Articles and Spotlights

More Than Colorful Stories: Reading Graphic Novels to Be a Better Teacher

posted 12 days ago
More Than Colorful Stories: Reading Graphic Novels to Be a Better Teacher By Heidi Sackreiter Trauma and loss. Microaggressions and discrimination. Anxiety and finding your truest self. These are issues felt among many learners in today’s classrooms. As a new teacher, you must realize there is more to the job than simply presenting content ...

From Social Media to the Classroom: Assessing the Fit of Classroom Management Practices You Find Online

posted 25 days ago
From Social Media to the Classroom: Assessing the Fit of Classroom Management Practices You Find Online By Cynthia Deaton and Lydia Beahm Have you ever scroll ed through TikTok, Reddit, or a teacher blog and found a fun classroom management idea? Do you think you need to refine your current classroom management strategies to better engage and support your students ...

EdTech to Empower ELLs in Any Classroom

posted 10-28-2025
EdTech to Empower ELLs in Any Classroom By Mac k enzie Shiau Imagine stepping into a classroom where half your students speak limited English, and a few have barely attended school. Their eyes are bright, but their voices are silent. You want to help—but how? Supporting English Language Learners (ELLs), especially Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal ...

Hands-On, Minds-On: How Interdisciplinary Learning Inspires Student Engagement

posted 10-14-2025
Hands-On, Minds-On: How Interdisciplinary Learning Inspires Student Engagement By Ana Figueroa Using hands-on learning strategies to increase student engagement and participation takes planning and dedication (Frank, 2020). Teachers are central to this work, as they must balance academic growth with student enjoyment by attending to both cognitive and emotional needs that extend ...

As a Birdwatcher, Here’s What I've Learned About Classroom Management

posted 09-30-2025
As a Birdwatcher, Here’s What I've Learned About Classroom Management Birding taught me four ways we can better prepare our early-career teachers for the classroom By Ronak Shah During a quiz, two students whisper in the back of my room. I notice, but stay quiet. I have one chance to redirect them. Forty-seven seconds into their conversation, while my ...

Facing the Truth: Conversations on Race, Identity, and Equity in Education

posted 09-16-2025
Facing the Truth: Conversations on Race, Identity, and Equity in Education By Kevin Cataldo Often, as teachers and school leaders, we do not get the chance to engage in conversations with one another to critically reflect on how our understandings of race, culture, and ethnic identities impact our students in the classroom. When teachers and school leaders reflect ...

🎒 Back-to-School Giveaway - Win $100 for Your Classroom! 🎒

posted 09-03-2025
Happy back-to-school season, KDP family! Our partner Passage Preparation is celebrating with us by giving away two $100 Amazon gift cards for classroom supplies. The best part is, as a KDP member, you’re automatically entered to win! Here’s how it works: ✅ You’re already in! All active KDP members get one entry. ✅ Bonus entry: Follow Passage Preparation on Instagram or ...

I’ve Graduated, But No Job Yet: Turning This Pause Into a Power Move

posted 09-02-2025
I’ve Graduated, But No Job Yet: Turning This Pause i nto a Power Move By Suzan Kobashigawa and John Hiski Ridge Graduating with a teaching degree is a major achievement—but what happens when a job offer doesn’t come right away? For some new teachers, the transition from student to full-time teacher may not be immediate. And while we are experiencing a nationwide ...

You...don’t...know

posted 08-19-2025
You... don’t ...know By Irene Pittman Aiken “You do n’t know that Susan is abused at home, do you?” my colleague asked . I didn’t know and I was dumbstruck. I was in my second year of teaching and discussing the student ( we’ll call her Susan ) with a colleague . I’d just learned Susan was to be in my ...

Cultivating Community and Real-World Connections through Mathematics People Bingo

posted 08-05-2025
Cultivating Community and Real-World Connections through Mathematics People Bingo By Joan Gujarati Math ematics anxiety is a feeling of tension, apprehension, or fear that i nterferes with math ematics performance (Ash c raft 2002) . College s tudents who major in early childhood and elementary education have among the highest levels of math ...

