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.

3 lessons on perseverance from a honey badger

Key points:

  • A classroom that values perseverance is a safe space for students to take chances
  • Setting goals is another key part of creating an environment of perseverance
  • See related article: 3 ways teachers can drive student growth

Have you ever heard the story of Stoffel the honey badger? Stoffel was rescued by a wildlife rehabilitation center after being injured by a pride of lions and quickly became infamous for his many escape attempts.

No matter what his caretakers did to deter him, Stoffel always found a way to escape his enclosure. First, he taught his fellow honey badger how they could work together to open the door to their habitat. Then, he began using tools and objects to scale the walls when his caretakers weren’t looking. At one point, he even built a small ramp over the wall using accumulated mud and debris. Suffice it to say, Stoffel knew a thing or two about perseverance.…Read More

9 big ideas to bolster the teaching profession and boost student learning

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

This is part two in a two-part series. Part one focused on four major challenges facing the teaching profession. Sign up for Chalkbeat’s free weekly newsletter to get these stories and more delivered straight to your inbox.

America’s schools face a number of warning signs about the teaching profession: higher turnover, lower morale, declining interest in the profession among college students, persistent shortages in certain subjects. These problems could have big consequences for students.…Read More

I work with struggling readers–here’s what’s standing in their way

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.”

I learned to love reading as a kid, spellbound by wizarding worlds and ghost stories. I wanted to share this love, so I became an intervention teacher, working with struggling readers and special education students. 

Kids love reading. I don’t care what think pieces say about screen addiction, children still gravitate towards books. If they can’t read, they like looking at the pictures in “Dogman” or listening to Junie B.’s antics. …Read More

COVID learning loss likely to linger without intensive work

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for a free weekly newsletter to keep up with how public education is changing.

Just as COVID hit some communities much harder than others, schools across the U.S. suffered disparate academic losses in the wake of the pandemic.

But new research points to a surprising finding: Students within the same district seemed to experience similar academic setbacks, regardless of their background. In the average district, white and more affluent students lost about the same amount of ground in reading and math as Black and Hispanic students and students from low-income families.…Read More

How our district improved a 5 percent attendance rate

Here at Eagle Pass Independent School District, we’re right on the border of the United States and Mexico. Approximately 95 percent of our students are Hispanic, and most of them speak Spanish. Ours is a tight-knit community where many people live next door to family members, which is wonderful, but it also brought some challenges during the pandemic.

COVID just kept cycling through the community over and over again, and it was common to hear people talking about how they’d had it a half dozen times. The number of people who died in our community was heartbreaking, and it scared a lot of people. The New York Times even published a story in August of 2020 about the high rate of new infections here.

When we returned to completely in-person schooling, families didn’t want to send their students back to school. They were scared, and they didn’t understand why we couldn’t do another year of virtual school. …Read More

With greater access to devices, teachers are folding more tech into instruction

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

Before the pandemic, U.S. history teacher Travis Malekpour hesitated assigning his students work in the classroom that required a computer. He knew not every student had a laptop or tablet.

Three years later, Malekpour, who teaches in Queens, doesn’t think twice about assigning and grading in-class work that requires a device. …Read More

How a middle school teacher grew students’ math scores despite pandemic challenges

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

As a senior at Indianapolis’ Ben Davis High School, Jacob Gregory enrolled in an Exploratory Teaching program. He thought of it as an easy way to leave school for a few hours, but it ended up sparking “an unknown interest in teaching,” he said. 

Today, the sixth grade math and science teacher at McKinley Elementary School is a quiet rock star. The school’s sixth grade growth scores in math are at nearly 58 percent, meaning more than half of the students met their individual growth targets on the state’s ILEARN test.…Read More

3 tips for confusion-free inclement weather communications

Even if the old spoon under the pillow trick hasn’t worked for the students in your district yet, it doesn’t mean it won’t be your turn next!

No matter how well prepared you are, weather cancellations can be cause for confusion. It’s worth taking a few extra precautions so your families know exactly what the story is.

Here are a few simple tips districts can follow to make sure weather communication messages are reaching home without causing confusion:…Read More

As Seattle schools sue social media companies, what’s the legal impact?

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

A notable new lawsuit against social media industry leaders by the Seattle school district has left legal experts divided on how the case will unfold.

The complaint — which alleges that the school district and its students have been harmed by social media’s negative effects on youth mental health — could lead to sweeping changes in the industry, one expert said. Or, as others expect, it could fizzle out with little chance of winning in court.…Read More