instruction is one way to deliver instruction, however, as we learned from the pandemic, it isn’t the only way. Terms such as “virtual” and “remote” have now entered the vocabulary of learning models. We learned that some (hybrid/concurrent) might not be the most ideal way to teach and learn. Some students thrived in an asynchronous online environment and some struggled. The truth is the previous lecture-style model also worked for some kids but not ALL kids. 

We should also no longer be bound by the restriction of physical geography. My oldest daughter is in 7th grade and would love to learn Italian as a second language. Unfortunately, her middle school does not offer the course but one across town does. The traditional fix for this is bussing her across town to the other campus for the course, but why not set up a lab for kids to be taught virtually by a variety of teachers in the district or state. Heck, why not take it a step further and let students learn Italian from a teacher in Italy. 

Some innovative curriculum providers are starting to realize this new virtual model may be a strategy going forward. For example, Rex Academy offers a completely browser-based computer science curriculum meant to break some of the lack of inclusivity in the field. Any teacher can use the self-paced curriculum and they also even offer an online instructor. 

One of the biggest challenges recently is the lack of teachers to actually teach a computer science course. Schools have minimum enrollment requirements that are needed to make a class and often don’t have the staff available to teach it part-time. If companies can offer a high-quality computer science curriculum and teachers to schools, then it shouldn’t matter whether you have one or 100 students interested in the course. 

So where do we go from here? The traditional models of education have been put to the test and slightly broken as a result of the pandemic. Teachers are exhausted, students are stressed, and we are on the brink of a personnel crisis when it comes to hiring. Using some of the lessons we have learned the past 20 months, schools and districts need to realign some of their classic beliefs of what education should look like. We’ve been given a unique glimpse to some of the possibilities of what a flexible future educational model could look like. Now our only question is do we take the wheel or continue to let the car drift off the road?

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Donnie Campbell was walking down the hall at Lee’s Summit North High School in Missouri when a fellow teacher turned and said, “Hey, there's the famous basketball coach who inspired Ted Lasso.” 

Campbell had no idea what he was talking about. 

Almost thirty years ago, Campbell was a young basketball coach and math teacher at Shawnee Mission West High School in Kansas. Early in his career, he coached a kid named Jason Sudeikis and made quite an impression. Sudeikis never forgot Campbell’s positivity, signature Kansas kindness, and penchant for upbeat aphorisms. Eventually, Campbell became one of the inspirations for Sedeikis’ title character on Apple TV+’s award-winning show Ted Lasso. 

• See Also: Lessons For Teachers From Ted Lasso

“He’d always say, ‘You guys look more nervous than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs,’” Sudeikis told a Kansas publication.

In addition to catchy feel-good-isms, or what have become known as Ted-isms, Campbell’s been in the trenches teaching throughout the pandemic and continues to teach both online and in-person. He shares tips with Tech & Learning for inspiring kids and growing as educators. 

1. Get to Know Each Student  

Step 1 for inspiring students like the real-life Ted Lasso is getting to know them and understand where they are coming from as individuals. 

“They don't really care what you know, until they know that you care,” Campbell says. “Kids really need to feel valued. I believe that in the times we're in it's even more important when you're working with your students and your players, that they understand that you care about them, and you want the best for them. That doesn't mean that you're not demanding, just don't be demeaning.” 

He adds, “We try to inspire our athletes and our students, and I think that you get a lot more with kids by being positive with them.” 

2. It’s Okay To Be Uncomfortable  

In Ted Lasso the mustached coach advises one player: “Taking on a challenge is a lot like riding a horse, isn’t it? If you’re comfortable while you’re doing it, you’re probably doing it wrong.” 

It’s a piece of advice that Campbell gives often and which Sudeikis seemingly took to heart.  “I think sometimes all of us -- me included -- we get comfortable, and you don't improve as a teacher, as a coach, whatever field you're in, unless you are constantly striving to learn and to grow, and put yourself in positions that make you uncomfortable,” Campbell says. 

Leadership is about far more than a job title. “Just because you have the name ‘head coach,’ that doesn't mean you're a leader,” he says. “Position doesn't make you a leader. What makes you a leader is that you're impacting peoples’ lives every day.” 

3. Mistakes Don’t Define, They Refine  

As a math teacher, Campbell often comes across students who struggle or are resistant to material. His strategy involves encouraging them to help get over their fear of failure. “I always tell kids, ‘Mistakes don't define you, they refine you,’” he says. “Anybody who is an expert in what they do was a beginner once. People who make mistakes are doers. People who aren't doing anything, they're not making mistakes.” 

On top of letting students know that mistakes are okay, Campbell tries to build in wins for every student. “When working with students who are struggling, many of them feel hopeless, so you have to figure out a way to give them little successes and build them up and try to work with their confidence,” he says. “Give them small successes to get to the big successes.” 

4. Give Students Grace 

Campbell teaches both online and in-person now. While he loves the tools and videos that are available online, he acknowledges that forging connections with students can be trickier when you don’t see them in person. His advice for teachers working with students in any medium: Be patient. 

“We don't know the situation that's going on at their home. Are parents out of work? Or do the parents have COVID? You got to give more grace than you would have [in the past], things are just different now,” he says. “Now there comes a point where the million dollar question is are you helping or are you enabling? I'll go above and beyond the call of duty to help students, but you still have to do the work.” 

5. Don’t Forget How Important You Are, But Stay Humble 

The best teachers often teach by example and while Campbell is quick to praise his fellow educators, humility remains part of his process. 

“Teaching is one of the most gratifying, important jobs out there because you're making an impact on our next generation of people. And I think that we need to understand that technology is great but the bottom line is this, the number one thing that helps kids learn the best, is a really good teacher. And there are a lot of really good teachers out there who are busting their tails to help kids be the best version of themselves,” he says. “I'm getting some notoriety here. I was just lucky that I coached Jason Sudeikis. It could have been any teacher or coach in the United States because I know there's so many of them out there who make a huge difference in kids' lives every day. And that's why I got into teaching.” 

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In the return to in-person classes, re-engaging students and making up for learning loss has been a primary concern for educators. 

“We need students who are coming back to school now to experience learning as it should be, to be excited, to have ownership of it, and also experience success,” says Dr. Arthur Eisenkraft, a Distinguished Professor of Science Education at UMass Boston, and the co-founder and head judge of ExploraVision, a STEM-based K-12 scholarship competition. 

Eisenkraft is concerned that in the effort to “catch up” students, many educators will simply speed up what they’ve always done. “They’ll say, ‘They missed fourth grade completely, so I know what I'll do, I'll just run that curriculum by them twice as fast, and the heck with them understanding,’” says Eisenkraft. “That's the danger, to throw out all the good stuff we know about teaching and learning, and revert back to models that never worked.” 

Enter project-based learning (PBL), which focuses on having students solve real-world STEM-related problems by working on a project over an extended period (typically more than a week) that demonstrates they understand the content knowledge. It often involves hands-on work and builds skills, such as critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity, and ends in a tangible product or presentation that showcases the student’s thought and decision-making processes.

Eisenkraft says PBL also gives educators the opportunity to ask students, ‘What are you interested in?’

“When you do project-based learning, the students won't ask, ‘Why am I learning this?’” he says. Rather than canned or uninspiring answers such as, “It’s on the test” or “You’ll use it later,” PBL allows students to get involved in something that they can see the relevance of immediately and offers real-world applications. 

“Project-based learning is more practical in that kids can get their hands on, so to speak, a project, and it cuts across disciplines, which is part of NGSS concepts,” says Eisenkraft. “Even if you don't build something yourself, you are still solving a problem. There are a lot of projects that focus around an idea or concept.”

Project-Based Learning: Building Engagement  

PBL has been shown to improve the understanding of basic concepts, encourage deep and creative learning, and develop teamwork and communication skills among students.

“Not everybody is motivated by the same stimulation, so project-based learning also allows us as teachers to come up with ways to motivate different students in the work we want to do,” says Eisenkraft. 

Even though science curricula and the NGSS may dictate certain subjects, students can have input. For example, Eisenkraft suggests when studying forces, go beyond the standard physics equation-type of problems involving angles and speeds. 

“The project I do is to have students develop a sport that we play on the moon,” he says. “So they're all coming up with new sports, and I can't predict which sport they’re going to do, and I can't predict how it will go.” PBL allows students to define the task, to wonder, and to have a different view, which is respected by the teacher, he adds. Having that kind of freedom while still following the curriculum is a good way to boost student buy-in. 

By providing a hands-on opportunity and student-initiated focus, PBL also creates more memorable and effective learning experiences.

“I like to ask adults, ‘What did you do for a science fair project in middle school?’” says Eisenkraft. “And if they do remember it, they can tell me all about it. It might be as trivial as, ‘I made a volcano.’ But they remember doing the volcano. Do you remember anything else from seventh grade science? Nothing.”

Eisenkraft cautions that PBL shouldn’t just be about making or building objects, but exploring the design and decision-making processes as well. “In middle school woodshop, everybody makes a birdhouse, and everybody makes the same kind. I'm saying, ‘No, no, which bird are you making it for? Why are you making it, and how is that reflected in your design?’ And then, no, the most perfect thing that you show me is not going to get an A unless you tell me what other three ideas you considered while making this that you rejected. Now, it's a real project. You've done it, you've told me what you did, but you also told me what decisions you made.” 

Project-Based Learning and Exploravision 

To provide PBL opportunities, Eisenkraft helped launch ExploraVision, one of the largest scholarship competitions in the U.S., which is run by the National Science Teaching Association with financial backing from Toshiba and celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The event challenges groups of K-12 students to solve global issues through technology, with the winners receiving $10,000 college scholarship bonds at maturity. The submission date is January 31, 2022, but educators should be organizing projects now.

Part of the competition is predicting what a technology may look like 20 years in the future, so now after three decades, organizers can look back to see if any old submissions came into being. “So, an example is 27 years ago somebody said, ‘Oh, the newspaper in the morning, you'll just plug in this device you'll have, and it will have the newspaper on it, and then you can read it, and you can press a button and a page will turn, you will press another button it'll get bigger print if you want,’” Eisenkraft says. “Now, of course we have that on our iPhones.”

