What does mindfulness look like as elementary students age? Betsy Hanger, an instructor with the nonprofit Mindful Schools who works as a community mentor in several Los Angeles USD classrooms, describes two scenarios: Kindergarten: Children in a mindfulness circle take three deep breaths. The teacher guides them in imagining they are dolphins riding waves. Students […]
A student success program at West Valley School District #208 in Yakima, Washington, provides additional support for learners from pre-K through high school graduation. The initiative includes five steps: Collaborations between childcare and district kindergarten teachers that prepare children to start school Small group exercises with a whole-child focus Reading and math interventions in grades […]
Vancouver Public Schools in Washington has increased educational opportunities and kindergarten readiness by offering free evening preschool. Launched three years ago at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, the program—which uses existing kindergarten classrooms and teachers—now operates at nine elementaries with 170 students. The initiative provides preschool access for families who cannot participate in traditional […]
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 […]
When Jeremy Baugh took over as principal at Lew Wallace School 107 in Indianapolis in 2014, half of his staff was new. The school had struggled with teacher retention, which was reflected in student success. Only 22 percent of kindergarten students were achieving at grade level. The school’s 600 students come from 37 countries and […]
Not long ago, 3D printers were the hot new edtech tool. Costing thousands of dollars, they were prized possessions that only teachers in specialties such as art and engineering knew how to use. Today, they have become necessary devices in ever-evolving, increasingly sophisticated classrooms in all subjects. And out in the workplace, students who have […]
Books represent just a part of the early literacy equation. Districts and community organizations now provide transportation, meals, summer lessons and family activities to prepare children for kindergarten reading. “The biggest challenge for closing the literacy gap is to address its cause: an opportunity gap” says Nell Duke, professor of literacy, language and culture at […]
How do you ensure students who excel at math remain engaged? Heidi Williams intended to solve that challenge by starting an after-school coding club while she was a gifted-and-talented teacher at Bayside Middle School near Milwaukee. Instead of using pen and paper, her students created an interactive children’s book on Scratch, the MIT Media Lab […]
Editor’s Note: Nuts and Bolts delves into the development of an innovative program. District leaders of Piscataway Township Schools five years ago decided they needed to more effectively serve its large—and rapidly growing—population of English language learners. A combination of grants and community outreach allowed the New Jersey district to adopt a “cradle to career” […]
We pretty much understand rocket science, says Doug Green. That is, we understand the complex math and physics that propel objects into space. “The human brain, however, which is the learning playground for students and teachers, is much more complex and less understood.” An educator since 1970—as an elementary principal, district computer director, K12 science […]
