Let’s Talk About Random Acts of Kindness

Sustained social isolation during the pandemic has taken its toll on everyone, especially our students. As educators, we need to help our students with ways to meet social-emotional learning (SEL) needs while we collectively continue to work towards overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic threat. Science tells us that kindness increases your happiness, so now is the … read more »

Engage with Award-Winning Books in Your Classroom!

The American Library Association recently announced the 2021 winners of the youth media award. In addition, many other book awards for K-12 books were recently announced. Award-winning books are always an excellent addition to school libraries and classrooms! It’s like having a ready-made, vetted buying list.  Every year, the American Library Association honors outstanding books, … read more »

Career and Technical Education Month

Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month is a public awareness campaign that takes place during February. The goal is to raise awareness of the value of CTE and celebrate the accomplishments of career programs and support provided by schools across the country.  This infographic on the Association for Career and Technical Education’s (ACTE) website provides an … read more »

Tech Tool of the Month: Nearpod – Part 1

Nearpod is a device-agnostic tool for creating interactive presentations and assessments. Teachers can also use one of the pre-made presentations from an extensive library that includes both lessons and videos. When creating your own presentation (or editing an already-created lesson), you can add images, audio clips, PDF files, videos, multiple-choice questions, polls, and more. There … read more »

Be a Sport! Lessons for Increasing Literacy Using Sports Heroes

One method for engaging reluctant readers is to provide books and activities that connect to their interests and passions. Making this connection is especially helpful when introducing nonfiction reading materials to students. Matching the appropriate books and articles to individual students takes time but provides long-term rewards, such as increased interest in reading.  Many students … read more »