In Exploravision, students are also asked to recognize that all technologies have positive and negative consequences, and to explore those ideas. “So we ask them to look at what's the downside of the technology, which requires them to really force themselves to confront what all the advertisements tell them, like ‘Oh this technology will solve all the problems in your life,’” he says. “It doesn't work that way.”

Introducing PBL into classrooms right now can be an opportunity to reimagine education and look at what's worked in the past versus old methods that maybe weren't the most effective. 

“Exploravision is one opportunity to do project-based learning that satisfies these aspects of what students like about school,” Eisenkraft says. “We don't want to come back to school now all excited, you know, the fist bumps and it's like, ‘Wow we're back together,’ but you don't want them to remember, ‘Oh yeah, take out your pens and papers and copy this sentence from the board.’ Maybe they forgot about those bad things in school. Let's not bring them back.”

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Teaching local politics, especially during election season, can be challenging. Doing so in this hyper-partisan era is nearly impossible. Too often United States government topics and national politics distract from our diverse 50 state and more than 89,000 county and local governments. But we need to distinguish the differences as well as respect experiential learning approaches to teaching local politics prior to municipal elections. 

State and local government is hardly taught in high schools and it’s rarely required at universities. As an American Politics subfield within political science, state and local government gets little academic attention. But large state university systems offer courses since their capital governments pass significant legislation. Texas, California, and New York public institutions have various classes and several textbook publishers include chapters about these respective states’ politics.

But how can educators teach local politics? To begin, I assign a basic text such as Terry Christensen and Tom Hogen-Esch’s “Local Politics” and a general state and local government textbook such as Christopher Simon, Brent Steel, and Nicholas Lovrich’s “State and Local Politics” as well as Robert Putnam’s “Bowling Alone” on community engagement activities. 

I also focus on local media so students recognize community issues. But this requires some innovation. Reading area newspapers, following independent online news sources such as patch.com, listening to local radio, and watching local evening news, are starting points. Social media can be helpful too, especially Twitter and Muck Rack. Local reporters usually have accounts and post news immediately. I suggest students follow journalists’ accounts and subscribe to online news sites since some offer student subscription rates.

Sources to consider:

• Assigned readings from local politics texts 
• Local newspapers, independent sources such as patch.com 
• Social media, especially reporters’ Twitter and Muck Rack accounts 

For the first class, I have to cover media literacy through news sources and social media. Addressing editorials and opinion pieces is a must since some students confuse op-eds for articles. We also discuss local issues such as public safety, education, and economic development. When we share similarities among municipalities, topics are hardly abstract. Students learn how public officials address these concerns differently or similarly. And by inviting public officials to discuss these issues with students, especially during online classes, it all leads to a spirited dialogue. 

As a local politics class, we have to discuss the electoral process. In order to participate in closed primary elections, I mention that one must declare their party affiliation to the local registrar of voters. I emphasize that voters can split-ticket or select candidates across party lines in general elections. But students regularly suggest it’s unfair for unaffiliated voters, as many are not registered with a party. Students can consider Democratic or Republican parties, but in some municipalities there are Green, Libertarian and Socialist parties. 

Students should know the differences and consider candidates as well as party platforms. In most municipalities there’s one dominant party, and primary elections are often the presumptive election before a general election.

Course themes:

• Following current state and local issues 
• Periodical, media literacy, and social media discussion 
• Political party primaries, state and local party committees 
• Invite elected officials for class discussions, especially for online sessions 
• Students attend in-person or online municipal board or party committee meetings 
•  Students complete public meeting reports and share their findings with the class 

States and municipalities have different political party systems. Connecticut, for example, has local party committees that nominate and endorse candidates for their party line before a primary election. These local conventions distinguish endorsed candidates versus petitioning candidates. I require students to attend and write reports about party committee or municipal hall meetings so they recognize partaking in the process matters. Since many meetings are online due to the pandemic, students can view these sessions. In fact, a journalism faculty colleague and I conducted a comparative analysis about area municipal hall online meetings. 

When students complete their reports, they discuss their findings with the class. They are struck at the generational gap of officials and participants at these meetings. I respond that older voters generally have more time if they are retired and they share resources and networks for campaign donations. Plus, national issues tend to gain younger voters’ attention. Thankfully, a student or two are involved in a local party committee or municipal board, and they reinforce my point that their engagement can make a difference. Some also intern for local candidates by registering for upper-level internship courses, which is effective for networking and career development.

Ultimately, I find experiential learning can be inspirational for my classes. When students share their experiences, I cherish their learning through directly connecting with local politics. 

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In the classroom, failure can be more productive than success.

A new study published in Review of Educational Research finds that STEM students are more successful when learning a new concept if they engage in problem-solving followed by instruction rather than if they receive instruction and then engage in problem-solving. Students perform even better when the initial problem-solving is designed with the principles of productive failure in mind. 

While the potential for productive failure has long been recognized in the education field, researchers were surprised by the extent of the benefit they saw in this study. 

“These are breakthrough findings,” says the study’s lead author, Dr. Tanmay Sinha, a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at ETH Zürich in Switzerland. “The effect size just by reversing the order of problem-solving and instruction is about two times that of what you would gain with an outstanding teacher over the course of a year. And if you implement productive failure principles, the effect is about three times stronger.”  

Effective Productive Failure Design  

For the study, Sinha and co-author Manu Kapur analyzed 53 studies that looked at STEM students globally. The students ranged from second grade to the postgraduate level, though a majority of the studies were conducted with students grades 6-10 from North America, Europe, and Asia. 

Sinha and Kapur found successful productive failure strategies were guided by a few key principles. The type of question asked during the initial problem-solving exercise is important, Sinha says. “You won't pick up a standard textbook problem and just give it to students beforehand,” he says. “The problem has to be designed in a particular way, the language has to be nontechnical. It has to be intuitive, there has to be some kind of contrasting case so that students can compare between different data sets.” 

Group work can also help make pre-lecture problem-solving more effective because it allows students to learn from one another, and then together they can increase their problem-solving abilities. 

In addition, the type of instruction given after the initial problem-solving phase should not be a standard lecture. “If you give this kind of a problem to novices, they will make mistakes, and they will try out different ways of solving the problem,” Sinha says. “So the instruction then has to build on these incorrect solutions or sub-optimal solutions rather than just telling students, ‘This is the right way to solve it.’” 

Productive Failure: Limitations and Takeaways for Educators 

There are limits to productive failure’s efficacy. Problem-solving proceeding direct instruction did not hold the same advantage for second and fifth graders as it did for older students, and a direct instruction-first approach was equally as effective for teaching procedural skills. 

“If you have to learn how to compute a procedure for say, standard deviation, instruction first will work as well as a problem-solving first design,” Sinha says. But for students to understand why they performed the steps to reach a final answer or to apply standard deviation to a different problem, beyond the current context, a problem-solving first approach appears to work much better. 

Utilizing productive failure in your classroom does not require you to revamp your instruction. At Sinha’s university, he works with instructors to come up with strategies for incorporating the approach into their classes with small-scale changes. For example, many educators assign students to practice questions after a class, but he’ll ask them to assign the questions before a lecture with some tweaks to enhance their adherence to productive failure principles. 

“The students are more prepped for the lecture that's going to follow,” he says. “It’s just shifting some of the exercises back, but you keep the structure of your class the same. You don't create radical changes, you don't go in and ask the instructor to completely flip what they have been doing.” 

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Students from across the U.S. recently gathered virtually to promote student voice in education at the first annual Students for Equitable Education Summit: Moving From Advocacy to Action. 

The summit was spearheaded by superintendents Marlon J. Styles Jr. from Middletown City School District in Ohio and Julie Mitchell from Rowland USD in California, and launched in collaboration with The Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools. It brought together more than 50 student leaders to share their insights with the 1,000+ educators in attendance. 

Participants shared takeaways from the experience, offering advice and best practices. 

1. Teachers Are Learners, Too

“I am a transgender student and there’s a lot of things I wish my teachers would have done, and I know other people wish their teachers would have done,” says Brooks Wisniewski, a former student at Kettle Moraine School for Arts and Performance and current student at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. He adds that sometimes teachers engage in exclusionary practices without realizing it. 

For instance, the simple act of going around the class and introducing students to one another can be tweaked to be inclusive. “When everybody's sharing out at the beginning of the school year, everybody just says their name and grade,” Wisniewski says. “I would always say my pronouns, because people may assume I have different pronouns than I identify with.”

Wisniewski urges teachers to realize that they are learning as much as they are teaching. “Students can have great ideas sometimes,” he says. “If I were to come up to my teacher, and be like, ‘Hey, I would appreciate it if you use pronouns.’ The idea is that they're open to that.” 

2. School is About More Than School Work  

Students are taught math, English, biology, and other subjects while at school, but the education experience often goes deeper. “We're not learning about school subjects and school subjects only, we’re learning about life,” says Andrea J Dela Victoria, a recent grad of Rowland Unified School District. “When you're in the classroom, you want to have real conversations with your students in order to open up that productive learning environment.” 

To get students to open up in these conversations, educators typically need to start the discussion, says Mitchell, one of the educators who helped plan the summit. For example, she says that in early planning meetings for the summit, students were reluctant to speak at first. “They weren’t able to really share and to be vulnerable with us until we were being vulnerable,” Mitchell says. 

3. Difficult Conversations Are a Must-Have  

It’s not enough to just make time for conversations, educators need to keep the dialogue going even -- and especially -- when it goes down uncomfortable avenues. “Sometimes for change to actually happen you have to have awkward, or difficult conversations,” says Ikponmwosa Agho, a recent graduate from Richland School District Two in South Carolina. 

These challenging moments allow deeper conversations to develop, adds Victoria. “In a conversation, everyone fears that awkward silence, but awkward silence is okay,” she says. “It might just give students the time to really think about that question, to think about their response to reflect on what this conversation is truly about, not just that quick response.” 

