Pizitz Middle School, located in a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, committed to raise enough money to build a well in Uganda. Working with a local nonprofit, school leaders kicked off the project during the first week of school in 2017 and spent the year connecting classroom instruction to this service goal. “We needed to raise […]
A1,100-student school district in Minnesota had been purchasing food supplies through a buying group of five other school systems—but it wasn’t efficient. “We would have to meet quite often” says Director of Food Service Sandie Rentz of Wadena-Deer Creek Public Schools. “We wrote our own bids and market basket. Then we would go out for […]
The recent shooting, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, has rekindled the hot debate about gun control in the United States. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a proponent of more restrictions on firearms, argued, “This happens nowhere else, other than the United States of America. It only happens here not because of coincidence, […]
During Noel Petrosky’s 12 years at different Saint Marys Area School District elementary schools, she saw assessment data accurately predict student performance on state tests and inform instruction that led to student growth. That wasn’t the case at Saint Marys Area Middle School when she became principal two years ago. “I thought, ‘I can’t go […]
Principal Doreen McSain of Glenwood Elementary School has taken to heart the quote “Everything I know, I learned from dogs.” She welcomes canines into her school in western Long Island, New York, to encourage her students to read to them. McSain also instituted a program wherein second-graders read to residents at a senior living community. […]
Advocates of design thinking in education know what you’ve heard. “Its hard to look at design thinking and not see it as a buzzword” says Ryan Bretag, director of instructional innovation at Glenbrook High Schools District 225 outside Chicago. “When we narrow down design thinking to just a bunch of steps that you can follow […]
Digital games excel at building a range of skills without students realizing they are “learning” says Marissa Miller, a special education teacher at Warwick Neck Elementary, which is part of Warwick Public Schools in Rhode Island. Some of these games come with puzzle pieces, styluses and other physical components. Link to main story: Edtech equalizers […]
Ware County School District in Georgia has downsized its inventory of assistive technology. Thanks to a slew of technological advances, many of the specialized tools their special education students had used to communicate and learn are now redundant. “We don’t need portable keyboards or word processors anymore” says Barbara Sonnier, the district’s assistive technology coordinator. […]
You know the names. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Columbine High School, Santa Fe High School and many more. These examples of domestic terrorism have heightened our awareness, making us feel vulnerable when entering a school. Students are trained what to do if a shooter opens fire in classrooms, corridors and […]
