Strategy Share: Creating Podcasts in the Classroom

Student-created podcasts are a fun, creative way for students to learn and for teachers to assess content knowledge. In my experience, students have been completely engaged while they learned and reviewed information, practiced collaboration, conducted research, and presented their work to others. Continue reading Strategy Share: Creating Podcasts in the Classroom

We Have Unrealistic Beauty Standards for Coral, Too

ENVIRONMENT Experiments show that people value pretty reefs over healthy ones. (Hakai) Use our lesson plan to help introduce students to coral reef ecosystems. Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers Toolkit. Discussion Ideas New research indicates our bias toward pretty pictures may influence our perception of coral reefs. What are coral reefs? Coral reefs are incredibly biodiverse ecosystems … Continue reading We Have Unrealistic Beauty Standards for Coral, Too

Make a Great Old-School Lesson Better with Technology

On January 1, I subjected myself to the horror of reading edu-Twitter, where people were coming up with the #oneword for 2018. So many were great words—mindfulness, belief, commitment. But then there were the ones that made me roll my eyes—”technology”, “1to1learning” (which isn’t even one word, it’s four!), and “paperless”. Technology is great. But it isn’t a cure-all in education. Technology can enhance a … Continue reading Make a Great Old-School Lesson Better with Technology

Charlie from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Was Originally Written as a ‘Little Black Boy’

BOOKS Charlie Bucket, the hero of Roald Dahl’s famous book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was originally written to be a “little black boy,” according to Felicity Dahl, the author’s widow. (NPR) Why does diversity in children’s literature make a difference? Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers Toolkit, including great media literacy guides from our partners. Discussion Ideas … Continue reading Charlie from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Was Originally Written as a ‘Little Black Boy’