4 positive psychology tactics to help your brain manage stress

If you’re feeling overwhelmed today, you’re not alone. Teachers across America are struggling with unprecedented levels of mental stress. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence conducted a national survey of more than 5,000 U.S. teachers.

When asked to describe their mental health and stress levels, the five most common terms that educators used were “sad,” “overwhelmed,” “anxious,” “fearful,” and “worried.” Thankfully, positive psychology can help you to build your resilience to stress, prevent burnout, improve your overall well-being, and lead to better outcomes in your classroom.

Common sources of mental stress…Read More

The U.S. needs billions to close the digital divide

As Americans close out one year of pandemic-related school disruption and head into a second, the digital divide remains a daunting challenge for K-12 public school systems in most states.

Although progress to bridge the divide has been significant, as many as 12 million K-12 students remained digitally underserved just before 2021, according to a report by Common Sense, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and the Southern Education Foundation.

The report, titled Looking Back, Looking Forward: What It Will Take to Permanently Close the K-12 Digital Divide, provides a granular understanding of the digital divide’s impact on students, and offers a set of recommendations at the federal, state, and local levels to permanently close the digital divide.…Read More

High Prevalence of Mental Health Risk Amid COVID Pandemic Taking a Serious Toll on U.S. Students’ Cognition

Neuroscientific research conducted by Total Brain and the Center for Adolescent Research and Education shows students’  focus, planning, memory and resilience scores fall well below standard average

The COVID pandemic is having a dramatic impact on U.S. students’ mental health which, in turn, is affecting precious cognitive capacities like memory, focus and planning.  According to a neuroscientific study conducted by Total Brain and the Center for Adolescent Research and Education (CARE):

  • 48% of high school and college students are at risk of general anxiety
  • 45% are at risk of social anxiety
  • 39% are at risk of PTSD
  • Risk of common mental health conditions is 19% to 41% higher for females than males

Deteriorating mental health is usually linked with a decline in cognitive capacities. Expressed in percentile ranking, the standard average for any capacity is the 50th percentile ranking. However, the average percentile rank for students in this study fell well below the standard average:…Read More

Vernier Software & Technology Uses Food Experiments to Engage Students in Chemistry Exploration

Vernier Software & Technology recently launched a new lab book that uses food as a means to help high school and college students explore important chemistry concepts. Food Chemistry Experiments, which is available in both electronic and print versions,includes 14 ready-to-use experiments utilizing Vernier technology such as the Go Direct® SpectroVis® Plus Spectrophotometer, Go Direct Temperature Probe, and Go Direct CO2 Gas Sensor to help students investigate complex questions involving food.

“Students are more likely to engage with science when they can connect what they are learning to the real world,” said John Wheeler, CEO of Vernier Software & Technology. “Exploring chemistry concepts using common foods and drinks is a perfect example of this real-world application. From learning about food energy to measuring pH levels, the new lab book provides easy-to-implement investigations to help engage students in chemistry exploration.”

The new lab book features a range of investigations—including “Cooking Under Pressure,” “My Flat Soda Pop,” “True Colors: Separating Food Dyes,” and “Quantifying Iron in Cereal”—that all use easily accessible materials found in most homes and use affordable wireless sensors that can be used with any mobile device, Chromebook, or computer.…Read More

A Better Way Forward for Education – ‘Year in Review’ for SEL

From the pandemic to school closures to nationwide mobilization for racial justice, our nation’s headlines serve as an urgent call for social and emotional learning (SEL). CASEL has released 2020: SEL Year in Review, which reflects on the past year and shows that with SEL there is a better way forward for our communities, schools, and students. The top stories of 2020 remind us that the systems in which we learn, work, and live must promote healthy development.

 

“We can find common cause and unity in prioritizing our youth and the systems in which they are educated,” said CASEL President & CEO Karen Niemi. “SEL can serve as the antidote to much of what ails our nation.”…Read More

Super Duper Publications Makes Finding Autism Resources Easy

According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately one out of every 54 children has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, making it one of the most common developmental disabilities in the USA. To help families, teachers, and providers quickly and easily find information and educational materials to support autistic children, Super Duper Publications has created a new Autism Resources section on its website.

