Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

How my 5th graders are taking a stand against bullying

Unseen and often silent, the shadows of bullying loom within the walls of schools, casting a dark cloud over the lives of countless students. The PACER Center’s National Bullying Prevention Center engages and empowers kids to combat bullying in all its forms. Through the Students with Solutions contest, my 5th grade students worked together to raise awareness about bullying and encourage children to actively participate in addressing this issue. This challenge amplified their voices and empowered them to inspire and support one another, creating a united front against bullying.

The winning entry within the “Student with Solutions” national anti-bullying competition this year is a video by my two 5th grade classes within the Birmingham City Schools System. The students wrote, filmed, and edited the video. It inspires unity and support, drawing from the students’ experiences, with the main message being that bullying hurts and everyone matters.

Students enjoy technology, so being able to integrate technology in an academic setting is highly advantageous. In this instance, we were able to combine social-emotional learning and technology, which are both important in this day and age.…Read More

Why unstructured free play is a key remedy to bullying

October was National Bullying Prevention Month, and in my decade of teaching in high-poverty public elementary schools, I’ve seen strategy after strategy and initiative after initiative implemented to decrease bullying.

While every case is unique, having a general understanding of why a student chooses to bully can be helpful.

Kids usually bully for one of the following reasons: they are frustrated with life’s circumstances and don’t have the emotional tools to cope, they don’t have many friends and are lonely, they have issues with emotional regulation, or they feel powerless to control their life for any number of reasons.…Read More

Gaggle Releases New Cyberbullying eBook for National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month

Cyberbullying is one of the greatest threats to student safety, with nearly 15% of students ages 12–18 having reported being bullied online. October is National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month, and Gaggle has published a Cyberbullying eBook to help administrators, educators, parents, and students understand and react to digital harassment. The new eBook offers a fresh and up-to-date analysis of cyberbullying, with additions on remote learning and updated resources.

Available for free, the comprehensive eBook details the importance of full awareness and involvement from administrators, teachers, and parents in order to protect students online. The eBook includes guidance for dealing with all aspects of cyberbullying, from prevention to identification to discipline. The guide also offers an updated list of cyberbullying resources and websites, so students, parents, teachers, and administrators can do further research and learn new ways to handle incidents of cyberbullying in the future.

“Gaggle is committed to student safety at all levels, and cyberbullying is a huge threat to student safety both in and out of the classroom,” said Gaggle’s CEO and founder, Jeff Patterson. “It’s important for all parties to be informed and prepared in order to protect students from cyberbullying. We hope that this eBook can provide students, parents, and teachers with the information and resources they need to handle digital harassment in a safe and fair way.”…Read More

How to integrate emotional intelligence into the classroom

Social-emotional learning. Character education. Bullying prevention. These programs all fall under the larger umbrella of emotional intelligence (EQ)—the ability to manage one’s feelings and interact positively with other people. While many schools may touch on it during the school year, Maurice J. Elias, Ph.D., and Steven E. Tobias, Psy.D., authors of Boost Emotional Intelligence in Students, advocate for more formal training in EQ. During their recent edWebinar “How to Boost Emotional Intelligence in Students,” they explained how data shows a high EQ is “more highly correlated with career success than academic skills.” More important, in order to help kids retain their EQ skills, they said schools need to adopt a systematic approach to improving emotional awareness.

The 3 primary areas of EQ

  1. Self-awareness and self-management: These areas focus on helping children understand their own EQ strengths and challenges. Students learn how to not only recognize and talk about their feelings but also work on maintaining and achieving self-control. The purpose of this skill set is to teach students how to be their best selves.
  2. Social awareness and relationship skills: These skills are about learning to read the social and emotional cues of others. Here, the goal is to not only be able to anticipate and defuse their own trigger situations, but for kids to learn how to empathize with others. Empathy also discusses understanding cultural distinctions. With this skill, kids learn how to “code switch” and operate in different ways with different people.
  3. Problem-solving skills: Here, students build on their previous lessons to develop problem-solving strategies they can adapt to a variety of situations. The presenters noted that employers are looking for individuals that can handle stress, value responsibility, resolve conflicts, and find creative solutions to problems. These are all hallmarks of EQ.

…Read More

eSchool Media to stream Iowa Bullying Prevention Summit live

Awareness is growing that what used to be excused as “kids being kids” is more harmful than previously realized.

eSchool Media, in partnership with EduVision by JDL Horizons, will be streaming live video coverage of the Iowa Governor’s Bullying Prevention Summit on Nov. 27.

Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds are hosting the summit, which is open to the public. The summit will be held on Nov. 27 at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines. It will be paid for with funding from the Iowa Department of Education, registration fees, and support from the private sector.…Read More

Education Dept. helps teachers combat bullying

In recognition of Bullying Prevention Month this October, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has released a free, two-part training toolkit designed to reduce incidents of bullying, for use by classroom educators.

Teachers care about bullying in the classroom, but many don’t know how to intervene and prevent it effectively, according to data from the National Education Association (NEA). The toolkit is designed to give teachers the knowledge and skills to intervene in bullying behavior and to de-escalate threatening behaviors at school. It includes two modules: “Understanding and Intervening in Bullying Behavior” and “Creating a Supportive Classroom Climate.”

“These modules are based on the best available research and practices to give teachers effective tools to not only respond to bullying, but also to stop it before it starts,” said ED’s bullying prevention coordinator, Deborah Temkin.…Read More

Facebook and Time Warner join to stop cyber bullying

Facebook and Time Warner's initiative will feature a town hall hosted by Anderson Cooper.

A new partnership between Facebook and Time Warner aims to expand the companies’ individual efforts to prevent online bullying. The initiative, called “Stop Bullying: Speak Up,” will combine broadcast, print, online, and social media outlets to get parents, teachers, and youth speaking about cyber bullying prevention.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of the people [who] use our site,” said Andrew Noyes, manager of public policy communications at Facebook. “Online safety is a responsibility shared among parents, teachers, teens, policy makers, and services like Facebook.”…Read More

Reducing bullying and cyber bullying

bulliesThis fall, there are new and revamped laws in many states that address K-12 bullying and cyber bullying. In Massachusetts, we have one of the most comprehensive and far-reaching laws in the country. As in many states, K-12 teachers in Massachusetts have new responsibilities to respond to, report, and address bullying and cyber bullying. Here at the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC), we’ve developed 10 tips to help faculty cope with what can seem an overwhelming task.

1. Keep “responding” and “reporting” separate in your mind.

What behaviors do you have to report for possible formal discipline? Also, how should you respond when you see inappropriate (possibly bullying or definitely bullying) behaviors? Always respond by making it clear that you are disturbed by what you saw. Should you respond to a behavior that you might not normally report (such as laughter at a child’s expense)? The answer is yes. Remember that even if it’s not a “reportable” behavior—respond to it. Ignoring even mild bullying behaviors is essentially the same as endorsing them.…Read More

Federal officials aim to prevent bullying

State, district, and school leaders discussed best practices for bullying prevention.
State, district, and school leaders discussed best practices for bullying prevention.

In day two of the federal Bullying Prevention Summit in Washington, D.C., policy experts from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and school leaders shifted their conversations from the scope of bullying across the country to the practical steps schools can take right now to help prevent bullying in the classroom.

While most of the sessions were helpful, federal officials were short on answers to questions about cyber bullying.…Read More