4. Challenge Existing Norms and Make Time for Students 

“A lot of what this summit was doing was challenging teachers,” says Noor Salameh, a student at Kettle Moraine School District in Wisconsin. “I encourage teachers to challenge authority. America has a public school system that has been teaching most of the same curriculum for decades now. But the world is evolving and it's changing, and challenging that curriculum and bringing that to your superintendents, your school board, that's how we get things done, instead of just complying with an education system that's a little bit outdated.” 

To better understand what students' feelings are, Mitchell recommends that her fellow educators set aside time to get to know students and ask follow-up questions to clarify their concerns, wishes, and ideas. 

Educators also need to do all this without putting the student or their thoughts and ideas on trial. “One hundred percent you must set aside judgment,” she says.  

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In 2013, the Global Teacher Status Index was established in an attempt to measure the value a country placed on professional educators. Twenty-one countries participated in the original scope of the index and, today, 35 countries are represented. 

Teaching no doubt looks different in each country so the study focuses on four points: inspiration to become an educator; status of primary and secondary teachers and principals when compared to other professions; a teacher’s social status within the country; and the amount of respect students have for teachers. 

The most recent index (published in 2019) reveals the top ten countries at both the top and bottom of the index. China took the lead in the No. 1 spot and Colombians indicated their country valued teachers the least.

The classroom teacher is the lynchpin between the children the district serves and the programs the district designs. The teacher must implement these programs and teach standards that prepare students for ultimate success beyond school. But today, the teacher has much more on her shoulders than teaching, especially when the pandemic is still ongoing. 

Many governors and mayors are insisting students return to in person classes and have even threatened reduced funding if local school district’s don’t comply with state requests. Masks continue to be a point of contention as municipalities struggle to return to normal even though the percentage of vaccinated citizens is less than desirable. In Tennessee's Rutherford County Schools, 500 students were diagnosed with COVID within the first four days of school while 50 teachers also contracted the virus. And, in many of these very same districts, state leaders are limiting hybrid and virtual options. An attempt to represent normalcy seems to be taking its toll on the school and landing on the shoulders of our incredible teachers. 

Our teachers have learned in short order how to use technology in ways they may have never used technology for teaching. They have had to support students who are losing parents and other family members daily and they are trying to provide as much stability as possible by focusing on the social and emotional needs of their students. 

Districts are also addressing learning gaps as a result of these incredible challenges. Last school year districts received a bye on high-stake assessments that benefited teacher’s evaluations, but this year most districts are being directed to administer high-stake state assessments. The teacher’s role in the classroom has changed dramatically from 2018 to 2021 and it might be the biggest leap we’ve ever experienced.  

How to Show Appreciation for Teachers 

In the attempt to return to ‘normal,’ have we? Once upon a time teachers didn’t have to worry about becoming deathly ill and dying as a result of showing up for work. Before 2019, many teachers were using technology as an instructional tool but not a virtual learning tool. Before 2019, social emotional learning was something districts may be implementing in pilots with a select group of teachers taking on the responsibility for the school. Before 2019, teachers had classrooms with manipulatives and shared instructional materials for all students. As we begin this school year, everything about teaching and learning has to change and our teachers are the impetus. 

No easy solutions but we can honor our teachers and value what they mean to our communities. As the 2021-22 school year kicks off, here are some ideas to show just how much a teacher means to your school, district, or community.

• Districts are implementing social-emotional learning for students but SEL for teachers is needed too! Consider implementing SEL support for teachers just as you do for your students. 
• School boards and district administrators should reach out to the local communities to see if they would be willing to offer teachers discounts in their establishments. Some companies offer discounts nationally, including ATT offering teacher pricing and deals and even car companies offer discounts to teachers that can save as much as 5K on the purchase of a vehicle. Here is a list of more than 100 discounts teachers qualify for throughout the country, plus 5 ways to save on vacation.
• Principals can work with the district HR departments to offer flexible schedules to teachers or co-op options to teachers with children. Los Angeles USD took the lead on this initiative last year to support teachers with childcare issues.  
• Teacher salary can’t be overlooked. Think about ways the school board can increase benefit packages or salaries, even in the midst of challenging budget years. This resource from Sanford University may prove helpful. 
•  Be loud and proud of your teachers! Celebrate teachers each and every day in person and virtually. Let them know they are appreciated and valued! 
• If you see any educator out and about, thank them PROFUSELY! 

The U.S. may not be top ranked in the Global Teacher Status Index but this is the time to make the effort to move up in our ranking and at least show up in the top 10. 

Many thanks to our educators who showed up this year to explore new possibilities for students and families even though they are exhausted. Wishing you much hope for the year to be promising and bright. 

• 5 Summer Professional Development Ideas for Teachers
• High-Yield Strategies to Normalize 2021-22 School Year

Students engaged in high-quality active learning lessons learn more than those who learn from traditional lectures, research shows. But keeping students actively engaged in a productive manner is not always easy. 

Here are some methods and strategies for adding more active learning to your teaching. 

1. “Active” Doesn’t Automatically “Equal” Learning  

“I despise the term ‘active learning,’” says Louis Deslauriers, who researches active learning and is director of Science Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. 

That’s because being actively engaged doesn’t simply equate to more efficient learning. 

“If you read the textbook, if I were to do an MRI of your brain, we'd see that you're highly highly, highly engaged,” Deslauriers says. “If you're listening intently to a lecture, then in the strictest sense of the word, you are actively engaged.” 

However, neither listening to a lecture or reading a textbook is the most efficient way to learn or what active learning is truly about. “What exactly do we mean by active learning?” Deslauriers says. “We mean that first, you have to be engaged. Obviously, that's number one. Number two, you have to be engaged productively. And number three, the productivity has to be toward a goal that is deemed worthwhile.” 

Understanding this as an educator can help guide and prioritize your active learning strategies around what truly helps students. 

2. Pause for the Active Learning Cause  

Active learning, Deslauriers says, is all about prompting the right cognitive process in the minds of students. Sometimes you can do this simply by pausing during direct instruction and allowing students to think about questions related to the material being covered such as: 

• Does this make sense to me? 
• How is this relevant? 
• Does it connect with something I already know? And if so, how do I integrate with what I already know? 
• What sort of questions do I have right now?
• Can I repeat what the instructor just did? Or is it going to require a lot of practice? 

“There's no way you can undergo these mental processes when someone keeps talking,”  Deslauriers says. But if educators pause during their lectures and encourage this type of focus, they can help their students learn more efficiently.  

3. Implement Peer Instruction Into Active Learning 

Popularized in the 1990s by Harvard physics professor Eric Mazur, peer instruction involves asking students questions about key concepts during class and then providing immediate feedback while discussing their answers with peers and the instructor. Instructors can hand out electronic clickers, use web-based tools such as Google forms, or even go completely low-tech by giving color-coded cards to students that correspond to different answers. This helps students engage immediately with the material.  

“The instructor shows the distribution of answers for the entire class,” Deslauriers says. “Students are getting feedback right away on what the correct answer is, and what their peers have answered.”  

4. Use Evidence-Based Active Learning Technology 

While active learning does not have to be high tech, there are many edtech tools designed to help with its implementation. For example, NoRILLA uses a real-world virtual interface to teach students about STEM. Designed for younger students, it features AI technology to offer personalized immediate feedback. The platform was developed by Dr. Nesra Yannier, a systems scientist at Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, with professors Ken Koedinger and Scott Hudson. 

Yannier says that while developing NoRILLA, the team studied how much students learned from it versus traditional makerspace activities and interactive stations at museums. They found that the NoRILLA approach increased student learning. “We saw that if you do not have this AI interactive guidance, even though they were building a lot with materials, they did not learn the underlying principles, and they also could not transfer it to real-world building later,” Yannier says. “A lot of schools are trying to switch to active  learning, but the way you use active learning is really important. It's not just doing any activity.” 

5. Don’t Start with Project-Based Learning 

Project-based learning is a type of active learning that many educators interested in active learning aspire to, but designing a full scale project-based class requires a great deal of resources and training. “If you’re trying to do project-based learning by yourself, you are almost certain to fail,” Deslauriers says. “But if you're trying to do peer instruction that I described earlier, then you have a decent chance.” 

Deslauriers regularly visits classrooms in higher education and K-12, sometimes he finds ones in which students appear to be engaging in active learning. “I see everyone is working hard on worksheets,” he says. “They have a piece of paper in front of them, and they're talking with each other, and they're trying to fill the worksheet. But then when I look more closely, I can see that the worksheet is actually less than useless. It's a complete waste of time.” 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, he’ll visit classes in which an educator is conducting what appears to be a traditional lecture. “And yet, the instructor stops talking every two minutes or so, and says, 'I want to give everyone time to think a little bit about what I just said. And, by the way, write down some questions you might have.' Then the instructor starts again. So on the surface of it, this looks like a traditional lecture, but there's quite a bit of active learning going on.” 

• Why Active Learning is More Crucial Than Ever 
• How to Launch a Flipped Classroom

Just like teachers, students have experienced a shift in attitudes and expectations regarding education during the past year-and-a-half of pandemic-disrupted school. They’ve seen what works for them and their learning preferences as well as what works for their classmates. Listening to what they think can help provide educators with key insight regarding classroom engagement. 

During the recent NYCSchools Tech Summit (watch free on demand here), four students who were either current New York City high school students or recent graduates shared their thoughts and advice for educators. 

1. Create Educational Spaces In Which Students Feel Supported Socially & Emotionally

Haojing Huang, a senior at Brooklyn Technical High School, said educators should strive to create an environment in which everyone feels able to share their feelings and concerns. “Teachers can initiate this by sending out surveys every so often checking in on everyone’s social and emotional wellbeing,” Huang said. “Personally, these surveys make me stop and reflect on my mental state, and they can give a teacher an idea of how well everyone is doing, like if the material is going too fast, or it's too much, or if they're stressed, out or if they're behind.” 

