How Kai Cenat saved my high school English class
Like many teachers since the public release of ChatGPT, I’ve encountered frustration. For a lot of us, it has felt as though we are spending more of our…
School choice and homeschool freedom go hand in hand
“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” Many homeschoolers have embraced this lesson after learning it the hard way. That vigilance has paid off recently in a couple of…
Integrating technology in CTE classrooms
By integrating advanced tools and digital resources, CTE educators can better engage students and mirror the high-tech environments they will eventually work in.
How Gimkit engages my students
During the height of the COVID-19 outbreak, teachers needed to become resourceful in how they delivered content to students. During this time, students experienced significant change and evolved…
The Tennessee Educational Technology Association: A blueprint for success
Since its official founding in 1994, the Tennessee Educational Technology Association (TETA) has been a driving force in uniting K-12 leaders across the state, championing the advancement of…
Beyond formulas: Embracing complexity in writing instruction
Early in our careers, when we were fresh-faced and idealistic (we still are!) the prepackaged curriculum and the advice of more experienced colleagues was the go-to resource.
How our district turned a sea of data into a compass for change
Before Bullitt County Public Schools implemented a comprehensive data system, we often found ourselves looking at multiple different data sources for each individual child.
China’s kindergarten coders: The AI arms race begins at age 4
In a brightly lit preschool classroom in Shenzhen, 4-year-olds are gathered around an AI-enabled robot named Toubao. With practiced ease, they issue voice commands, identify image patterns, and…
In Rhode Island, a partnership brings STEM lessons to life
Sixth grade science lessons at Governor Christopher DelSesto Middle School in Providence were more interactive this year thanks to a partnership with the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate…
Why the Trump administration grounded these middle schoolers’ drones–and other STEM research
Give a girl a drone, and she might see her future as a scientist. But if her teacher doesn’t have the training or resources to turn cool tech…
5 reasons why game design is the best way to teach STEAM skills
Industries are evolving quickly, and they need workers with strong STEAM skills. But most traditional classrooms aren’t set up to keep pace. Students often aren’t getting the real-world,…
Why math hints matter–and how AI can help
Research shows that productive struggle in math leads to better learning. But there’s a fine line between productive and unproductive struggle. When tasks are too difficult, frustration takes…
Reversing the absent trend: A school’s community-powered comeback
Since the global pandemic shut down schools and forced students to learn remotely, chronic absenteeism has more than doubled in schools nationwide. Our elementary school is no exception.
Trump nominee Penny Schwinn pledges alignment with president’s education agenda after GOP criticism
Penny Schwinn, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the No. 2 role at the U.S. Department of Education, said she agrees with his push to dismantle the department and…
You’re using ChatGPT? A true story about why AI literacy starts with us
Math isn’t my strongest subject, and when a student asked me to help solve an equation involving angles as I covered for a fellow teacher, I hesitated. Rather…
Trump moved fast and broke things in education–but what he’s creating isn’t clear
The Grandview school district’s headquarters is nearly 1,000 miles away from the White House. Yet President Donald Trump keeps taking up Kenny Rodrequez’s brain power.
Understanding and mitigating academic regression from summer learning loss
Summer learning loss, also known as the "summer slide," represents a significant challenge in education where students experience academic regression during extended breaks from formal instruction.
Many students decide they’re not a ‘math person’ by the end of elementary school, new study shows
Roughly half of middle and high schoolers report losing interest in math class at least half the time, and 1 in 10 lack interest nearly all the time…
Ensuring academic integrity in the AI age
Students' AI usage can range from summarizing content to full-scale writing support, which begs the question: What can educators do if they suspect an assignment is authored by…
Bridging the digital divide to empower the youngest learners
In Greater Houston, where nearly half of children start kindergarten unprepared, Collaborative for Children is taking bold steps to close the digital divide, beginning with our youngest learners.
AI can personalize learning–it can’t make students care
I recently read 10 to 25, a new book by David Yeager, one of the leading research psychologists in adolescent development and motivation. The book explores what young people…
Creating a fun robotics lesson that addresses 4 ISTE standards
Instructing preservice educators at Roger Williams University in STEM education highlights the complex, multifaceted nature of effective STEM lesson planning. Teachers must align instructional content with state and…
Whose call: A student-driven approach to school cell phone policies
Over the last few years we have had the pleasure of working with several school partners to address the growing concern around cell phones in schools. Using a…
My high school Spanish teacher taught me about the original AI–Authentic Interaction
As AI dominates the education zeitgeist, I think it’s time to highlight an effective teaching tool as tried and true as a Ticonderoga No. 2 pencil: high-quality IRL…
Many states picked diploma pathways over high school exit exams. Did students benefit?
When 18-year-old Edgar Brito thinks about what he’ll do in the future, mechanical engineering is high on the list. The senior at Washington state’s Toppenish High School first…
8 tips for school leaders seeking to innovate
When school and district leaders read about innovation--defined as improvements for students and teachers that result in real progress, not anything that’s simply “new or different”--the changes can…
5 strategies to refine recruitment and help solve the teacher shortage
Research consistently shows that teacher quality is the single most important school-based factor influencing student achievement--more impactful than race, socioeconomic status, or prior academic performance.
From school year to summer: Why reliable edtech matters to boost literacy
There’s something to be said for legacy platforms that not only stand the test of time but continue to evolve in ways that meet the shifting needs of…
4 ways to help students disagree without being disagreeable
As an educator, I believe that for students to truly develop a healthy and flexible learning mindset, they must first learn how to disagree without being disagreeable.
AI in education needs more than innovation–it needs intention
Generative artificial intelligence is everywhere, including our schools--and it has the potential to transform education. These platforms offer unprecedented opportunities to personalize learning, refine curriculum development, and support…
The U.S. had the blueprint for a high-class education–but abandoned it
In the 1970s, educators and policymakers from across the globe (including from Finland) viewed the United States as a model of forward-thinking education--American schools were well-regarded for their…
How we designed a space where our students connect, collaborate, and flourish
Our charter school, Westbrook Academy, has been serving middle and high school students in the South Los Angeles area for the past six years and stands as a…
Phishing attacks are evolving, but schools can fight back
The education sector has become an increasingly lucrative target for threat actors, not only because of the valuable data schools hold--student records, login credentials, Social Security numbers, and…
Beyond ‘feeling good’: A deeper approach to student mental health
Mental health concerns among K-12 students are reaching unprecedented levels. According to the CDC, 40 percent of high school students report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, and…
AI prompt engineering: A critical new skillset for 21st-century teachers
Prompt engineering--the ability to craft precise, thoughtful inputs for AI tools to produce effective outputs--is quickly becoming an essential skill in modern education. More than a technical trick,…
3 ways to rethink reading intervention with AI
Many teachers are aware of both the problem and the potential solution, yet feel uncertain about taking the next step. AI, when used thoughtfully, can support reading growth--especially…
Unpacking COVID’s lasting academic effects on 5th graders
As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, it forced the closure of schools and a rapid shift to online learning. This unforeseen disruption in traditional education left…
With classroom tech, meet students where they are
Technology in the classroom has transformed how students learn and how teachers teach. What once was a space filled with lectures, textbooks, and rigid routines has evolved into…
Solving our literacy crisis starts in the lecture hall
The recent NAEP scores have confirmed a sobering truth: Our schools remain in the grips of a literacy crisis. Across the country, too many children are struggling to…
Why agentic AI matters now more than ever
For years now, the promise of AI in education has centered around efficiency--grading faster, recommending better content, or predicting where a student might struggle.