Three Key Strategies for Asking Effective Questions to Increase Student Engagement in Science

posted 07-22-2025
Three Key Strategies for Asking Effective Questions to Increase Student Engagement in Science By Thomas J. Diana For new science teachers , one of the critical aspects of their practice is whether or not students are engaged in the lesson or lab . As science teachers prepare their lessons, they need to ask themselves : H ow can I get my students ...

Challenging All Teachers to Engage in Number Talks

posted 07-08-2025
Challenging All Teachers to Engage in Number Talks By Amy Smith and Mercedes Tichenor Number Talk s have been a proven mathematical practice for over three decades. However, not all teachers may know about Number Talk s or understand how powerful they can be to promote student engagement and mathematical reasoning. More importantly, though, some teachers ...

Six "P"s for Successful Participation in an IEP Conference

posted 06-24-2025
Six " P"s for Successful Participat ion in an IEP Conference By Ali Taylor Individualized Education Programs (IEP) are developed for students with disabilities who have been evaluated in accordance with t he Individu als with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The IEP is designed for the student and is individualized to meet their specific education al ...

Let’s ALL Read! Adapting Grade Level Text for Students with Extensive Support ​​Needs

posted 06-10-2025
Let’s ALL Read! Adapting Grade Level Text for Students with Extensive Support ​​Needs By Shawnee Wakeman , Holly Johnson, and Amy Clausen When including students with extensive support needs (ESN), some students can engage with grade level text, but others may not in its original form. An adapted text may be needed. Don’t assign different texts to these students whenever ...

Putting a HIPPO in Your Classroom: Teaching Source Analysis through Inquiry

posted 05-27-2025
Putting a HIPPO in Your Classroom: Teaching Source Analysis through Inquiry By Jason Allen Inquiry-based learning has become a standard practice in social studies classrooms. Inquiry methodology empowers students to create questions, investigate content, and draw detailed conclusions from both primary and secondary sources. Stanford University has found that “students who ...

Little Library, Big Mission

posted 05-13-2025
Little Library, Big Mission By Ellen DeLisi Students can recognize reflections of themselves when they are exposed to a variety of texts and examples that represent multicultural experiences and backgrounds (Sedita, 2022). This fosters a sense of belonging and boosts confidence. However, only 46% of children's books feature characters who are not white (CCBC, 2023). Books ...

Beyond Books: Reimagining Family Literacy for Today’s Learners

posted 04-29-2025
Beyond Books: Reimagining Family Literacy for Today’s Learners By Rebecca Diaz Imagine a grandmother teaching her grandchild to read, not from a paper book, but from a tablet they hold together—while the child's parent records a video of them discussing the story to share with relatives overseas. This isn't just reading; it's a multi-generational, multimedia literacy event ...

5 Tips for Engaging Students in Multisensory Learning in the Classroom

posted 04-15-2025
5 Tips for Engaging Students in Multisensory Learning in the Classroom By Brigid Utz and Megan Reister Have you ever pondered how you can use active learning in your classroom? Do you need multisensory activities to implement in the classroom? After teaching teenFEMM classes (a health and biology curriculum) to middle schoolers, we were excited to engage in not only implementing ...

5 Strategies to Boost ELs’ Joy in Learning

posted 04-01-2025
5 Strategies to Boost ELs’ Joy in Learning By Angélica Ribeiro Imagine your school recently received two new English learners (ELs) from Japan: Yochi and Mia (pseudonyms) . They are both in third grade and have intermediate English skills , sharing similar background s. For example, they attended school in Japan until second grade before ...

Using AI in the Classroom: 5 Simple Steps to Enhance Your Teaching

posted 03-18-2025
Using AI in the Classroom: 5 Simple Steps to Enhance Your Teaching By Kristen Smigielski Imagine you're starting your teaching career, eager to bring fresh ideas into the classroom. You're not just teaching; you're preparing to inspire a new generation. But where do you begin with the wealth of educational tools out there? This is where artificial intelligence (AI) ...