School-Wise News from Trending Words to Standardized Test Scores and Money Woes
Says high school English teacher Alice Dominguez: “No matter the data or intention, no packaged curriculum can offer space to reflect as a community and respond to the unique needs of each school. If school leaders can resist the promises made by ed tech companies,...
Greeting Cards: In Decline or Making a Comeback?
For young and old alike, nothing beats going to the mailbox and finding there, mixed in with all the bills, charity pleas, and catalogs, a greeting card--sometimes for no other reason than to say “’I’m thinking of you.” And best of all, sometimes a personal note is...
Grief during the Season of Giving Thanks and Gifting
Someone dies, we pause, mourn, and somehow move on, though nothing is ever the same again. Loss: I know it quite well. Gone from me are my husband, my sister, my young nephew, both of my parents, countless relatives and friends, too… Well-meaning folks said things...
Go Old School with SQ3R, No Digital Screen Required or Wanted
Seems we’re all on the digital bandwagon, obliviously glued to our screens, allowing tech companies to crawl into our homes and classrooms all to great applause. Costly and not just dollar-wise, in many instances, screens have compromised our kids’ well-being and...
Pot Headlines Keep Rolling In and Even the President Has Taken a Stand: All a Good Thing or Should We Hit Pause?
Pot, cannabis, marijuana, grass, Mary Jane, weed, bammy: Whatever name you give it, it’s been a headliner for several years, especially since November 2012 when Colorado legalized it for adults 21 and older—a marijuana first, but not the only one. That’s because...
Bring Spring into Winter by Forcing Bulbs to Bloom
In Anxious People, author Fredrik Backman writes, “She could see winter making itself comfortable across the town. She liked the silence of this time of year but had never appreciated its smugness. When the snow arrives autumn has already done all the work, taking...
Post Pandemic, School-Wise Snippets
The pandemic may be fading but not its academic aftereffects… **** According to Attendance Works, 16 million students missed at least 18 days of school in the 2021-21 school year, twice as many as before the pandemic. That means that 33% of kids were chronically...
As the World Turns from Dashing Robots and a Fired NYU Prof to Tik Tok Challenges and Spending, Too!
As we hit mid-October—and somehow so quickly—heaters are already purring away, leaves are coloring up and drifting to the ground, and… ONE: She’s got two legs, is named Cassie, and she runs. Does she ever! Created by Oregon State University’s Agility Robotics,...
Motivation: To Move Ahead with Determination Backed by Reasonable Goals
My big sister Valerie didn’t require bribes. Focused, hard-working, and artistic, to boot. Me? Not so much. A social being intent on pushing the envelope, I lit my first cigarette in 7th grade and nearly lost an eye lighting the damn thing when the tip went flying....
Autumn 2022: “It’s Not Easy Being Green…”
Say October and my head fills with pictures of apples, pumpkins, and, of course, pumpkin pies, beer fests, Halloween trick-or-treating, chilling temps, and falling, swirling leaves. First, though, colorful changes, and the show that is about to begin… Well, sort...
Noting Our Now 235-Year-Old Constitution, the State of Civics Knowledge and Education, Too
September 17 seems to have slipped by again kind of unnoted—no front page, above-the-fold headlines or below, for that matter, and no fireworks, either. Sort of just another day, made mention of but no hoopla. And so, though eight days late, I can’t let the month...
11 Goal-Setting Steps to Take for a Successful New School Year
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.” ~ Dr. Seuss Think of goals as resolutions, making one’s mind up to accomplish something of personal importance all wrapped up in one word. School-wise, it...
Americans Turn Thumbs-Down on Teaching Careers
A 2020 piece by Allison Sadler in The New York Post listed Parents’ Career Wishes for Their Children: STEM: 39% Healthcare & Wellness: 33% Food: 26% Environment: 24% Accounting & Finance: 23% Business & Sales: 22% Construction: 21% Sport: 21%...
Who Gets to Pay the Piper Now, Student Loan Borrowers or Taxpayers?
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3, Polonius, the king’s chief minister, tells his son, Laertes, who will be leaving for the University of Paris, “Neither a borrower not a lender be, for a loan oft loses both itself and friend…” Still good advice, but is...
Smart School Supplies Shopping Tips
“Families consider back-to-school and college items as an essential category.” ~ Matthew Shay, NFP President & CEO Make no mistake about it: Happy about it or not, school bells are about to ring, and back-to-school shopping again uppermost on the minds of...
Other-Wise Snippet: Lollipop, Lollipop, Oh, Lolli, Lollipop…
At least for today, I'm hitting the school news pause button. It’s all become quite political, so, this time around, I'm turning to history. Not the read the chapter and answer the the-end-of chapter questions kind but history that reminds us of the wonder of...
8 Summertime K-12 News Items Not to Be Missed from Learning Loss to Burned Out Teachers
*** The Government Accountability Office report found that: 64% of teachers said they had more students make less academic progress during the pandemic than in a typical school year. 45% of teachers had at least 50% of their students behind academically when school...
Teachers: Inspiring, Par for the Course, or Just Plain Second-Rate?
"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." ~ William A. Ward. Researchers at the University of Maryland and Harvard recently analyzed 54 teachers randomly assigned to classrooms in their...
9 Tips to Get Your Kid Ready and Well-Organized for Another School Year
In my carefree kid days, homework was often left behind—sometimes on my desk, in my unmade bed, or even under it, falling victim to the morning rush. And, yes, I usually left assignments for the last minute—when I remembered them at all. Made my grades suffer and...
Hot Diggity Dog, It’s Summertime and the Eatin’ Is Good!!
Wieners, frankfurters, franks, weenies, dogs, pups, red hots… Out with the hat and gloves, out with frosted-over windshields and early sunsets. In with sprinklers and flowers, bathing suits and, if lucky, get-away vacations. For many, we’re in the middle of the best...