Blogs on All Grades

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Rebecca AlberJanuary 21, 2013

Only a decade and a few years in, how can we fully describe the twenty-first century learner? So far, this we do know: She is a problem solver, critical thinker, and an effective collaborator and communicator. We also know that a deeper learning environment is required in order to nurture and grow such a learner.

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Robert McGarryJanuary 18, 2013

There is nothing quite like the sound of children on a playground at recess. As a former elementary school teacher, such sounds remain a pleasant sense memory for me. Unfortunately, on school playgrounds across the country and for many of the children on them, there exist sounds that are not as pleasant as those I recall. As educators, we all know from our own experiences that the less structured spaces of a school such as the playground are often sites of name-calling, harassment and bias.

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José VilsonJanuary 16, 2013

I have a confession to make: at some point this year, I realized that there’s a difference between the teacher I would love to be and the teacher I currently am.

Most teachers want to do interdisciplinary projects, project-based learning and every other education phrase with the words "exploration" and "project" in it. Despite evidence to the contrary, their reality of having to teach directly to a standardized test (ultimately affecting their municipality's perception of them) casts a longer shadow on them than even the bravest of us want to admit.

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Maurice EliasJanuary 16, 2013

The idea of New Year's Resolutions is very appealing but their success rate is low. Cognitive psychologists know why: Resolutions tend to be too big (like losing 20 pounds), too vague (like getting more sleep), very hard to control (like having less stress), or something the person is ambivalent about (like becoming a healthier eater).

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Matt LevinsonJanuary 15, 2013

I had a conversation a few months ago with a parent about being a school principal. We were talking about the various demands of the job, from the different constituents that a school principal has to work with to the environment of a school. The parent asked me how I would define the job if I had only one word to use.

The word I chose was safety. The parent expressed some surprise and intrigue at my answer. We proceeded to talk about safety on multiple levels, beginning with physical safety, moving to emotional safety and finishing with academic safety.

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Elena AguilarJanuary 15, 2013

Last month I reflected on team development and how we can work more effectively together in schools. It's impossible to explore these ideas without considering conflict -- an inevitable part of working together. Conflict can be challenging and destructive, or it can lead to deeper understandings between people and perhaps higher quality work from a team.

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Ben JohnsonJanuary 15, 2013

It is time that teachers and administrators realize that public education has reached a dam in the river. We have gone about as far as we can go with isolated instruction and learning. While it may have served the purpose for the older generations, it does not meet the deeper learning needs of students today and tomorrow. Deeper learning can be accelerated by consolidating teacher efforts and combining relevant contents, in effect, opening new spillways of knowledge.

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Nicholas ProvenzanoJanuary 14, 2013

It is the New Year, and it is time to start making promises to yourself that you know you will not keep. In that spirit, I'm going to make some New Year's Anti-Resolutions that I look forward to failing at keeping.

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Renee JainJanuary 14, 2013

From natural disasters to economic meltdowns, from wars abroad to tragic shootings close to home, this year brought to light the increasing complexity of the world in which we raise kids. Our natural instinct as teachers, parents and caretakers is to protect children from hardship, yet we know walking between the raindrops of adversity is not possible. Instead of sidestepping challenge, we can teach kids to cope positively, to learn and grow from adversity. We can arm our youth with skills of resilience, and these lessons can begin in the classroom.

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Sometimes you just need a short, powerful video to start a meeting, an event, or a presentation -- something that really makes everyone sit up straight and start listening. It's the beginning of a brand new year, in the dark and cold of winter, and it seems like the perfect time to offer up some meeting opener videos that will leave you feeling energized and excited. And since they say you only have a few moments to get your audience's attention, almost all of these videos are under five minutes.

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