Engaging students with ADHD and attention challenges—rather than just managing their behavior—should be the goal for every teacher. Teachers worry, though, that they will have to create a separate curriculum or otherwise alter how they teach. Not so, said Ezra Werb, M.Ed., Educational Therapist and author, in his edWebinar “Engagement Strategies for Students with Attention Challenges: Lower Anxiety and Raise Confidence.” Instead, he offers strategies to lessen learners’ anxieties and raise their confidence so they can meet the same goals as their peers.
Current employment trends and future projections all point towards continued growth in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) jobs, as well as the need for STEM-related skills in other fields. Yet, recent math proficiency levels among American students remain low, at just 44% in fourth grade and 33% at the eighth-grade level, and the math score trend lines are not showing significant improvement.
Storytelling can create educational environments where content is approachable and relatable, gives meaning to complex information, and creates new pathways to existing knowledge. According to the presenters of a recent edWebinar, Jenni Light, Senior Manager of Insights and Strategy for Cartoon Network, John Britt, Writer and Producer at Cartoon Network, Creative Group, and Chris Rettstatt, Product Manager at Wonder Workshop, STEM projects are designed to ensure that students have opportunities to learn problem-solving skills, engage in real-life experiments and analyze data. While these types of projects can be fun in their own right, adding a story and humor to the lesson increases overall student engagement.
Shifting from an industrial-age education model to a post-industrial learner-centered model is an essential part of preparing students for college and 21st century careers, and the process works best when the learner-centered approach is applied to the professional learning of teachers and administrators, as well as the education of their students.
Adoptions, non-adoptions, civics, SEL, career-ready education, and the possible recession. According to Kathy Mickey, Senior Analyst of Simba Information, all of these could impact the instructional materials marker. In her recent presentation “K-12 Instructional Materials: What’s New in 2019,” she previewed results from Simba’s Publishing for the PreK-12 Market, 2019-2020, and talked about how digital is changing—and not changing—the landscape.
While some English learners and students of color may be striving to attain minimal academic competency, others are likely to be high-ability or gifted/talented students who are not receiving appropriate support for their needs, and therefore are less engaged and have lower levels of participation in programs suitable for them.
Assistive technology teachers working at schools in the Fairfax County, VA school district, one of the largest in the United States, are finding that the use of audiobooks is improving access to grade-level content while also developing the love of reading that motivates many students to continue improving.
In May, when edWeb.net surveyed principals, personalized professional development for teachers was the number one topic of interest. With all the responsibilities and tasks on principals’ plates, relevant, engaging professional development focused on best practices can be extremely challenging. In a recent edWebinar, Dr. L Robert Furman, Principal of South Park Elementary Center in Pennsylvania, asked the question, “Why is it that when we think of professional development, it becomes a comedy or a depression and teachers automatically assume that it is going to be a colossal waste of time?” Personalized professional development can alleviate these feelings about professional development as it provides teachers with opportunities to be better teachers, which translates into improved student learning. Furman and the administrators in his school have completely revamped teacher professional development by utilizing the well-curated webinars and accessible and relevant resources available on edWeb.
Social media is an essential marketing tool for educational publishers. But the changing algorithms, rise and fall of new platforms, and overall nature of social media make some developers hesitant. In their presentation, “Social Media Marketing 2.0: Educators Love Social Media,” several education marketing insiders offered their perspectives on how to take advantage of this unique marketing tool.
Individuals with special needs struggle to graduate from high school and earn a diploma, much less pursue higher education or gain meaningful employment. Sometimes, there is a skills gap between the desired career and the student’s training. Many times, though, the problem is also a communication gap. During the edWebinar “Digital Badge Credentials: Preparing Students with Special Needs for Employment,” the presenters discussed how and why digital badges can help students validate their training and verify their credentials with prospective employers.