Teachers Face New Stressors that Impact their Jobs
Educators today are operating in an increasingly demanding and complex environment, according to K-12 Dive. The challenges have intensified in recent years — from shrinking budgets and expanding class sizes to adapting to new ways of teaching and overcoming learning loss from the pandemic. All of this comes against a backdrop of ancillary impactful factors…
“Ban Tech” or “Don’t Ban Tech” – It’s Not that Simple
“Clouds of doom continue to hover over the debate about teens’ mental health and the role of technology,” write Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Roberta Golinkoff and Lisa Guernsey in The Hechinger Report. The three are authors of several books on children’s learning and founders of The Learning Sciences Exchange, a fellowship program and problem-solving. “Some parents and…
Amid Burnout, Teachers Are Ready to Embrace AI
As the 2023-2024 school year comes to an end, K-12 teachers in the U.S. are widely experiencing strain at work, with 35 percent of U.S. educators reporting burnout on most days, leading to absenteeism and a decline in instructional quality as consequences, according to eSchool News. New data from Canva, a visual communication platform offering…
To Teach Math Effectively, Focus on Deep, Conceptual Learning
“Fierce wars continue to rage around math instruction, but there are many practical changes we should make for mathematics students upon which most of us can probably agree, that could transform their ability to achieve,” write Jo Boaler, a Stanford professor and author of “Math-ish: Finding Creativity, Diversity & Meaning in Mathematics,” and Cole Sampson,…
Screen Time & Social Media = Teenage Despair & Depression
In February, Dartmouth College economist David Blanchflower released a working paper that used survey evidence to show a pronounced increase in sadness and hopelessness over the past 15 years affecting people between the ages of 14 and 24, as reported in The 74. That trend mirrored a similar and dramatic rise in the time that…
How to Identify and Combat Student Apathy
Inattentiveness during class could be a sign of poor sleeping habits—or indicative of a larger sense of apathy toward school, according to Education Week. A recent nationally representative survey by the Pew Research Center found that nearly half of teachers say that students showing little to no interest in learning is a “major problem” in…
How Modern Data Can Improve Student Outcomes
Tracking and managing data plays a critical role in the success of students, so now more than ever, there is a fundamental need for districts to implement a modern solution partner to do that heavy lifting, writes Keith Pomeroy, the Chief Administrative Officer for Upper Arlington Schools in Columbus, OH, in eSchool News. Intelligent educational software instantly…
School Innovation Requires Freedom & Flexibility — Taking the Risk Out of Failure
“The lack of large-scale change in education makes us wonder if it is simply a lack of good ideas or a culture that won’t let them grow” writes Kareem Farah, CEO and co-founder of the Modern Classrooms Project, a nonprofit that supports educators in delivering self-paced, blended instruction, in an article in The 74. “We…
Civics Simulations Connect Students to Lessons about History and Citizenship
In Adam Williamson’s social studies class, students learn American history “in the full light of day,” according to Chalkbeat Indiana. That means everything the country has accomplished and its historical significance, along with its mistakes along the way, Williamson says. As a 16-year veteran teacher and department chair at Mississinewa High School, a school about…
How to Enact Better Classroom Management Changes Now
“Many first-year teachers speak longingly about how their actions and classrooms will be improved the following school year. They describe all their mistakes this past year and how they will fix them in the fall,” says Andrew Kwok, an assistant professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning, & Culture at Texas A&M University, writing in…
