Art Therapy with a Dash of AI for Our Visually Spectacular Students
By Mechelle Gilford, NBCT – South Bend, Indiana Ah, the magic of our classrooms! Where curious minds explore, imaginations take flight, and sometimes the most significant challenges morph into shimmering opportunities. Today, we’ll delve into the world of art therapy for our visually spectacular students – those brilliant young minds navigating the world with a…
Black and Latine Youth Defy Post-Pandemic Learning Loss
By: Dr. Amanda Hill-Hennie, NBCT – Philadelphia, PA Statewide Assessments Cancelled This was the headline across all news channels on March 19, 2020. I remember feeling very disappointed because the COVID-19 Pandemic was adding another layer of disruption to my life as a first-year school leader. Being charged with turning around the academic performance of…
Ten Tips for Promoting Social and Emotional Learning at Your School
By: Dr. Amanda DeSua, NBCT – Waukesha, WI Social-emotional learning is crucial as it helps students develop self-awareness, empathy, problem-solving, and effective communication skills. These skills improve interpersonal relationships, self-esteem, academic achievement, and well-being. Learn ten tips for promoting social and emotional learning at your school. Model healthy problem-solving and coping skills for your students…
Geography Deserves a Place in Every Classroom
By: Carol Hofer, NBCT It’s one of my “ha, ha” photos – a snapshot of a package addressed to me, who lives in Indianapolis, with a prominent stamped notice in all caps “MISSENT TO INDIA.” A stamp for this actually exists – it lead me to wonder how often it’s needed. Under Indianapolis it did…
The Silver Lining of the Black Box
By: Mia Manduca, NBCT I teach to Black Boxes. At the beginning of the school year teaching, psychology to high school seniors on Zoom was intimidating and confusing. Black boxes with names like “Saucy” and “Nugget” didn’t match my roster and with no visual cues, I couldn’t tell the difference between Kiana and Kiara. But…
Student Voices: The Intersection of Mindfulness and Mental Health in the Classroom
By: Linda Yaron Weston, NBCT The challenges of this time have magnified the need for including mental health tools within the student experience. As an educator who has taught both academic and well-being courses at the high school and college level, I have come to realize that including well-being supports alongside the academic curriculum is…
COVID, Community, and Connections
By: Erin Medeiros, NBCT Twenty rectangles appear. First Kylee, in double French braids and her lashes. Then Tapa, outside working on a lei for his project. Eden is by her bed, and Gardenia sits with her back against the white wall. Lili chats that she just got up and that Lei is with her. Lele…
Sharing your pronouns: Becoming a Gender Affirming Educator
By: Chris Murray, NBCT On Thursday, January 7 more than 50 educators from Montgomery County Public Schools (MD) continued their journey to a deeper understanding of how gender impacts our students. This PD provided educators an opportunity to learn from experts in the field about ways to make our schools and school systems do everything…
Informing Instruction with Holistic Assessment
By: Heavenly Montgomery, NBCT Great teachers dedicate time to learn about their students. Getting a holistic picture of each child allows proficient educators to design instruction to meet specific needs. The COVID 19 pandemic has put new obstacles between teachers and students that seem insurmountable at times. I am impressed with the way some educators…
Differentiate Better: The time is now
Differentiation. For some, this single word describes their entire teaching practice. This same word, though, causes heart palpitations in many others. Our job description gets longer with no sign of reprieve (or appropriate pay, but hey, that’s for a different blog). Differentiating feels like the icing on the top of the unattainable cake. In this…