“I feel that we need educators to shift from being leaders to being guides for students on their own educational journeys,” said Josh Stern, a freshman at New York University majoring in education studies. “Interpersonal connections are especially important this school year as we begin to guide students back into traditional learning environments. So I would encourage educators to bring trauma-informed practices into their classrooms as well this fall. We've been through a year of tremendous personal growth but also tremendous loss and tremendous change, and I think it's important that we account for that as we welcome students back into a more traditional environment.” 

2. Let Students Drive Their Own Education  

Sophia Liu, a senior at New York University, said educators should not be afraid to let students make mistakes on their own. “I feel that a lot of educators like to keep themselves in their comfort zone and not let students explore different materials or technology when they introduce them to the class,” said Liu, who is majoring in early childhood education and special education. “I feel like this takes away the opportunity for students to kind of discover and explore on their own and find their own passion.” 

She added, “Every time educators introduce a new technology or new manipulatives to students, they should give them some time to freely explore the materials as long as it is safe, of course.” 

Nava Bahrampour, a junior at Bard High School Early College Queens, said learning spaces should celebrate all student strengths, not just strengths that relate to conventional subjects, majors, and fields. “For example, occupational and trade interests or artistic interest should be seen as equally valuable. Every single student has a valuable story to tell and a role to play in society,” she said. “Educators really should be willing to change their ways and methods to accommodate their students who are still learning and growing rather than students having to adhere to a really strict set of rules and standards.” 

3. Collaborate With Students to Form Relationships and Enhance Learning 

“I believe in really strong one-on-one connections between teachers and students,” Bahrampour says. “Knowing and really trusting your educator to believe in you, challenge and encourage you, is probably the most valuable part of going to school and being a student. That's why I think that small classes are super valuable. No matter someone's neurological wiring or their academic or social level, one thing that every single student needs is a mentor who knows them on a professional but also a personal level.” 

Instead of standard-but-often-boring powerpoint presentations, Huang urges teachers to explore more engaging educational tools, such as games related to their course material. While he says this process can start with teachers looking for tools on their own, they should consider forming an after-school committee that tests out these tools and offers feedback. 

Students can also help informally. “Students are always looking for tools and apps online to make their homework more interesting or fun,” Huang says. “They might already have many great tools in mind that they can share with the rest of the class.” 

4. Connect Students With Practical, Real-World Learning Experiences  

“In my experience, students do best with learning that is practical,” Stern said. He advised educators to think about ways in which they can partner with institutions and companies to create more practical learning opportunities for students. “For example, when teaching coding, how can we leverage a partner like Apple who has these tools such as a coding playground already in existence to power these practical learnings?” he said. 

Liu said educators also have an opportunity to partner with classrooms outside the local area. “Think about how to connect with other educators around the world to see if there are chances where you can work together and come together to practice, either languages or share ideas together,” she said. “With edtech this is definitely possible, and I can't wait to see it happening in classrooms of all grade levels.” 

• How a 16-Year-Old Gets Other Kids Excited About Coding
• STEM Lessons: Make Learning Engaging in Any Environment

Within the last year, there’s been much attention and criticism about critical race theory especially in light of Black Lives Matter movements and protests against the theory. But few understand the legal theoretical approach. 

Even more concerning is the assumption that critical race theory has been widely discussed in elementary to higher education classrooms. The theory has been taught in mostly law school and graduate courses for a reason: students should already have a grasp of American history and American government. By applying the legal theory then, it can be a useful approach to considering race, ethnicity, and gender in America’s political and legal systems. 

Critical race theory was widely developed in the 1970s as an approach to interpret laws and consider the complexities of race, ethnicity, and additional background factors of public officials. It centers on American laws and institutions and how these often create and reinforce racial, ethnic, and gender disparities. Critical race theory is just one way of understanding race and the legal system -- there are additional approaches to doing so, such as critical race feminism, or queer theory, which centers on gender and sexual orientation considerations in America’s political systems.

Understanding Critical Race Theory in Context 

Recently, I have written a couple of editorials on critical race theory and I emphasized that it should not be taught as a stand-alone approach.   

As an educator who teaches critical race theory, especially in my racial and ethnic politics upper-level course, I assign an introductory text on America’s defining political eras.  I offer a basic timeline of historical turning points such as America’s Reconstruction Era, Civil Rights and Feminism Movements, as well as landmark court cases. We start the semester with Uneven Roads, a textbook that highlights a number of these significant periods by social scientists Todd Shaw, Louis DeSipio, Dianne Pinderhughes, and Toni-Michelle Travis. We then synthesize why these were watershed moments for various racial, ethnic, and gender groups. I also assign coalition-building theory articles that center on racial and ethnic communities addressing local issues. Finally, we review the legislative and judicial processes at the national and state levels. 

Following these class discussions for several weeks, it’s not until midterm that my class covers critical race theory. In other words, I cannot have students immediately venture into something as complex as critical race theory. They need to appreciate and understand additional approaches, histories, and governmental systems. 

A Thematic Approach to Teaching Critical Race Theory 

• Political history text on social movements for racial, ethnic, and gender groups 
• Timeline considerations and landmark court cases 
• Explanation of state and federal legal and political systems 
• Theoretical approaches, including coalition-building theory 
• Critical race theory case studies and articles 
• Final paper, assessment, and discussions surrounding identity politics 

During the last couple of months of class, students review and present chapters from a critical race theory reader such as “Critical Race Theory: The Cutting Edge,” written by law professors and legal scholars like Richard Delgado, Jean Stefancic, Derrick Bell, Jr., Angela Harris, and Randall Kennedy. These articles vary in narrative, scope, and example; some sections are fictional, biographical, and counter-narrative accounts. In fact, these articles stress for readers to think beyond the “Black-White binary” about race relations and to consider additional background factors such as intersectionality – or when race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and class overlap and connect. Many of these examples are complex and sometimes abstract, especially for some students because they rarely venture outside their own racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual orientation circles. 

I regularly remind students how American history and our political system often reinforce normative approaches to law and politics. This can include Eurocentric, patriarchal, and heterosexual viewpoints. Interestingly, many of my students are intrigued and pose questions related more to the political history text than the critical race theory reader. 

It should be no surprise by semester’s end that many students connect race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation with America’s history and political system. Once they recognize how political and legal approaches such as critical race theory can be useful in explaining political and social phenomena, some students venture further on these topics in their final papers. This is when they discover more narratives, approaches, histories, and perspectives. Through theoretical approaches and constant inquisitiveness, students learn additional methodologies to understanding societal phenomena including race, ethnicity, gender, and the law.

• Why Black History Month Encourages a Segregated Curriculum
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Since the pandemic began, most educators have learned just how important and helpful an LMS (learning management system) can be. But many educators don’t avail themselves of all the features with which most are equipped. And while it’s not necessary, or even advisable, to use every feature for every class, there are some LMS capabilities that are underutilized by many educators. 

Shawndra Shelton, district technology assistant at Barrington 220 School District in Illinois, shares how an educator can get the most out of an LMS. These tips can help save time and facilitate efficient student learning. 

Front-End Work Saves Time Overall  

The first thing to realize about an LMS is that the more time you put in at the beginning of the year building your LMS modules, the more time you’ll ultimately save later in the year. And once you put in that initial work building content it will serve you for years to come.  

“You can save your entire course in a resource area,” Shelton says, noting this feature is something many educators don’t fully utilize. “You don't have to recreate the wheel every time, right? You can just pull in all the things that you've done, and set them up for the next year.” 

The Course Module Is Just a Shell Until You Build It 

Many schools automatically generate an LMS module for each class but Shelton says some teachers don’t realize this is not a complete course module. 

“I think our teachers had a little bit of trouble wrapping their minds around the idea that the course that comes in from our student information system, that is created for them, it's just a shell,” she says. “It's more of a container for things that you want to add to as opposed to a creation in itself.”

An LMS Can Save Time With Grading 

If set up correctly, the right LMS can save a lot of time both in entering and tracking student grades and with the actual grading, for certain assignments. It can also integrate with MAP tests and can automatically grade multiple choice and short-answer tests, and create weighted averages for each student. While teachers still need to grade essays, some systems can help by searching essays for key words and can also offer feedback on which students read assignments or clicked on required links.  

“There are so many features that it gets overwhelming for educators -- they're busy trying to teach,” Shelton says. Her advice: “Choose a couple of features that you want to be really good at.” 

Get Help From Colleagues  

You can organize your LMS around a weekly schedule, by topic, or by learning units. Since there are so many options, it can help to look at how other teachers organize similar classes. 

As you learn new features, the Help function on most systems is a good resource, Shelton says, as are other teachers. “Finding forums and people you can speak with to get that peer counseling on ‘How are you using this?’” she says. “That's where, as educators, we get a lot of our ideas -- being able to share and share alike.”

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• High-Yield Strategies to Normalize 2021-22 School Year

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released new COVID-19 guidance that called for students and school staff over the age of 2 to wear masks in the school setting, regardless of their vaccination status. This marked a departure from the CDC which recently updated its school guidance to recommend that only unvaccinated students and staff wear masks in schools. 

Why Was This Recommendation Made? 

In the guidance the APA explained the thinking behind this recommendation was:

• a significant portion of the student population is not eligible for vaccination
• protection of unvaccinated students from COVID-19 and to reduce transmission
• lack of a system to monitor vaccine status among students, teachers and staff
• potential difficulty in monitoring or enforcing mask policies for those who are not vaccinated; in the absence of schools being able to conduct this monitoring, universal masking is the best and most effective strategy to create consistent messages, expectations, enforcement, and compliance without the added burden of needing to monitor vaccination status
• possibility of low vaccination uptake within the surrounding school community
• continued concerns for variants that are more easily spread among children, adolescents, and adults.

The guidance notes that an added benefit of universal masking is protection of students and staff against other respiratory illnesses that would take time away from school.   

What Do Experts Think of the Guidance?   

Dr. Richard Webby, a virologist at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, agreed with the APA guidance on masks. “I think it's really driven by this Delta variant,” he says. “There's no doubt if classes go back to in class learning with no masks, this virus is going to tear through schools.”                                                                                                                                           

In addition to cutting down on the spread of the virus, masking can limit the number of students that need to be quarantined if a classmate contracts the virus, he says. 

