Stories

Parents

Every Class Has a 'Unicorn' Child, And We Have to Teach Them Creatively

I encountered my first "unicorn" three years ago. She burst into my classroom announcing, Hello! Nice classroom you got there. Oh ... thank you. Are you a student at this school? Or, are you lost? In...

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opportunity gap

You Can Call It a 'Lost Decade,' But I See a Lot of Good Things Happening

The spin never stops when it comes to education and it goes into overdrive with the close of a decade. Amidst all the hype of a lost decade and the need for humility from education reformers,...

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EdTech

Here's Why You Should Be Podcasting in the Classroom

Six years ago, my school, Ames High School went one-to-one and handed every student a laptop. This was a major shift for many of our teachers, and school administrators wanted to be sure they had the...

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Charter Schools

Don't Forget, Not Every Student Had Opportunities for Enrichment This Summer

This summer, my students and I learned that blue crabs are really feisty, but mosquitos are even feistier. For two weeks in June, I chaperoned a student fellowship program called Earthwatch Ignite,...

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Charter Schools

School Choice and High Standards Aren't Enough, Here's How We Focus on What Each Student Needs

On an early fall day a few years ago at a local playground, my friend Sarah and I watched as her three children reveled in their after-school freedom. In front of us, her two younger children were...

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Parents

Six Ways Parents Can Help Kids Learn Over the Summer Break

Summer is not just a two-month countdown to sending the kids back to school. You only get 18 summers total with your “babies,” and half of those will be stolen away or occupied by growing pains, such...

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