TL;DR: Gratitude boosts emotional well-being, mental health, and fosters better relationships. Academically, gratitude enhances performance, resilience, and problem-solving skills. Practical methods like journals, kindness acts, role modeling, and discussions can instill gratitude effectively. In a fast-paced, technology-driven world, it can be easy for students to overlook the significance of gratitude. However, teaching students to be grateful is more than just … Read More
Want a Better Classroom? Get to Know Your Students
TL;DR: Educators face growing challenges engaging a generation with abundant distractions and information. Building meaningful connections with students is essential for their success. Strategies for connecting with students include greeting them warmly, establishing classroom expectations, looking for shared interests, incorporating playfulness, communicating with parents, and attending extracurricular events. Prioritize kindness, respect, and building connections over strict curriculum adherence to foster … Read More
4 Ways to Nurture Your Teacher-Student Relationships
TL;DR: Recognition Matters: To ensure students feel valued, learn and use their names correctly from day one. Names are an important part of their identity. Warm Welcomes: Greet students at the door with personalized gestures, like high fives or hugs, setting a positive tone and reinforcing that they are loved. Encourage Expression: Create opportunities for students to share their voices … Read More
The Gods of Education. Are They Worth It?
TL;DR: Schools, like cathedrals, have gods that they worship, which shape their values, priorities, and practices. The gods of education can be both burdensome and dangerous, demanding sacrifices and affecting the unintended consequences of serving them. Identifying the gods in education allows for a critical examination of their impact and whether they are worth prioritizing, as they are tools that … Read More
You Have Two Seconds
TL;DR: You have two seconds to grab and hold your students’ attention. They have conditioned their brains to consume content they wish to consume for short periods of time. Students lacking attention, focus, and respect for elders is not something new so how do we become better teachers tomorrow than we are today? Three principles that help us be better … Read More
