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We share evidence-based K-12 learning strategies that empower you to improve education.

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More School Time, Well Spent, Boosts Academic Achievement and Engagement at Edwards Middle School

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Five Keys to Successful Social and Emotional Learning

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How to Thank a Teacher

Blogs on All Grades

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Teaching From the Edge: Thank You, Teachers, For All You Do

Chris O'NealMay 26, 2007

Tags All Grades

So, it's the end of the year, and my only child is finishing up elementary school. She'll enter middle school next fall after having a great elementary school experience. She's in public schools in Virginia, and they've done a fabulous job integrating our tough standards, and managing our painfully intense testing and accountability, all the while keeping a positive focus on the child.

The Definition of Student Success: What Does it Mean to You?

Ken MessersmithMay 21, 2007

Tags After-School Learning, Comprehensive Assessment, Technology Integration, All Grades

The report "A New Day for Learning," recently released by the Time, Learning, and Afterschool Task Force, argues that we must redefine the school day if we are to improve student achievement in the United States. The authors of the report, funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, lay out five elements of their proposed new learning system.

Question-Mark Children: Sometimes the Quiet Ones Are the Ones Who Speak the Loudest

Bonnie Bracey SuttonMay 20, 2007

Tags , All Grades

Have there been question-mark children in your teaching life? Certain children have puzzled me. Sometimes they wouldn't talk; sometimes they would ask questions that were difficult to answer. As I became more experienced as a listener, I realized that these questions were circling around things that were bothering the child, and that they were looking for answers from me.

Breaking the Mold: How Do We Reform Schools?

Diane Demee-BenoitMay 16, 2007

Tags After-School Learning, Primary (K-2), Teacher Development, All Grades

Year after year, we debate numerous reforms to improve our educational system. Yet we are continually hampered by the conventions of our thinking about -- well, everything. We fall into the same old trap of tinkering around the margins and trying to reform an education system with an ever-increasing number of policies, programs, and regulations piled on top of each other. Even the words we use to talk about improving schools -- school reform -- seem worn and out-of-date.

Any-Century Skills: Basic Abilities Are Building Blocks

Jim MoultonMay 16, 2007

Tags Primary (K-2), Teacher Development, All Grades

Last summer, during a conference session I was doing in Tennessee, we were discussing those kids who come into schools without book sense -- five-year-olds who, sadly, don't know how to operate a book. A participant spoke up and said, "Jim, I'm a kindergarten teacher, and I'm getting worried about the number of kids coming into my classroom who don't know how scissors work."

Learning and Teaching This Summer?: The Professional-Development Season Is Upon Us

Chris O'NealMay 15, 2007

Tags Project-Based Learning, Teacher Development, All Grades

As summer approaches, many of us plan to attend educational conferences of all kinds. Some of the best ones are in our own backyards. Others are international in nature, and, because of budget or travel constraints, are available to us only every once in a while.

Preservice Technology Field Experience: A Call for Suggestions

Ken MessersmithApril 25, 2007

Tags Pre-Service Teachers, Teacher Development, Technology Integration, All Grades

Many people believe that a high-quality teacher-education program must include field experience for teacher candidates in all education courses. Organizations such as the National Network for Educational Renewal and the Association of Teacher Educators strongly support this concept.

Many people believe that a high-quality teacher-education program must include field experience for teacher candidates in all education courses. Organizations such as the National Network for Educational Renewal and the Association of Teacher Educators strongly support this concept. Read More

The Importance of Social and Emotional Learning: How You Can Implement it In Your School

Bonnie Bracey SuttonApril 24, 2007

Tags Bullying, Classroom Management, Mental Health, , Teacher Development, All Grades

Like everyone, I was shaken by the massacre last week at Virginia Tech. It is clear that the shooter had severe emotional and mental problems that could have been addressed much earlier.

Wiki, Don't Lose That Number: The World of Wiki

Chris O'NealApril 24, 2007

Tags Teacher Development, Technology Integration, All Grades

Several of us have chatted here before about wikis. As an educational-technology person who spends lots of time online, I can tell you it really does take a lot to win me over as far as new technology and its worthiness in education are concerned. Wikis, however, have done just that.

Preserving Traditions Through Storytelling: Teaching Kids How in Hawaii

Dr. Katie KlingerApril 19, 2007

Tags Project-Based Learning, Technology Integration, All Grades, Hawaii

As educators, we naturally view the world in the context of creating positive opportunities for teaching and learning. Yet many times, when this happens, our ideas also have an effect on how communities pass values and expectations along to their children.