Kids First, Content Second: Teaching Through COVID-19
Would K–12 students be able to maintain physical distance? Could they keep their mouths and noses covered? COVID-19 seemed to present a daunting classroom-management challenge.
Student Engagement
Model UN and The Art of Diplomacy
The Model UN Club found me in 2013 in the shape of two very keen Grade 9 girls making a pitch to me at lunch about the need for more women in politics.
Science Fairs: The Missing Piece of the Education Puzzle
I have always been interested in building things from scratch, so when I first heard about my school's science fair club, I signed up immediately.
Starting a Rubik’s Cube Club
Are you interested in improving student engagement with your ELL students? Here’s an idea that I tried at my elementary school that was both fun and successful—a Rubik’s Cube club.
Leveling Up: Motivating Students Through Gamification
Grammatically, it’s an awful-sounding word: gamification, or as a verb, to “gamify” the classroom. Teachers, however, have found a powerful tool here.
Expressive Writing on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
My students needed to experience success. And they needed to see that their writing could impact a broader audience than the one held captive each day in their classroom.
Fear Not the Robot
Robots aren’t just hobbies for students tinkering in basements or garages anymore. Many schools start robotics classes after seeing how popular the clubs are.
The Unique Needs of Gifted Students
Some gifted students demonstrate their giftedness by participating well in class. Others may seem unengaged. That doesn’t mean they don’t understand what’s being taught.
Teacher Presence: Invaluable or Overrated?
When you have a teacher who has presence, students are impacted in ways that positively affect the class. But what exactly is teacher presence?
Complex Learning Environments: The ESL Challenge
For K–12 teachers of English as a Second Language, the shifting nature of the ESL population is creating a new set of classroom challenges.