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What Do Schools Need to Do to Prepare for the Fall? Part 1
Listen We only have three months to get ready for whatever school is going to look like in the fall. With so many unknowns, we are all having to plan for several different scenarios. One of the big lessons learned from the experiences this spring is that we have to...
The Questions of Remote Kindergarten
Listen Among the most vocal against remote learning have been the early childhood teachers - and with good reason. It’s very difficult to reconcile what we know about early childhood, young children, and learning outside the walls of the classroom with lessons based online, meeting in a chatroom for lessons,...
Elementary Remote Blended Learning
Listen This is the third article in this series, so if you haven’t read the other two about what blended learning is and what it looks like in the classroom, you may want to scan that before continuing. Blended learning in the classroom and blended learning remotely can look very...
Preparing Students to Re-Enter Society
Listen Recently, one of our writers was sharing a personal experience they’d had right after college. The writer spent the summer in a third-world country teaching reading, and upon returning to the United States, had a severely overwhelming few weeks getting used to being back. For example, grocery shopping was...
Teachers’ Concerns About Returning to School
Listen In a previous post we explored how other countries are coping with reopening schools, but teachers around the globe have so many practical questions and concerns regarding the implications of reopening when there are still so many unknowns about this virus. Many teachers feel left out as the decisions...
Using Epic! for Remote Elementary Reading
Listen Many of us already use Epic! with our students, but we went behind the scenes to see if there were any new or interesting parts of the site that aren’t commonly known amongst educators. If you’ve used it, you probably already know all the most exciting aspects, like the...
The Emotional Toll of Social Distancing
Listen Let us start by saying that we acknowledge that the price we are paying for social distancing is, in our opinion, worth it. Lives are the most important and irreplaceable commodity. That’s not the issue we are dealing with in this article. With that being said, we must acknowledge...
How Other Countries Are Coping with Restarting School
Listen Students and educators alike have been terribly disappointed by the fact that school won’t be resuming face-to-face classes for this school year. Although there are many disadvantages to those involved in remote learning, there are some things that can be taken into consideration as advantages. One great advantage is...
Literacy in High School, Part 2: Student Choice
Listen In our previous post, we look at how Reading Workshop can be used in the secondary classroom, but getting students to read depends a lot on what they read. Student Choice Richard Allington and Rachel Gabriel stated in their 2012 article in Educational Leadership, “Every Child, Every Day” that...
Literacy in High School, Part 1: Reading Workshop
Listen Getting teenagers to want to read can seem like an impossible task. Heck, getting teenagers to not turn to active revolt, bearing protest signs (or at least passive and indifferent expressions) upon the mere mention of reading a book could be considered a victory worth running out of your...
Creating Emotional Closure During Quarantine
Listen In the U.S., most states have already called it: school will be only online and distance ed for the rest of this school year. For many students, this is difficult.Actually, if we’re being accurate and transparent, it’s traumatizing. It is necessary, it is important, but there is a lot...
Teacher Appreciation Ideas During Remote Learning
Listen Principals love treating their teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week! Many have been preparing all year: catered lunches, dessert bars, coffee carts traveling the hallway, and/or different gifts delivered to classrooms each day. Empty school buildings mean a change of plans. With schools closed across the country and around the...