Dr. Gigi Kwik Gronvall, an immunologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, says geography and local infection rates will also be a factor going forward. “It really will depend on the particular area that we're talking about whether or not masks are important for COVID,” she says. “But will they work? Will they help? Yes.”

“CDC needs to change their guidance too,” Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and professor at George Washington University and CNN medical analyst, Tweeted in support of the APA guidance. “If there is no proof of vaccination, and vaccinated & unvaccinated people are mixing, indoor masking need[s] to be required.”

But Why Should Vaccinated Students and Staff Wear Masks in Any Instance? 

Gronvall says that when considering whether vaccinated students and staff should still wear masks, it’s important to remember how vaccines work. “It's not some sort of protective gear that prevents something from coming in,” she says. “It's an education program for your immune system so that if you actually get infected and the virus gets into your body and starts making copies of itself, your immune system sees that and takes care of it.” 

Depending on the exposure level and each person’s unique anatomy, fighting off the virus may take more time and effort for your immune system. 

“The best-case scenario is that you don't even need to use your vaccine, that you never get exposed; your immune system is ready, but there's no intruder,” says Gronvall, who still wears a mask in public indoor settings despite being vaccinated. “People who have been vaccinated right now they're doing very well against all the variants, including Delta, but it's still a process.” 

Additionally, there are questions about how infectious vaccinated individuals are and about whether immunity could eventually wane. 

“We don't really have a good handle yet on how much a vaccinated individual can actually transmit the virus,” Webby says. “We don't think it's a lot, but it's probably not zero.” 

He adds, “Teachers were one of the earlier groups of people to get vaccinated in some places. If there is such a thing as antibody waning, immunity waning over time, maybe they're a little bit further out from their vaccination, so the virus can replicate just a little bit better.” 

• The Delta Variant: Should Educators & Parents Be Worried?
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The expression "reimagining education" has been the phrase educators and school/district leaders have heard since students returned to in-person learning. We are excellent in education in creating "catchphrases" or rallying cries, but we often forget to share the what and how. In addition, with so many new initiatives and instructional practices launching in the last 18 months, it's hard to pick and choose what should be kept or moved off of when school reopens in the fall.

Too often, "reimagining" really means adding more and more education technology into schools, kids spending more or virtually all of their learning time on screens with programs supposedly individualized for each student. We have a unique opportunity to look at programmatic and philosophical shifts to promote energetic and curious learners. 

Reimagining Education: What to Keep

Here are ideas to keep that will help educators serve students more effectively post COVID-19 and beyond. 

Student choice in learning: Differentiation and student engagement are vital to student learning outcomes in the virtual space and in-person. As a principal for eleven years and district leader the past five, I have seen teachers create lessons that can be modified for students at various content-mastery levels and give them a choice in learning. Unfortunately, those lessons were the "special" lessons done after a traditional unit. Let's make student choice and discovery learning the norm moving forward. This could look like students moving ahead or getting direct teacher time based on their experience and understanding of the material. Online learning allowed students to spend a lot more time incorporating their interests into the lesson. Let's keep that mindset when we return to school.

Student voice in the classroom: When students have a voice in their learning, they are more likely to be engaged because learning is relevant. Especially in today's educational setting, where there may be an absence of in-person interactions. Educators must strive to ensure that students' voices are not lost. Choice boards, flex blocks, passion projects, genius hours, and makerspaces were a staple during home learning. Let’s ensure it is a staple for in-class learning as well. 

Time to prototype edtech: Teachers do not need more technology; they need more time. Time with the ed-tech tools, time to learn the features, and time to understand the scope of effectiveness in their classrooms. Over the last 18 months, teachers have been introduced to technology and given ample opportunity to learn it. Keep this practice moving forward. Provide a few resources and allow time for educators to become familiar with tools. More isn't always better, unless it is time.

Risk-taking: Educators and students showed grit and drive to learn and try new technology--continue this mindset and culture when teachers and students return in person. Maintain an environment in which attempts are celebrated, and not just correct answers. This process will foster a culture of discovery learning.  

Relationship-building with families: Forging relationships with students and their families takes time. When COVID hit, educators went into high-speed building relationships online and ensuring families were included in the learning process. This same vigor should continue when kids fully return. Let families know that they are equal partners in their child's education and that you are walking alongside them. Using the platforms incorporated during COVID and taking time to make personal connections with each student's family will keep open communication lines. 

Learning management systems: Pre-pandemic, many teachers had "their way" to disseminate learning and gather student work. Virtual learning taught us quickly that being efficient and consistent when students were not in front of us was essential. However, this efficiency didn't end when we returned to school. Learning management systems (LMS) will continue to help teachers deliver lessons, share reading materials, and grade assignments. In addition, these platforms can streamline much of the work for teachers by centralizing several features on one platform, including the tools needed to run a virtual, hybrid, or in-person classroom, track student progress, and connect with parents.  

Flexible PD. With the comfort and efficiency in virtual meetings and learning the past 18 months, teachers will expect to have synchronous and asynchronous PD sessions in the fall. In addition, a combination that includes online and video tools will give teachers more time to reflect on their practice and make effective adjustments. 

Reimagining Education: What to Ditch

If I am going to identify strategies that need to continue, we also have to take some things away, or else the keeps are just one more thing.

Saying that "it has always been this way" doesn't count as a legitimate justification for why it should stay that way. Teachers and administrators worldwide are doing amazing things, but some practices should not be kept when students return.

Computer rooms: The idea of taking a whole class to a computer room with outdated equipment once per week to practice their digital skills and then sending them back to the classroom 40 minutes later is obsolete. Instead, we learned should be an integral part of all the subjects and built into the curriculum. Technology is an essential part of learning, not just a location to research topics.

Banning student devices: Instead of taking phones and tablets from students, we should use these devices to enhance learning. Teach students digital citizenship and then let them use their phones for creating videos, podcasts, and anything they can think of that allows them to share their learning and voice.

Keeping ideas to ourselves: Teachers who work silently, don't tweet, blog, or discuss ideas are becoming obsolete. Educators are no longer teaching just locally but globally, and it's our job to share what we do and see what others are doing. Education is a team sport, and we should all be tweeting, blogging, and sharing what works and what doesn’t, as well as getting and giving advice to and from colleagues around the world. 

If we want to reimagine education, we should start in our own classrooms and school. Keeping effective practices and moving away from those “we always do” that don't enhance student learning is the start.

Dr. Matthew X. Joseph (@MatthewXJoseph) is Director of Digital Learning and Innovation for Milford (MA) Public School. He will be discussing this topic in full at the #NYCSchoolsTech Summit 2021. Register free here

Using Wikipedia in the classroom has been shunned traditionally by some teachers because it is written by volunteers on the internet. But it is precisely that crowdsourced nature that makes Wikipedia such a compelling tool in the classroom, says Nichole Saad, senior program manager for education at Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that owns Wikipedia. 

With its vast repository of knowledge and accessibility -- students can get to it from any browser or device -- Wikipedia is perfect for classroom lessons on any topic and provides an opportunity to cover subjects such as information literacy and source bias evaluation. 

1. Wikipedia is Generally As Accurate As Other Encyclopedias  

Accusations of inaccuracy have been easy to make against Wikipedia since its inception, but have been largely unfounded. “There have been studies that have compared it to Encyclopedia Britannica and found that it is on par in terms of reliability,” Saad says. 

There are rules about reliable sources and what makes a topic notable or not, says Saad. Wikipedia editors also engage in constant discussions in regard to what information is missing from the global knowledge repository. 

2. Wikipedia is A Great Tool for Students to Learn to Evaluate Accuracy  

Educators and students shouldn’t automatically accept everything they read on Wikipedia as indisputable fact. Instead, Wikipedia’s entries can be used as a general way to learn about vetting sources and determining accuracy. 

“How do you determine whether information is reliable or not?” Saad says. “How do you find the gaps and the biases that are present in all information that we consume? Wikipedia is one of the best tools that we have as educators to do that, because it's transparent in the way that it produces knowledge.” 

Toward the top right corner of each Wikipedia article is an “Edit history” link that lets you see all the changes that have been made to that entry. On the left corner is a “Talk” tab, which Saad says is a good link for educators to explore with their students. “The way I describe it to teachers is, it's like being in the room with the textbook publishers and understanding how they're making their editorial decisions,” she says. 

3. Wikipedia Has Resources Specifically for Educators 

The Wikimedia Foundation recently launched Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom, a new pilot teacher training program in Bolivia, Morocco, and the Philippines. The initiative is designed to help both educators and students develop media and information literacy skills using Wikipedia. The free training materials are currently available in English, Spanish, Arabic, and Tagalog on Wikimedia Commons. 

“We have three teachers’ guides that are aligned with the media and information literacy framework for UNESCO,” Saad says. “The first one is around access to information, and how Wikipedia can be used as the place where you access information freely. And the second module is on evaluating information. So it goes through how to look at a Wikipedia article, how information is produced, and who are the editors behind Wikipedia.” 

The third module focuses on creating knowledge. 

4. Students and Educators Can Contribute to Wikipedia  

Educators and their students can also help Wikipedia improve by contributing to it, which is a wonderful tool for active learning. 

“There's no barriers to contribution in the Wikimedia movement, anyone can edit,” Saad says. “There's no limitation on that, unless you make a lot of mistakes, then you might have some issues. There are many ways to contribute. For example, you could fix a spelling error on an article. You can translate articles -- some of the most engaging education programs that we've seen in our community have been around language translation or transliteration of sources.” 

Contributions are not just limited to Wikipedia. “We have other Wikimedia projects that are part of the Wikimedia movement, Wikipedia is the most famous one,” Saad says. For example, Wikimedia Commons is a media repository of rights-free content that's available to everyone under Creative Commons licenses. As a classroom assignment, photography students can make existing Wikipedia articles better by adding their own photos; it also can be an opportunity to explain to students about usage rights regarding images. 

