For Teachers, By Teachers: Top 11 Books that Document the Teacher Experience

If you’re thinking about becoming a teacher, you may be envisioning a picture-perfect classroom where students eagerly raise their hands to answer questions and quickly quiet down when a teacher walks into the room at the start of class. The reality is that teaching can be difficult, and often frustrating, but it is also one of the most rewarding professions that allow you to truly make a difference in the lives of students.

Teachers are some of the most important role models for children and adolescents, but in order to really make an impact, teachers need to continuously refine their craft. For new and prospective teachers, there a…

Making the Transition: How To Prepare High School Students for College (and Life)

Guest post by JT Ripton

As depicted in pop culture, college can be a fun and exciting time. However, it can also be incredibly frightening for high school students to think about. With so many factors to consider, it’s a teacher’s duty to help his or her students investigate different paths for growth as they prepare for higher learning.

Here’s a list of the top six ways to help your students better prepare themselves for a life outside of high school.

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    Create a Community of Research Champs

    Thanks to the internet, many students aren’t entering libraries to do their research anymore. However, learning how to properly cite a source is still important. In the modern classroom, you should teach the ability to evaluate websites for authority, find the origi…

Getting Kids to be Active: How Technology and Physical Education are Working Together

While some students are natural athletes and look forward to physical education classes, other students are the exact opposite. It can be a challenge to ensure that all youth get enough physical exercise each day. U.S. News and World Report notes that some schools are getting more innovative in their physical education opportunities and technology is playing a key role in this.

According to the article, schools need to be more creative; less than 30% of adolescents get enough daily physical exercise (the recommendation is for 60 minutes per day). An earlier study from the

Why We Need to Foster a Love for Reading

Technology offers much for our students in the ways of preparing them for success in the 21st Century, but with the allure of smart phones and other electronic gadgets, many students are missing out on something tremendously important: A love for reading. According to Education News, San Francisco’s Common Sense Media reports that the number of children reading for pleasure has plummeted compared to 40 years ago.

In the Research Brief, Common Sense Media looked at a number of studies that tracked and surveyed 2- to 18-year-old students on their reading habits. The studies were c…

Career and Technical Education Is Growing Rapidly To Fulfill Employment Gaps

For Career and Technical Education, also known as CTE, 2013 was a big year. According to Education Week, all 50 states were surveyed. In 2013 alone, 78 major policies were enacted or changed in order to expand career and technical education. With the Common Core Standards now widely adopted, states are pushing for programs that promote college and career readiness, so CTE certainly fits that bill. If current students are to be future competitors in a global marketplace, they need to be highly skilled.

EDUCATION COMMISSION OF THE STATES REPORT

 

According to the report, “Career and …

Common Core Field Assessments Going Relatively Smoothly

Early reports are showing that common core field assessments are going pretty smoothly with just a few technological issues and some concerns over the difficulty of new assessments. According to Education Week, the majority of states that have adopted the Common Core Standards are using assessments developed by two organizations — the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).

SMARTER BALANCED ASSESSMENT CONSORTIUM (SBAC)

Currently, there are 22 states signed up to take the SBAC assessments, including California, North Carolina and Connecticut. Field tests began March 22 and will continue through June 13, with 21 states participating. Over 3 million student…

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