There is evil lurking. It’s an evil that is ever-present in the online teaching world. Disguised as good, it whispers sweet buttery lies to teachers that drag them down into a black hole of stress and overwork. So difficult to resist is this cruel … Read more
There exists a strategy you’re probably not using that will better capture and hold your students’ attention during Zoom lessons. It’s incredibly simple. But it initiates a series of positive changes to your lesson delivery that can have a profound impact on your students … Read more
According to the American Heart Association, children ages 8-18 spend an average of more than 7 hours a day on their phones, playing video games, or watching TV. It’s a staggering statistic. But here’s the kicker: That was before the pandemic. Now, because so … Read more
I never thought I’d be writing on this topic. Yet here we are. Oddly, it’s a controversial one. Evidently some teachers have received significant pushback for not allowing pajamas during Zoom lessons. “You can’t dictate what students wear in their own home.” “If they … Read more
First off, whether and when schools open and under what conditions is a decision school districts will make. I’m not advocating one way or another. Here at SCM, we deal with what is in front of us. We accept what we cannot change and … Read more
At some point, we’ll all be back teaching in person. Only now it will be behind a mask. At first glance, this seems more than just a nuisance, but impossible to do effectively. After all, students need to see your mouth and facial expressions … Read more
How to be a good student—one’s physical and mental preparedness—is absolutely critical to academic success. Sadly, teaching these skills have been thrown into the dust bin alongside sentence diagramming and mathematical algorithms. In fact, success preparedness has been so de-emphasized in recent years that … Read more
Hit the ground running. Send a message to your new class about what’s expected right from the get-go. The quicker you set a culture of kindness, respect, and high-bar work expectations, the easier it will be to maintain. So during that first hour of … Read more