“There are hundreds of ways that you can use these projects as tools for learning and teachers are creative, so I'm not going to prescribe,” Saad says. “What we want to do is open the door and let people see what opportunities there are to incorporate Wikipedia into their teaching practice.” 

• 4 Tips For Teaching Digital Literacy
• Fact-Checking Sites for Students
• How to Help Students Search for Information 

Nearly one in four teachers said they were likely to leave their jobs this summer according to a recent survey from the Rand Corporation.

“We found that teachers are experiencing frequent job-related stress and symptoms of depression at far higher rates than the general adult population,” says Ashley Woo, an assistant policy researcher at RAND, and co-author of the report based on the survey.

The survey of more than 1,000 K-12 teachers on RAND’s American Teacher Panel, conducted earlier this year, found:

- Black educators were particularly likely to plan to leave the profession

- One in three teachers were responsible for the care of their children while teaching

- Mode of instruction and health were the highest-ranked stressors.

Teacher discontentment was far above what it had been previous to the pandemic when, on average, only one in six teachers said they planned on leaving the profession. However, Woo cautions that the survey only measured what teachers were thinking at a moment in time when coronavirus case numbers were higher and vaccination rates were much lower. 

Justina Schlund, senior director of content and field learning at CASEL, was not associated with the report but says it was a significant snapshot of teacher stress. 

“These findings highlight just how important it is for education leaders at all levels to pay close attention to ensuring working conditions and school climates fully support adults’ social, emotional, and mental wellness,” she says. “There’s lots of discussion right now about how to support students with the impact of the pandemic, and to most effectively support students, teachers need to feel supported, connected, and valued.” 

What School Leaders Can Do  

The report provided several recommendations for reducing teacher stress. These include:  

• Implementing recommended COVID-19 mitigation measures
• Using American Rescue Plan funds to provide mental health supports for staff
• Providing access to childcare for educators by having state leaders include teachers in their essential worker designations
• Developing clear policies for remote teaching and necessary training support if remote teaching is implemented on a long term basis 
• Collecting data on teaching and well-being.

Some recommendations may be less pressing if the pandemic wanes this coming school year, but many are evergreen, including data collection. “We really encourage education leaders and policymakers to think about collecting data on the specific needs and challenges that their specific teacher populations are facing,” Woo says. She adds that school leaders should collaborate with teachers and learn from them. “We know that teachers might have different needs and desired supports based on who they are. Perhaps teachers of color have different needs for support than other teachers.” 

Schlund says school leaders should prioritize SEL for teachers. “We know from research that teachers are less likely to report burnout and have greater job satisfaction when they feel supported by their administrators, perceive a positive school climate, feel like they have voice and choice over instructional decisions, have resources and professional learning to support students’ SEL, and when they themselves strengthen their own social and emotional competencies,” she says. 

What Teachers Can Do  

For teachers, Schlund recommends three steps:  

• “Set aside regular time to take stock of your needs. For example, by reflecting on your own social and emotional competencies, using a self-care inventory and plan, or recording feelings and reflections in a journal,” she says. “Build on these reflections by creating a plan for how to strengthen areas of growth or ensure self-care needs are met, then find a trusted colleague to check in regularly on each other’s plans.”
• "Reconnect with why you teach and identify a group of supportive colleagues who want to collaborate and work together on shared goals. Even if your school doesn’t have formal structures set up for meaningful collaboration, you can use planning times to consult with each other on challenges, connect with mentors, or discuss helpful articles."
• “Talk with your school administrator about the importance of schoolwide SEL for both students and adults, and ask what you can do to help bring SEL to your school,” Schlund says. “Many SEL initiatives have been started by one passionate teacher who sparked a schoolwide focus on SEL.” (This SEL informational slideshow can provide talking points for that conversation.)

 Woo’s research did not examine individual steps teachers can take, but she reiterates that teachers should voice their concerns and challenges to school leaders, and work with them to develop solutions. “That collaboration between education leaders and teachers themselves is something that we think is important for making sure that teacher needs are actually being met and being heard,” she says.  

•  SEL For Educators: 4 Best Practices 
•  Building a Sustainable Social-Emotional Learning Plan 
•  SEL Takes Center Stage in Roadmap to Reopening 

Recruiting and retaining good teachers is a challenge for every district. A recent RAND survey found that 44% of teachers who left the profession voluntarily during COVID left because of the pandemic. However, some teachers thrived during the pandemic by stepping up to use more technology in their teaching and shifting to more student-centered learning models. 

How does a district recruit new teachers with these qualities? 

Matt Spets, assistant superintendent in the D.C. Everest Area School District in Wisconsin, says that his district has committed to better benefits, including paid time off and a microcredentialing-based salary schedule that rewards teachers who learn new skills. “By moving to more of a private sector model in giving teachers a voice in how they spend their time off, we honor, energize, and retain them,” he says. “We also hold them accountable for the right things by defining the qualities of effective teaching.”

Spets notes that the skills and traits his district is looking for, such as resourcefulness, initiative, and flexibility, are in short supply. The teachers who thrived during the pandemic are those who took advantage of the new technology platforms and figured out things to serve their students and their families. “I’m in a district with strong fiscal management,” he says. “This allows us to make investments in our teachers and policies that support them, including professional development opportunities and stronger benefits, so we retain good teachers.”

Best Practices for How to Recruit New Teachers 

The essential quality in teachers that districts and schools are looking for has not changed, says Gary Loup, CEO of GetaTeachingJob.com. Education leaders want to hire teachers who are student-centered and committed to achieving positive student outcomes. Now, of course, technology skills are also a priority. 

Here are some of Loup’s hiring guidelines to help administrators find the best teachers for their students.

1. School leaders should know their faculty and how to build a team, support them, and keep them happy so they want to stay. Teachers do not leave jobs because they don’t like the children. It is usually because they do not feel they have the support of school leaders. Making teachers feel valued leads to retention. 
2. Principals should spend time on the phone or in person getting to know teachers to determine whether they will be a good fit with the rest of the faculty team. During this process, the teacher also gets to know the principal and the team and determine whether the position and school are a good fit for them. 
3. Some newer trends, such as using a structured list of questions for applicants, short one-way video interviews, or assessments should not be relied on too heavily, cautions Loup. Engage applicants in conversation and take the time to get a good sense of their potential and then move quickly to hire when you have a strong candidate. 
4. Teachers want to feel appreciated. They want to be hired because school leaders want them and do not assume that they will take any job that is offered. 

“Having a clear sense of the positives your district offers prospective teachers will also help your recruiting efforts,” said Spets, who believes his district has invested in assets that make the district an attractive destination because (in his words): 

• We clearly communicate what it means to join our team. 
• We offer best-in-class technology for teaching and learning. 
• We introduce innovative programs more quickly than other districts. 
• We have beautiful learning spaces that we have upgraded with an equity lens. Students all have access to the same learning environment. 
• We have invested in improved teacher benefits. 

“Our goal is to attract the best candidates in the area, hire them, and invest in their growth,” says Spets. “When we find the right people, we don’t need to hesitate to hire. We have clarity on what we’re looking for.” 

• 4 High-Impact Tools for School Leaders
• 4 More High-Impact Tools for School Leaders

Despite their best intentions, educators don’t always foster creativity in the classroom, says Patricia Brown.

“Sometimes we stifle creativity with our students. Sometimes we keep them in a box. And sometimes, we're so self conscious about our own level of creativity, that we put that onto our students,” says Brown, a veteran educator and the founder of MsEdtechie Consultants LLC. 

Brown will discuss ways to encourage instead of limit student creativity during her keynote presentation at SC PivotCON on June 15. The presentation will kick off the daylong virtual conference, which will be an opportunity for educators to come together as a community and celebrate their successes during the era of COVID, reimagine what school will look like in our future, and reconnect with colleagues. (More info and free registration here.) 

“What I’ll talk about in my keynote is how we have to look beyond what we think creativity is, and allow kids to just be and create,” she says. “I would encourage everyone to give your students opportunity and access and see what they can do. Because I think you will ultimately be impressed with what your students can accomplish and create.” 

Some highlights of Brown’s presentation: 

1. Reflect on Your Biases 

Representation matters when it comes to what you present and assign. It’s important to look at your students and make sure the examples you share with them reflect the same diversity. “So when you're talking about stories, when you're sharing stories, when you're sharing images, when you're giving examples, you are making sure it is representative of various different types of scientists, for example,” Brown says. This lets students from all backgrounds know that a career path in STEM is viable for them. 

The way we talk about STEM is also important. Brown has heard educators tell female students with an interest in science that they’d make a great “female” scientist, but using the word “female” in that context sends a message that somehow women scientists are less than their male counterparts. 

2.  Advocate for Your Students 

Educators should advocate for their diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice on behalf of their students, regardless of in what zip code they live. This advocacy for equity needs to extend to access to technology as well as beyond. It’s not enough to just give all students tablets and computers; what they do with the devices matters. 

“You really see the level of inequity a lot when it comes to how kids use devices,” Brown says. “Typically, what we find in more affluent and suburban districts, creativity runs throughout the school and the districts. So kids are creating, they are making, the teachers are really honing in on the four C's. And what we find in other districts that are maybe low-performing, is typically the devices they receive, they're using them more for drill and kill, apps, and more testing, and rote learning.” 

3. Make Students Aware of the Opportunities that Exist 

In addition, educators should have intentional conversations with students about the opportunities ahead of them. “Talk to students about jobs and careers, specifically in the computer science realm in the STEM fields, and allow them to see themselves in those roles,” Brown says. “That's so important because we have such a disproportionate amount of students who don't have access or have not been exposed.” 

Ideally, in a well-designed class, students will see examples of people in the STEM field who look like them, and then they will start learning about career opportunities. This can help give them the confidence to start creating and experimenting themselves. 

4. Create Learning Environments for STEM  

When developing content, educators should think about lessons that will inspire students. “There's a difference between engagement and compliance,” Brown says. 

It is important to note the distinction between passive use of technology and active use. “In active use, the students are immersed in maybe a simulation, or they're coding, or they're doing peer collaboration and designing, and specifically making global connections with others,” Brown says. “As opposed to a passive use of technology, in which students are maybe just reading a book online or passively watching a video with no type of interaction or no opportunity for them to actually create.” 

