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November Resource Round-Up: Literacy for Inspiring Young Readers & Writers
This blog article discusses how to support young readers...
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Mindfulness to Calm, Focus, & Learn
Mindfulness is a health and well-being practice utilized by families from around the world. Maybe you've dabbled in mindful activities such as yoga or meditation, or mindfulness may still seem somewhat of a mystery! Either way, let's dive into what it means to be mindful, including ways to use mindfulness
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How Success Criteria Can Motivate Your Students
Think about a time when you were learning something. Did you know where you were going in the learning progression? Did you understand the outcome?
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3 Steps Teachers Can Take to Prioritize Their Mental Health
It doesn’t matter if you’re a second-year teacher or a 20-year teacher. This back-to-school season, with all its new protocols and online learning mandates, makes everyone feel like it's the first year all over again.
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The 3 Cs of Classroom Management
Classroom management provides for us perhaps the greatest of juxtapositions between frustration and comedy. When we take the time to look back on some of our classroom management challenges, the stories come pouring out.
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10 Strategies for Dealing With Difficult Families
Middle School Math Teacher, Kelly Ann Ydrovo recently completed Learners Edge continuing education Course 859: Parent Trap: Achieving Success with Difficult Parents & Difficult Situations and outlined her top 10 strategies for dealing with difficult family members and difficult situations. Check out her tips below to help you establish positive, constructive relationships with the
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How Can New Teachers Avoid Burnout? And 10 Other Questions
Create a work-life balance by creating strict "office hours" and unplugging outside of those times. When times get hard (and they do for every teacher!) focus on why you became a teacher and the small victories you have each day.
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How to Create Your Own Professional Learning Community
Few would argue the necessity of professional learning in the education space. From classroom teachers to school leaders to district administrators, we all have identified areas of growth in our professional practice. But there is some debate about the ‘how’ – whether educators should rely on experts to lead their
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A Practical System for Lesson Planning
Lesson planing is as important to your teaching journey as a GPS is to any road trip. Early educators often ask “how do I create the best lesson plans?”. Some veteran teachers might even struggle with this question, as there is no true “perfect” way to construct one. Lesson plans
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How to Advocate for Mental Health Supports
As a teacher, you already know you have to wear many hats every day. You’re more than just an educator. You’re a leader, a friend, and an advocate. You may be the biggest source of inspiration and comfort in a student’s day.
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Using PBL in Environmental Science
Environmental Science (ES) is taught in a variety of ways. Most students are exposed to it through lessons and units aligned to NGSS standards. Some students learn about it informally through participating in extracurricular clubs or visiting a local park or nature center. Others may even take it as a
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How to Refresh, Recharge, and Restart Family Communication
Every school year, teachers get a fresh start with a new group of students and their families. One of the best ways to get prepared for the new school year is to think about effective communication. Families are truly a part of the instructional team, and are often eager to
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10 Tips for New Teachers
This may be stating the obvious, but being a new teacher isn't easy. Many new educators feel totally alone up at the front of the classroom, especially if they work in a smaller school without many other new(er) teachers. We received so many great questions for our Advice for New Teachers webinar that
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How to Encourage Students to Explore a STEAM Career
Over the next 20 years, the science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) field is projected to grow significantly. The field is growing so quickly that employers are worried there won’t be enough qualified candidates to fill these positions. Such a crisis could lead to economic setbacks and innovation delays.
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6 Ways to Help Students Move Out of Flight, Fight, Freeze
You can’t tell somebody to calm down if their lid is flipped! Our ancestors, the brave cave people, lived lives full of danger. Because of the perils they faced, their brains were in a constant state of alert, and out of necessity, their amygdalas had to work hard to keep
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How to Check In On Your Students
I used to believe that I was the most important element in the classroom. As an ambitious and naive new teacher, I assumed that students came into each lesson ready to learn from me. The students’ glasses of learning were empty and they were thirsty – or so I thought!
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The 5 Things New Teachers Need to Try
Are you a newer teacher looking for tips to help you thrive in the classroom? An administrator searching for methods to support your new teachers? An experienced coach who'd like to support the newer teachers in your building? Join a panel of veteran educators as they dive into practical advice
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3 Restorative Conflict Resolution Strategies for Teachers
As teachers know, relationships are at the core of any learning environment. After a year of trauma and separation during the pandemic, and despite the exhaustive efforts of amazing educators, many students reported feeling isolated and disengaged from their peers. Looking ahead to the start of a new year, educators
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Responding to Tough Email (with Examples!)
We love it and we hate it. Email. With the appearance of a red flag or the sound of a friendly ping, it instantly makes communication both easier and more complicated. Recent years have taught us some tough lessons about our digital conversations. Whenever I'm writing an email, I always
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4 Tips for Finding Your First Teaching Job
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), between 2014-2024 there will be nearly 2 million job openings for teachers in the U.S. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, that number may be different, but the need for great teachers will always be there.
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Free Summer Self-Care for Teachers
When we think of self-care, we often think of vacations, retail therapy, getting a massage, or a beverage. Expensive and time-consuming! But what if self-care was more of a mindset than an action or purchase? With a self-care mindset, we can harness the small ongoing moments within our day to
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Lesson Plan: Talking About the News
After a year of challenge, there is hope on the horizon. The vaccine is reaching communities in need, schools are making plans to reopen in-person learning, and families are finding greater financial stability. On top of that, the days are getting longer and the sun is shining more! It seems
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Grammar and Editing Lessons Can Be Fun
“I’m not looking forward to the BORING grammar lesson today,” moaned my intern teacher, Gina, “but I guess it’s a necessary evil before we can get to the fun book unit next week.”
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Teaching Self-Regulation with the ABCs
In today’s digital reality, our students are more distracted than any other time in human history and it can have a costly impact in the classroom. This “brain-drain of disruption” as defined by researchers at Carnegie Mellon, found there was a 20% drop in cognitive testing scores between those who were
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Using Tables to Organize Your Lessons
Inserting a digital table (or drawing a few boxes) is an effective way to organize information in a structured manner. This allows you or your students to present information to make it easier to read and comprehend. Neuroscientists agree that chunking and organizing information helps with cognitive development and memory--with the added bonus of maintaining some