Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.
Over the past 40 years Reverend Joseph E. Washington has provided healthcare for the underserved, promoted economic opportunity for women and minorities, and established a mentoring program for young adults. Now, at a time when most people would be eyeing retirement, Washington continues to advocate for justice and champion equality.
…Read MoreKey points:
- Gamification can help engage students when they might otherwise lose motivation
- Engaged students are 2.5 times more likely to say that they get excellent grades and do well in school
- See related article: MDM solutions and gamification make perfect interactive learning partners
In the past decade, students have been inundated with more and more distractions. The internet provides an infinite amount of said distractions: YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok to name a few. While the environment that grows children into students–and eventually young adults–has been changing, the education system has proved less dynamic. There are ways to embrace these changes as a means of benefit to a child’s education instead of a burden.
Engagement is the name of the game here, and educators are losing. According to a 2022 Gallup poll, engaged students are 2.5 times more likely to say that they get excellent grades and do well in school. This is massive, but even more impressive is that they are 4.5 times more likely to be hopeful about the future than their actively disengaged peers. Students who are happy to come to school and who see it as an opportunity are bound to feel more self-agency and to be better prepared for their post-educational lives.…Read More
Key points:
- SEL teaches students to think and behave like healthy, mature adults
- SEL helps students become better learners and take ownership of that learning
Every educator hopes to equip their students with the knowledge they need to thrive as a healthy adult. It’s a daunting task, especially considering there is so much to teach in such a small amount of time.
We want students to fall in love with reading while building up skills in language and grammar. We try to show them that math and science can be outlets of wonder and imagination, while also grounding them in foundations of history and social studies. And yet, out of all the knowledge at our disposal, fostering healthy social-emotional learning (SEL) may be the most important lesson that we impart to our students. …Read More
OKLAHOMA CITY – Paycom Software Inc. (NYSE:PAYC), a leading provider of HR software, celebrates the end of the 2023 school year by awarding grants to four local public school foundations. These two-year commitments will provide Edmond, Millwood, Oklahoma City and Putnam City with funds needed to support ongoing and new educational programming specific to each district.
“Partnering with the public schools in the area is an important way Paycom supports our communities,” said Tiffany Gamblin, director of human resources business services at Paycom. “We know the power these programs can have on children and young adults. We’re grateful to play a part in helping tomorrow’s leaders shine.”
Each school district has a unique plan for the donations they received from Paycom.…Read More
After decades of working with educational technology, I’ve come to the realization that technology will have its greatest impact in the classroom when educators allow learners to use digital technology as a self-directed learning tool. This means not just providing students with laptops and online resources, but ensuring they have the necessary skills to find, validate, apply, and curate the vast amount of information now available to them.
More importantly, they must be given control of when and how these digital tools are used. Think about how adults use their smartphones; they use them whenever they need to. No one is dictating when they can use it, how they can use it, or where they can use it–why don’t we allow learners to do the same?
Imagine a classroom where students have unfettered access to digital tools and resources whenever needed. That would be a very different classroom than the ones I’ve experienced, but one that would be able to support the digital learners in our classrooms today.…Read More
As a social worker for an in-district classroom inside of a Texas elementary school, I have the honor of serving some of the most vulnerable students in our community. On March 21, World Social Work Day, it’s important to highlight the essential role social workers play in promoting the well-being of our students and their families.
Every day, I have the privilege of witnessing the incredible resilience of our students, who face challenges that many adults would struggle to overcome. Food insecurity, trauma, and family instability are just some of the obstacles facing our students, and these challenges can have a profound impact on their academic performance, emotional health and future opportunities.
This is where social workers come in. Social workers are a unique component in the education system because we are trained to focus on both the student and their environment. I work alongside special education teachers and other staff to provide the support that our students need to thrive. …Read More
ARLINGTON, Texas/PRNewswire/ — Workforce solutions provider Ancora has developed a new relationship with McGraw Hill to launch Ancora High School. The flexible, individualized and 100% online learning experience is open to learners aged 18 or older who have completed 9th grade. Students can apply on a rolling basis throughout the year and complete coursework on their own timeframe. Ancora High School is an online high school that offers a Texas high school diploma and is accredited by Cognia™.
In 2020, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the high school dropout rate was 5.3% amongst those between the ages of 16 and 24, meaning approximately two million people in that age range had not completed a diploma and were not enrolled in high school. The economic consequences of not receiving a high school diploma or alternative credential like a GED is significant for the individual and society. For example, according to a separate report by NCES the median annual earnings for full-time workers ages 25 through 34 who had not completed high school were $26,000, compared to $32,000 a year for those whose highest education level was high school completion. Additionally, the average high school dropout costs the economy approximately $272,000 over his or her lifetime in terms of lower tax contributions, higher reliance on Medicaid and Medicare, higher rates of criminal activity, and higher reliance on welfare.
“Keeping in line with our prioritization on preparing students for further education or entering the workforce, Ancora High School helps to lay the groundwork for those who need it most,” said Bill Nance, CEO of Ancora. “With approximately 30 million adults without a high school diploma in the United States, we believe focusing on this important mission will provide communities with the opportunity to develop individuals with knowledge, skills, and upward career potential. We recognize the positive personal, economic, and community impacts of earning a high school diploma, and we are proud to provide this affordable opportunity for busy adults to earn their diploma with flexibility that fits into their busy lives.”…Read More
Survey after survey confirms teachers feel stressed and burned out. Nearly 75 percent of teachers experience frequent job-related stress, compared to just a third of working adults. More than half of teachers have considered leaving the profession earlier than originally planned.
Exhausted and frustrated teachers face a growing list of adversities, including:
Dire staffing shortages have added to an unprecedented level of strain. When educators pick up the slack from unfilled positions, their work obligations increase. But their plates merely grow more full — nothing is ever removed. Districts can’t afford to lose more teachers and must take steps to assist them.…Read More
Both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes requires extremely careful management. The process of counting carbs, monitoring blood sugar, and injecting insulin throughout the day can be complex and confusing. As difficult as this is for adults, it can be exponentially harder for children – especially during the school day.
While the need is there – a recent CDC report details how both Type I and Type II diabetes are on the rise in youth populations – not every school has access to a qualified nurse on premises to assist children with their routine diabetes care. In fact, only 39 percent of schools in the US employ a full-time school nurse and just 35 percent employ a part-time school nurse. In rural areas, or communities struggling with healthcare staffing shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those numbers can be much lower.
As school districts search for a viable solution to this worrying gap in care for young students, they can find an opportunity in telemedicine.…Read More
Inflation hit a four-decade high in the United States during September, with the consumer price index up 8.2 percent from a year earlier. While most adults are painfully aware of higher prices for everything from food to fuel, teens may be blissfully ignorant.
There are a few reasons inflation may not feel relevant to teens. If teens aren’t yet working and earning their own money, they’re buying things with their parent’s funds. The cure for inflation is simply to ask mom or dad for more money. Working teens will definitely be feeling the burn of increased prices, but their time horizon tends to be focused on today versus how inflation will impact them decades down the road.
Storytelling can be an effective way for teachers to make topics like inflation relevant to students. Storytelling makes abstract concepts come to life and can help students envision themselves in the story.…Read More