Category: Educators

Design Thinking Adds Excitement to Group Work

As education stands at the moment, exams are part of the curriculum. While this might change in the future, for the moment we as teachers need to ready our students for the stress and slog of […]

STEM Lab Deluxe and My Child: A Match Made In Heaven

Raise your hand if you’ve seen the Mentos In Cola trick? I’m guessing your hand is up (if so, you can put it down now). Did you know who the first person to show it on […]

How Minecraft Can Foster a Love of Reading

More and more educators are finding success using gaming for education. Minecraft, in particular, has shown its ability to be a game that’s both engaging and potentially educational. For starters, the game allows players to think […]

John Hopkins: This Brain Exercise Improves Working Memory

Do you wish you had an easier time remembering facts and figures you just learned? Do you have trouble recalling the name of the colleague you were just introduced to? If you are like most people, […]

Are You Ready to Go Bold School?

“When the expertise and wisdom of the teacher is given equal weight in the blended learning equation, that is bold school” (Kieschnick, p.21). Recently, I had the honor of meeting and talking with Weston Kieschnick, senior […]

Group Work: How to Make it Work For Everyone

Cooperative learning, collaborative strategies, group rotations—whatever we decide to call it, the research behind group work in the classroom makes a strong case for embracing collaborative learning. As beneficial as it is, however, group work can […]

Your Technology-Focused Lesson Plan Could Be Worth $1000

Are you a K-12 teacher based in the United States that has a technology-focused lesson plan in any subject others would benefit from seeing? If so, you could receive a $1000 grant from Verizon’s The Beacon. […]

5 New Ways I Learned this Summer Without Stepping Foot in a Classroom

Oh summertime. Basking in the sun, putting my toes in the sand, water lapping at my feet. Well, that was just a dream this summer, but I did get to learn in some creative ways. Let […]

Adding EdTech to Your Classroom? 3 Non-Negotiable “Old School” Components to Include in Every Lesson

Educational technology: it’s the hottest movement out there in education, and has been for some time. In fact, there seems to be a rather non-discriminating admiration for anything edtech among many teachers today. You can’t open […]

Leading In And From the Classroom

The role of a creative leader is not to have all the ideas; it’s to create a culture where everyone can have ideas and feel they’re valued. ~Sir Ken Robinson I am a middle child and […]

Ultimate Project Based Learning – How Student Teamwork Built a World Championship Car

Every year for the past twenty the Saint Thomas Academy Experimental Vehicle Team (STA EVT) has built a new vehicle from the ground up to give our students the best engineering experience a high-schooler can get. […]

7 Great Zipper Binder Picks for Students Young and Old

Handouts are a teacher’s best friend, but they can be a student’s worst nightmare. It’s difficult to keep track of all the papers that students throughout the school year. Folders hold up for a few weeks, […]

EdTech Comfort Zones – From G Suite to Office 365

What is your preferred platform for regular digital work? What makes it your favorite? I learned how to use Microsoft Word and Appleworks (yes, I’m old) in high school. I continued to use those tools for […]

The Scourge of Education: Neoliberal Economic Revolution

During the 1980s, an economic revolution sneaked up, bopped us on the head, and proceeded to rob us. The seeds of that revolution lay in the University of Chicago Economics Department, headed by Milton Friedman.[1] The […]

15 Popular Pencil Case Options for Quirky Cool Kids

Whether it’s for school, art, or work, everyone loves a new pencil case. A schoolbag essential, a pencil pouch doesn’t just store pencils, pens, erasers, and rulers. It also expresses personality and encourages organization, tidiness, and […]

A Teacher by Any Other Name – The Instructional Shift of Blended Learning

What kind of power is in a title, and what if we redefined the role of the teacher? I’m currently reading the book Blended by Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker. Often when I read a […]

Changing The Face Of Intelligence Labels for Children

Standard intelligence has been commonly defined as having an affinity for practical mathematical and logical understanding. We have all been subjected to standardized testing during our formal education years. Based on how well we solved math […]

5 Ways to Help Children Deal With Bullies Compassionately [Infographic]

It’s common for children and parents to present in our practice due to difficulties with a school bully. School bullies can be terrifying for a small child, who will understandably feel undermined, afraid and frustrated, who […]

Word of the Day — Akin

The following is adapted from Episode 32 of the Word of the Day Podcast. Akin, an adjective, means “like or similar to,” and is perfectly suited for making comparisons between things. The etymology is pretty interesting. […]

The Rise of the Fidget Spinner: What, Where, When, and How

Anyone outside of the education realm, or who does not regularly interact with children, might assume that a fidget spinner is some sort of spaceship contraption or an obscure item found on the shelves of a […]