5.  Empowering Students to Create 

Students need to understand their own potential. “Make sure that you are captivating your students by allowing them to understand the power of what they can create and make, and by giving them opportunities to tinker,” Brown says. One way to do this is through STEM bins, which are loaded with simple common materials that allow students to start building and embark on simple engineering projects. Brown says the activity does not need to be complicated or high tech. For example, she recently had students who had just finished reading Jack and the Beanstalk work as teams to attempt to build the highest tower they could using everyday materials. 

“Sometimes we get overwhelmed with the amount of technology that's available,” Brown says. “One of the tips that I always give educators is to pick one or two things that you want to focus on, and go with that. And maybe the only thing that you're going to use today, or this year, is the camera app [on an iPad]. Just find ways that you can incorporate the camera app in your lessons, in your activities, or things that you do with your students.” 

• STEM Lessons: Make Learning Engaging in Any Environment
• 3 Education Trends to Watch for in the Upcoming School Year

As the calendar turns to the 2021 school year, we have to reflect on what did not work with hybrid learning models and instructional practices in our classroom. When we talk hybrid, we also talk synchronous, asynchronous, independent learning, and many other terms we never talked about 12 months ago. 

The issues we face with hybrid learning is designing lessons that don't fully work for students at home or in the physical classroom. By merging lessons that lack the full range of options in either environment, we have not provided the best learning opportunities to our students.

One promising practice that can be used in hybrid learning is the use of centers. Just like in elementary schools, establishing centers requires some initial planning, work, and possible expense, but can save time and money, and maximize teacher connections with all learners. Learning centers capitalize on student exploration because they provide students with hands-on experience and teacher support.

Hybrid Learning Centers 

In a hybrid model that makes use of centers, every student attends class synchronously, whether in-person or at home. Educators design learning activities that are differentiated for students based on their physical location. 

For example, the teacher starts class with a warm-up activity posted on an LMS. Direct instruction via a mini-lesson is provided for all students to access the content together. Centers can then be scheduled in which students engage in either in-person groupings on an LMS or in breakout rooms. The teacher rotates through each group to provide guided practice or support independent work. Once all the centers have been visited, the teacher can provide a closing activity for the whole class, much like the warm-up, in which students reflect on the learning objectives via an online form. Questions can be posted as warm-ups in a way that creates a combined classroom community. Assignments can also be designed with mixed groups in which students at home and in-person can collaborate.

While hybrid centers keep students separated based on where they are physically, students still interact through an LMS and synchronous meeting platform. These interactions increase individualized instruction (teachers work directly with all students in each group and ensure they fully understand the content) and student engagement. Centers also allow for an increase and consistency in interactions much like a full in-person classroom as opposed to traditional A/B hybrid models, in which students are subjected to the delivery of content in person and the completion of individual tasks at home.

Adoption of Hybrid Learning Centers 

Any shifts in current practice takes structured and consistent professional development (PD), training, resources, and time. 

Professional Development. For districts to launch a consistent instructional practice/model, time and resources will need to be spent to give a clear reason for this shift. This PD will begin with consistent videos around the "why" and the expected outcomes. The message should come from the superintendent and other school leaders. 

From there, live PD from in-district or contracted trainers should focus on the implementation of the center model. The agenda will include exemplars, PreK-12, from districts that have successfully implemented this instruction to varying degrees. Additional PD should be added for districts moving away from asynchronous days and to a 5-day a week synchronous instructional model.

The focus of each session will be on:

• Lesson planning 
• The technology needed to implement hybrid centers 
• Sharing exemplar lessons 
• Unit planning 
• Detailing support networks 

Time. Districts will have to look at the current learning time required to allow for additional days off to implement PD supportive of a significant shift in current practice. Districts can work with school committees/boards to be creative with current vacations and other traditional days off to maximize PD training and time on learning. 

Cost. Moving to a fully synchronous model in the hybrid structure will accrue costs to some districts. Initially, the cost of cameras for all teachers in all classrooms will be a requirement. Most laptops have cameras, but some classrooms only have a teacher desktop. Furthermore, infrastructure in schools will need to be increased, i.e., bandwidth for constant video streaming by all teachers simultaneously. Additional costs for districts could be for families without internet access. A full synchronous model will also require all students online at home every day during school hours. 

Measures of success. A successful PD plan will consist of a solid agenda highlighting the new model's needs and exemplars. It will also consist of ongoing meetings throughout FY21 year to support district implementation. Long-term measures of success will require the collection of data including, but not limited to, dropout rates, standardized test scores, and district common assessments as each pertains to the FY 21 school year and beyond.

Learning is dynamic and complicated, and teaching in a hybrid model adds another layer of complexity. However, by being intentional, consistent, and routinized via synchronous hybrid models, we can create a learning environment more closely resembling that which existed pre-COVID and in the best interest of our learners. 

Dr. Matthew X. Joseph (@MatthewXJoseph) is Director of Digital Learning and Innovation for Milford (MA) Public School.

• How to Manage a Hybrid Classroom
• The Future of Hybrid Learning

Teaching has never been easy. The expectations educators put on themselves as well as those that others put on them have always been high, and burnout is a very real hazard of the profession. 

Henry Seton, an Ohio humanities teacher, is an advocate of mental health for educators and believes these long standing issues have been exasperated for many during the pandemic. 

“We have gravely underestimated the stresses for most teachers this year, whether inadequate safety provisions for in-person instruction, unrealistic demands for hybrid instruction, or the burdens of remote teaching while being a parent,” Seton says. “There is a strong case for getting certain groups of students back to in-person instruction as soon as possible—elementary school students, students with disabilities, etc.—but this argument has at times been advanced with flagrant disregard for teacher safety and well-being.” 

Since March educators have devoted a great deal of time to helping their students navigate the emotional challenges of pandemic learning, but they also need to think about their own mental health. 

1. Practice self-care 

“We always look at the student being ready to learn but we need to make sure the teacher is ready to teach,” says Mary Ann Burke, Ed.D., is a digital education expert and co-author of Student-Engaged Assessment, and a substitute distance learning teacher for Oak Grove School District in San Jose, California. “That includes making sure she eats properly, sleeps properly, exercises, relaxes, meditates, journals—whatever it takes.” 

Dr. Barry A. Schreier, chair of the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors and director of University Counseling Service at the University of Iowa, says educators need to be more forgiving of themselves. 

“When faculty get exhausted I think the immediate thought is, ‘What's wrong with me? Why am I struggling?’ Or, ‘Why am I not being more resilient?’” Schreier says. “And the fact of the matter is resilience is not a bottomless resource and it often needs recharging.” Professors can recharge their resilience by giving themselves permission to do less in these trying times, he says. “That can be things such as, ‘I'm going to produce three papers this semester,’ ‘I'm only going to produce two,’ or, ‘I'm only going to write one grant this year.’”

2. Avoid digital burnout with engaging teaching strategies 

“Right now, many of us are 100 percent distance teaching, or many of us are doing hybrid teaching,” Burke says. “It's very demanding being online and trying to be everything to students when you can't really get close enough to them to see everything that's going on. There's a lot of body language, and a lot of environmental types of things, you can't see.”

To combat these difficulties and limit their stress, teachers need to engage students. “I'm watching many teachers on a statewide and national level right now, and they're utilizing a variety of activities that include online instruction games, interactive PowerPoints, videos, online educational games, exercise activities, and project-based learning with lots of very strategic relaxation and breaks,” says Burke. 

Teachers should also ensure that the student is documenting what they're learning and can reflect on it, which validates the teacher, Burke says.

3. Be strategic with educational goals 

Teachers need to consider what work during this unusual school year brings the greatest ROI (return on investment), Seton says. 

“Many teachers are exhausting themselves exploring the vast jungle of online edtech platforms with the assumption that this will remotivate students during remote learning,” he says. “Often simpler, easier moves might actually bring more leverage. For example, a few phone calls home or a bit more personal feedback on student work to strengthen relationships with students.” 

Teachers need to give themselves permission to teach less standards and expect less growth than usual from students this year. “So many educators are torturing themselves attempting to bring about academic results comparable to those of pre-COVID school years,” says Seton.

4. Be understanding

One of the top complaints Schreier has heard from students this semester is that faculty made no sort of allotments for the semester being a pandemic as well as for remote learning and everything being different. He says as he and others looked into this charge they found that this business-as-usual philosophy that’s been harmful to students and educators started at the top. 

“For some faculty and staff, the expectations above them didn't change either. And so they just simply let it trickle down,” Schreir says. “One of the critical things we really talk about with faculty and staff is that we sort of have to check our norms before we wreck our norms. School is hard, getting tenure is difficult on really, really good days, and these have not been really, really good days.”

5. Encourage a new culture 

Administrators should take positive steps to help educators, Seton says. 

“School leaders need to model vulnerability so as to create a culture that normalizes rather than stigmatizes the issue of teacher mental health,” he says. This is a key step in terms of building resources to support teacher well-being. 

“Something I am hearing a lot about this year is school leaders presenting in a way that is toxically optimistic, leaning too hard into their role as cheerleaders to the point that teachers feel that their concerns are not being acknowledged and respected,” Seton says. Teachers look to school leaders to model how to grapple with the complex emotions—both positive and negative —that have accompanied this challenging year. 

“Many still hold onto the idea of teacher martyrdom, that committed educators should never complain nor hesitate to make sacrifices for their students,” Seton says. “We can be too judgmental of teachers—assuming, for example, that if a teacher is floundering, that it is their fault, and that it is their responsibility to get back on track on their own.”

• Learning Loss, Trauma, and Our Window of Tolerance
• 10 Tips to Support Mental Health in Online Learning Environments

When pro athletes want to bring their game to the next level, they go to film. They see what works, see what needs tweaking. Why should teachers ignore such a valuable resource? Edthena helps teachers make the most of professional learning by recording and uploading videos of classroom practice, model lessons, and coaching conversations into a video library.

