Three Lessons Math Education Can Learn From MTV
As a teenager, channel 31 on our television was strictly forbidden in our home. Lucky for me, this was decades before the invention of parental controls. It was easy for…
Rebuilding the Education Playground Without “Slides”
Slides are a common source of childhood joy and exhilaration. Now, the term “slide” is tossed around education circles to define any “learning loss” that doesn’t meet our pre-determined expectations.…
The Brain Roots of Unproductive Struggle in Math (and 3 Tools to Ensure it Stays Productive)
You’ve likely seen it a hundred times. A student is working diligently on a math problem. They’re leaning in, scribbling possibilities frantically. They pause to look up toward the ceiling…
The Relationship-Building Tool COVID-19 Cannot Take Away
The bell is about to ring. You’re standing in the doorway offering each student a high-five. You enter your classroom and crouch down at a student’s desk for a quick…
Let’s Re-start Your Post COVID-19 Life Painlessly
The cries of “Wagons Ho!” echoed through the morning air. It was just another day in her family's long journey west along the Oregon Trail in 1850. Her oxen trudged…
Why Movement is SO Hard for Most Everyone (except you)!
In the Stone Age (circa 10,000 B.C.) tribe of Bedrock, Fred and Wilma Flintstone lived with "modern-day" amenities such as foot-driven cars, gimmicky kitchen appliances, and suspect telephones. Those wacky,…
How to Win the Attentional Game of Tug-of-War
It's a deafening roar: 35,000 screaming spectators have waited all year for this event. No, it is not baseball or football. It is an epic, old-school tug-of-war across the 2nd…
How Culturally Responsive Teaching Re-Draws the Boundaries of the “In” Crowd
Why is it that so many kids crave to be part of the “in” crowd? What do they hope to gain? Regardless of what they’re looking for, being a part…
The 3 Biggest Lies You’ve Been Taught About Stress and How You Can Grow from “Surviving to Thriving”
For most educators, stress levels slowly ramp up over the first couple of months of school. The word on the street is many of you feel like you’ve gone from…
The Overlooked Element of a “Safe” Return to School (Virtual or Face-to-Face)
Ensuring students and staff are physically safe is a top concern these days. But we all understand that keeping staff and students physically safe is just the beginning. There is…