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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 Project-Based Learning

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Project Learning Creates a Win-Win Situation

Bob LenzApril 9, 2009

Tags Project-Based Learning, Teacher Development, Technology Integration, All Grades

The mere mention of 21st-century skills always seems to elicit lively debate among people who are either for the concept or against it. The conversation about it is a good one to have, but we should move beyond this particular debate and toward an inclusive discussion that helps students win on all sides.

An Environmental Educator Makes a Splash Challenging Students

Suzie BossApril 7, 2009

Tags Comprehensive Assessment, Project-Based Learning, Teacher Development, All Grades, Massachusetts

Christopher Swain describes himself as an ordinary guy. Maybe. But how many of us ordinary folks would consider swimming 1,000 miles along the Atlantic coast to raise awareness about the planet's fragile health?

Publishing Student Writing -- and Your Own

Jim MoultonMarch 26, 2009

Tags Primary (K-2), Project-Based Learning, Teacher Development, Technology Integration, All Grades

When I was a classroom teacher, my kids published a lot of books. We carefully finished our pages and then used the plastic spiral binder in the teachers' room to bind the pages into book form.

Kids Learn About Culture and Caring for the Environment

Dr. Katie KlingerFebruary 17, 2009

Tags After-School Learning, Project-Based Learning, Technology Integration, Middle (6-8), Science, Hawaii

Being an educator in Hawaii is a truly humbling experience. Each day -- as you work with high-need schools -- you realize that your personal contribution will help not only the immediate community of teachers, students, and families but also future generations as well.

Re-Creating Teaching Spaces

Stephen HurleyFebruary 5, 2009

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

I discovered something rather important this week: I'm in the wrong job! That's right -- for the past 25 years, I have lived under the false assumption that being a teacher was the ideal career for me.

The New Secretary of Education Needs Better Ideas

Elena AguilarJanuary 20, 2009

Tags Primary (K-2), Project-Based Learning, Teacher Development, All Grades, California

I'm pretty disappointed in Barack Obama's selection of Arne Duncan for U.S. secretary of education. Devastated, to be honest. I don't get it -- a secretary of education who has never been a teacher? Who has never taught a single course? Who never attended a public school? Who doesn't send his own children to a public school?

Active Learning Is Key to Differentiated Instruction

Ben JohnsonJanuary 14, 2009

Tags Comprehensive Assessment, Primary (K-2), Project-Based Learning, All Grades

When I was a new teacher, I remember looking at my roll sheet and seeing multiple letters after several students' names. I asked colleagues what the abbreviations stood for and soon learned that the common perspective was that they stood for more work and more trouble.

Blogs Give Students an Audience

Elena AguilarJanuary 13, 2009

Tags Project-Based Learning, Technology Integration, High (9-12), California

The insomnia I attributed to the beginning of the school year, which I complained about in my first blog post, still hasn't gone away. A few nights ago, tormented, I woke up at 1 a.m. and began mulling over the crises and craziness I see every day in the Oakland, California, public schools.

It's Important to Practice What We Teach

Jim MoultonJanuary 8, 2009

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

In an earlier post, I wrote about the importance of being a constant learner, of never stopping. Recently, I have been reflecting on an important step in becoming a lifelong learner -- the opportunity to spend time with a committed learner.

Taking the Plunge: Diving into a Collaborative Project

Suzie BossDecember 18, 2008

Tags Integrated Studies, Project-Based Learning, High (9-12), Oregon

Months before Americans chose Barack Obama as their forty-fourth president, Crista Lawson, from Aubrey Park Elementary School, in Eugene, Oregon, had a hunch that the 2008 election would prove to be historic. "I wanted my kids to pay attention and be informed about this election," she says.