Who: Justin Taylor, Assistant Director of Educational Initiatives and Innovation, Office of the Deputy Superintendent

Where: Hartford Public Schools, Hartford, CT

What: Using Edthena in “Lab Classrooms” for Professional Development

As a former teacher, I often watched videos of others teaching in order to improve my instructional practice. While these videos rarely reflected the specific context and unique assets and challenges of our district, they were formative tools in my own professional learning. 

This year, our district’s instructional coaches identified 66 K-12 classrooms where teachers were exemplifying high-quality instructional practices. These “lab classrooms” provided an excellent opportunity for us to celebrate and elevate effective practice within our own district by using video to capture best practices.

We first on-boarded a small group of instructional coaches as Edthena early adopters. These coaches were excited about the prospect of capturing and using video for professional learning and also were comfortable with technology. From November to January, they recorded and uploaded videos of classroom practice, model lessons, and coaching conversations. By February, after all 66 lab classrooms had been identified in the district, we provided training to all elementary, math, and Humanities instructional coaches on how to use the platform to record and upload video of lab classroom teachers. Instructional coaches were tasked with recording and uploading at least four videos for each of their lab classrooms.

Biggest Challenge

While we have yet to face any considerable adaptive challenges, our greatest technical challenge to date is determining how to capture high-quality video with low-cost technology. Currently, instructional coaches are using their cell phones for video recording. While generally okay, the audio quality may sometimes be compromised by excessive background noise or distance between the observer and the teacher. Moving forward, we plan to invest in technology that will improve how we capture video and/or audio in classrooms.

Finding Funding

We paid for Edthena and offered small stipends to our lab classroom teachers through grant funding from the Barr Foundation.

Pro Tips

By starting with a small group of instructional coaches as early adopters, we were able to generate interest in Edthena with those who were already eager to capture video of teacher practice. In addition, using instructional coaches absolved teachers of any responsibility in recording video, eliminating a potential barrier to participation. Moreover, since we focused on capturing video in lab classrooms, teachers understood that by agreeing to serve as a lab classroom their practice would be recorded and shared for professional learning.

Tech Tools

Edthena

Chromebooks

IPhones/Android for recording

Quizzes, tests and other assessments are as much a part of education today as a century ago, but McGraw-Hill Education’s Connect can reduce the amount of time teachers need to spend correcting tests and homework. In other words, it takes much of the grading burden off teachers by auto-correcting a variety of assessments, freeing up time for teachers to concentrate on instruction. 

A big bonus is that the program’s shared library of resources lets a school or district use the same course materials, assignments and assessments across a range of classes. The main screen not only shows what’s been handed in and the grade but Connect highlights assignments not handed in.

More: McGraw-Hill Connect

We all work with someone suffering from an attachment disorder. You know that person. Despite the fact that you've sent them a link to a perfectly good collaborative document, they've taken the liberty to disconnect from the original document. They’ve copied and pasted your document into Word. Tracked changes. Then, they've arrogantly sent it back to the group as an attachment. Meanwhile, by the time they've done this, the original, collaborative document already had oodles of updates and edits from other team members.

Lack of understanding

However, people with attachment disorders don't understand this. They may not even care. They just tell you to look at their version and integrate any changes. They don't get that their version is like so ten versions ago. They missed all the comments, updates, and banter on the collaborative version. They've just made a lot more work for you, and, it is quite likely that they aren't the only one with attachment disorder.

It’s not unusual for another old-school colleague to also have attachment disorder. They did the same thing sending their new version to you as well.  

Now you have three versions of the document, even though you intentionally were using a collaborative document to avoid version control issues and thus extra work for everyone.

You’re just wasting your time if you try pleading with those suffering from attachment disorder to go to update the original collaborative document. Without an intervention and extensive treatment, they just can't. Attachment issues are serious to the person who has an aversion to connecting and collaborating with others. 

Attachment issues

People with attachment disorder often have control issues. Version control that is. Their version is the version everyone must be beholden to. There is no regard for the desire to have one version. They may have anger problems. They sent you their version. Take it or leave it. They just feel more comfortable working the way they do, so deal with it. They may have difficulty showing genuine care for other people's time. Working this way is easier for them, so everyone else must accommodate that. They also may have an underdeveloped conscience, failing to show guilt, regret, or remorse about not collaborating and making more work for others. It’s not their problem. It’s yours. So get over it.

Treatment

Left unresolved, attachment disorders can interfere with workplace productivity. It is important to provide treatment. Unfortunately, those with attachment issues may be resistant. Treatment usually involves many people on a team or project taking a stand together and refusing to accept attachments. It will take training and explaining to get those suffering from attachment disorder to understand the benefits of collaboration, a single source of truth, and the value of one version only. It may be confusing to this person at first, but with consistency and a commitment to collaboration, colleagues usually will start to see progress. The key is not to back down. Standing firm in your rejection of attachments will ultimately result in a more efficient and effective workplace for everyone. 

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal. 

             10.             Courage

              9.              Agility

              8.              Optimism

              7.              Passion

              6.              Commitment

              5.              Motivation

              4.              Persistence

             3.               Empathy

             2.               Creativity

             1.               Curiosity

 https://tinyurl.com/y7rfqfv2
Source: Getting Smart

-Virtual event provides teachers and administrators new, actionable strategies for creating dynamic digital learning environments-

Silver Spring, Md. (September 19, 2018) – The Discovery Educator Network (DEN) invites teachers and administrators around the globe to participate in the 2018 Fall VirtCon on Saturday, October 20, from 8:45 AM to 2:30 PM ET. A virtual, professional learning conference, this peer-to-peer experience provides a unique, no-cost opportunity for teachers and administrators to learn new, actionable strategies for creating dynamic digital learning environments.

The DEN is supported by Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content for K-12 classrooms. A global community of education professionals, the DEN connects members across school systems and around the world through social media, virtual conferences, and in-person events, fostering valuable professional learning, idea sharing, networking, and inspiration.

The 2018 Fall VirtCon includes a variety of engaging, online presentations and sessions from DEN members and Discovery Education staff designed to support the professional growth of both longtime users of Discovery Education’s services and educators new to using digital content in the classroom. Scheduled sessions include:

· Maker Space, Mega Fun! Interested in starting a Maker Space but not sure how? Running a Maker Space but looking for new ideas? Learn how one Library Media Specialist developed a center for creativity, discovery, and community spirit.

· Discovery Education’s Math Resources and You: See How They Add Up to Student Success! Learn about a new range of resources, including Discovery Education’s Math Techbook, and how they can multiply understanding of math concepts. Even with limited experience, it’s easy to coordinate tools in ways that create maximum learning experiences.

· Extending the Love: How UDL Embraces the Needs of All Students. Learn how one educator saves time and enhances their effectiveness by combining the tenets of Universal Design for Learning with appropriate apps and instructional strategies to ensure all students feel supported and valued.

· Creating a Culture of STEM Teaching and Learning with Discovery Education’s STEM Resources. Go beyond STEM activities and explore ways to engage your students in real- world problem solving with resources such as Discovery Education Streaming Plus and STEM Connect, as well as new instructional strategies supporting the 4Cs.

· Necessary New Letters for Your School Alphabet: AR, VR, AI, ML, MR. AI, AR, and VR will impact students’ adult lives in profound ways. Explore easy ways to get these technologies into classrooms and integrated into subject matter.

In addition to providing new perspectives and insights on issues important to today’s educators, Fall VirtCon offers participants the opportunity to connect with their colleagues, share ideas, and discover new digital resources and instructional tools they can immediately integrate into teaching and learning. Last year, approximately 3,500 educators participated in Fall VirtCon.

“The Discovery Education VirtCon is one of the most helpful and relevant conferences I attend,” said Harvey Chambers, the Principal of Baltimore County Public Schools’ Windsor Mill Middle School. “I encourage any and all educators to participate. Whether you are new to integrating technology or are a guru, you will you learn new ways to engage students with digital resources that can be used in your classroom immediately.”

Members of the DEN will also host a number of local viewing parties where Fall VirtCon attendees can participate in-person. To register to attend in-person or virtually for 2018 Fall VirtCon, visit this webpage, and use the hashtag #DEPD to follow along with this event on Twitter. At the conclusion of the 2018 VirtCon, all sessions will be archived and available at the event website.

“Educators spend so much of their time focused on meeting the needs of the students they serve,” said Jannita Demian, Discovery Education’s Senior Director of Learning Communities. “However, Fall VirtCon is all about giving educators the opportunity to focus on themselves, connect with their peers, and develop their teaching craft. I invite educators around the world to join me and their Discovery Education Community for a day of exciting professional learning.”

For more information about the DEN, digital resources or professional development initiatives, visit www.discoveryeducation.com, and stay connected with Discovery Education on social media through Facebook, follow us on Twitter at @DiscoveryEd, or find us on Instagram and Pinterest.

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About Discovery Education

As the global leader in standards-based digital content for K-12 classrooms worldwide, Discovery Education is transforming teaching and learning with award-winning digital textbooks, multimedia content, professional learning, and the largest professional learning community of its kind. Serving 4.5 million educators and over 50 million students, Discovery Education’s services are available in approximately half of U.S. classrooms, 50 percent of all primary schools in the UK, and more than 50 countries around the globe. Inspired by the global media company Discovery Inc., Discovery Education partners with districts, states, and like-minded organizations to captivate students, empower teachers, and transform classrooms with customized solutions that increase academic achievement. Explore the future of education at .

Today, Nearpod and New Teacher Center announce a new partnership that will provide teachers research-based professional learning opportunities. This new approach aims to provide live, connected learning experiences to teachers through a digital platform.

Workshops are organized into series, including: Creating Equitable Learning Environments, Fundamentals of Play and Foundations of Social Emotional Learning.

[Back-to-School Tips: Setting a Positive Tone From Day One]

New Teacher Center, a national nonprofit focused on improving student learning by accelerating the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders, has partnered with states, school districts, and policymakers for over 20 years to design and implement programs for mentoring and professional development. Nearpod’s PD compliments this evidence-based programming by providing teachers with access to professional growth opportunities.