5 workable scenarios for flexible pandemic learning

We all thought and hoped we were out of the COVID woods, but the rise of the Delta variant left school districts, parents, and teachers rethinking their back-to-school plans. The first wave of the coronavirus left children fairly unscathed, but this new variant is something different.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Delta variant is more than twice as contagious as previous variants and current evidence suggests it might cause more severe illness in unvaccinated people. This is particularly worrisome for parents and educators because children under 12 have not yet been allowed to be vaccinated.

During the first shutdown, schools learned a lot about how to effectively deploy remote and hybrid learning set-ups. According to the Center for American Progress, in the 20-21 school year, 74 percent of the 100 largest school districts in the U.S. chose remote learning only as their back-to-school instructional model. This impacted more than 9 million students.…Read More

Cracking the code on student mental health

The past year has taken a toll on students’ mental health. Rates of anxiety, depression, and stress are up and the CDC reports emergency room visits for adolescent suicide attempts have soared.

Teachers and school staff can play a critical role in addressing student mental health and supporting student wellbeing. But they can only help if they know what to watch for–and the warning signs aren’t always readily apparent.

Students often spend several hours a day online and often the first clues as to their feelings–good or bad–are found in their online communications with peers, their posts on social media and in chat rooms, and in their internet searches.…Read More

Addressing trauma as students return to the classroom

We’ve all been through a traumatic experience in the last year. In a typical year, school is the only safe place for many students, and it is often the place where abuse or other trauma is recognized and help provided. But during remote learning, those children suddenly had no safe place to go and no adults to recognize the danger they were in and offer a lifeline.

As children return to school this fall, here’s how educators can spot those who may need mental health support, and a few suggestions for offering help.

Adverse childhood experiences…Read More

4 under-the-radar data points to track as schools reopen

One of the most powerful tools in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic has been data. Data analytics has informed what we can do, when we can do it, and has kept us safe. As more schools reopen their doors, data is also playing a vital role in ensuring they do so safely.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued key indicators for dynamic school decision making, which include measures of underlying community transmission as well as a measure of adherence to key mitigation strategies. While these indicators provide a solid foundation for establishing and maintaining in-person plans, they aren’t always inclusive of the data that parents, teachers, and staff need to feel comfortable about returning to the classroom.

To gain buy-in from these stakeholders and help inform plans as schools reopen, schools districts must also consider four under-the-radar-data points. Let’s take a look.…Read More

3 ways to help students de-stress

A recent study found that the global pandemic and its accompanying social and cultural changes have significantly impacted the mental health and stress of children and teens. And the  CDC warns that levels of stress and anxiety in children continue to rise. Yet the science of how stress affects a student’s ability to learn and excel in the classroom–especially when it comes to reading comprehension–is rarely discussed.

Teachers who want to support optimal reading comprehension must equip themselves with a deeper understanding of why stress is so harmful to students’ reading, and what they can do about it. 

The growing problem of student stress…Read More

5 ways technology can help schools meet CDC guidelines this fall

Administrators across the country are preparing schools to reopen this fall, and they have a lot to consider in the wake of COVID-19. In order to best protect both students and staff, the CDC has presented a list of guidelines for schools to open safely and effectively. Many of these guidelines can be met and make for a smoother transition with the use of technology.

Communication portal

The CDC has recommended the use of a communication system for “staff and families [to] self-report to the school if they or their student have symptoms of COVID-19, a positive test for COVID-19, or were exposed to someone with COVID-19 within the last 14 days,” as well as for “Notifying staff, families, and the public of school closures and any restrictions in place to limit COVID-19 exposure.”…Read More

Rethinking School Spaces and Structures to Maintain Proper Distancing

Spaces4Learning has put together a series of articles on the topic of school environments, and what they might look like when schools in North America finally reopen amid the threat from COVID-19 — and how K-12 educators and administrators can plan effectively to keep everyone safe while maintaining instruction. Future articles will look at what we can learn from previous pandemics, what instruction might look like, and how to address students’ social-emotional needs, among other topics.

The first article on School Spaces and Structures highlights the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and how schools and other organizations can safely reopen. The guidelines were still under review by the Trump Administration as of early May, and it’s possible they could change. In their initial form, however, they make the following recommendations for maintaining social distancing and limiting the sharing of materials within schools.

Read the full article at Spaces4Learning.…Read More

More diagnoses of hyperactivity in new C.D.C. data

The New York Times reports that nearly one in five high school age boys in the United States and 11 percent of school-age children over all have received a medical diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to new data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  These rates reflect a marked rise over the last decade and could fuel growing concern among many doctors that the A.D.H.D. diagnosis and its medication are overused in American children…

Click here for the full story

…Read More

Feds: Older teens often text behind the wheel

An anonymous national survey conducted last year found that 58 percent of students said they had texted or eMailed while driving during the previous month.

More than half of U.S. students in their last year before college admit they text or eMail while driving—the first federal statistics on how common the dangerous habit is among teens.

An anonymous national survey conducted last year found that 58 percent of students said they had texted or eMailed while driving during the previous month.…Read More

Obese American children outgrowing school desks

Schools across the country are pioneering big changes in the classroom–to accomodate the 17 percent of U.S. children who are overweight or
obese, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Huffington Post reports. Schools have started to provide separate chairs and desks for the increasing number of students who cannot fit into regularschool desks, CNN reports, and the manufacturers of the school furniture have begun increasing the size of the desks and chairs for future students. The figure for overweight or obese children in the U.S. has tripled from just one generation ago, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I was so large, I couldn’t fit in there,” 19-year-old Taylor LeBaron told CNN about his school experience. “I couldn’t get my legs to fit underneath the desk or my stomach to fit between the chair without getting the desk stuck with me.”

Click here for the full story…Read More