The new section provides access to:

  • Super Duper’s Free Autism Handy Handouts. Informational handouts for parents and teachers address topics such as Autism – the Basics, and Autism – It May Not Be What You Think.
  • A Tests section with more than a dozen trusted autism assessments including the REEL-4 Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Test and the TOPL-2 Test of Pragmatic Language.             
  • Super Duper’s autism-related games, cards, books, worksheets, programs and resources, reinforcers, and supplies to support skills in: Language & Pragmatics, Motor Skills, Emotions & Behavior, Sensory Activities, and Social Skills.

Games include the Webber Functional Communication Game, and Webber Story Time Communication Boards, which support communication skills for students with limited verbal skills.…Read More

Savvas Announces its enVision® Mathematics Common Core Grades 6-8 © 2021 Earns Highest Rating from EdReports

Savvas Learning Company, a next-generation learning solutions leader for K-12 education, is proud to announce that its enVision® Mathematics Common Core Grades 6-8 © 2021 received the highest rating from EdReports.org. With this latest designation, the nation’s most popular math program has earned “All-Green” ratings for the entire enVision Common Core K-12 series.

EdReports — the highly regarded, independent nonprofit designed to improve education by providing reviews of K-12 instructional materials — applies evidence-based analysis in evaluating math and ELA programs. By giving “All-Green” ratings to each of the products in the enVision Common Core K-12 line, EdReports has determined that the full math series consistently delivers high-quality, standards-aligned instructional material across all grade levels.

“We appreciate EdReports for recognizing the high-quality of our entire enVision K-12 math series,” said Savvas Learning Company CEO Bethlam Forsa. “Teaching with high-quality instructional materials has a direct impact on student learning outcomes. With its adaptive learning and innovative instructional design, enVision provides educators the high-quality curriculum they are looking for to increase both student engagement and achievement.”…Read More

The Making of the Modern Librarian: The Value of School Libraries

Click Here to Discover Some Innovative Ideas for School Libraries

A virtual reality field trip. A lesson on how to create a podcast. A tutorial on how to create a paper circuit board that uses LED lights. For a new generation of educators, these pursuits have something in common: They’re all appropriate learning exercises that can take place in the school library. Makerspaces, or library media centers that encourage collaboration and support student invention, are on the rise across the United States.

This has always been the case, but in a prevailing learning culture that promotes outside-the-box problem solving, these activities are growing more common in the 21st-century school library. At the intersection of analog and digital learning opportunities, the value of school libraries has increased at all levels of education. And at the helm of these spaces, school librarians must negotiate how best to support students with library resources, adapt to new technological advancements in education and pass on the fundamental tenets of digital and information literacy to students.…Read More

STEM Careers Coalition Marks First Anniversary and New, No-Cost Digital Resources

The STEM Careers Coalition – the first-of-its-kind national STEM initiative powered by corporate leaders and anchored in schools by Discovery Education – marks its first anniversary by welcoming new members to the growing coalition and by offering educators, students, and families nationwide access to a host of new, no-cost digital resources. The array of dynamic resources leverages the power of digital content to connect all learners to their innate curiosity by bringing STEM to life.

Members of the STEM Careers Coalition are united by the common goals of empowering educators to teach STEM effectively in the classroom, fostering and promoting quality education, and building the next generation of STEM solution-seekers with intentional focus on racial and gender equity. Representing a range of industry sectors, the STEM Careers Coalition seeks to prepare 10 million students for the future of work by 2025 by providing equitable access to digital content and experiences that engage students in instruction, build foundational STEM knowledge, and develop the critical skills students need for college and career success. Among the new organizations supporting the Coalition’s mission are:

 …Read More

What Are Students’ Top Interests for 2020?

What do Billie Eilish, Serena Williams, Albert Einstein, and SpongeBob SquarePants have in common? They rank among students’ most popular interests, based on responses collected by NoRedInk from millions of students in grades 5–12.

Top student interests

NoRedInk is an adaptive writing curriculum that engages students by personalizing exercises according to their interests. Below are students’ top choices from the 2019–20 school year across several categories:…Read More