Smart Teachers
Smart Teachers is for celebrating the work of powerful educators working to innovate classrooms and provide high-quality learning experiences.
SEL & Mindset
Creating the Right Culture for Social and Emotional Learning
By: Anna Durfee. As educators, we can help our students develop the social and emotional skills they'll need to be successful in the future. Here are several ways to help you create the right culture for SEL in your classroom.
Leadership
World Teachers’ Day 2017
In honor of World Teachers' Day, our team took a moment to reflect on the educators we were lucky enough to have who taught us the skills we needed for success in the future and ignited our passion for the education field.
Project-Based Learning
3 New Resolutions After 10 Years of Teaching PBL
It's my 20th year of teaching and 10th year of implementing project-based learning (PBL) in the classroom. Here are three goals I've set for myself to refine and retool my teaching practice.
EdTech
Smart Review | Coding in a Snap
By: Sean Russell. Computer science and coding can help students develop the logical thinking and problem-solving skills they'll need to be successful in the future, and I found Sphero and CodeSnaps helped me implement this in my classroom.
Early Learning
Using Robots to Teach Elementary Students About Human Nature
By: Hannah DeRusha. Breaking down big ideas into bite-sized applications can help introduce young learners to a new way of thinking. My kindergarten and first-grade students are learning about human nature this year through experimental play using robots.
Personalized Learning
How to Build Community Leaders of Today—and Tomorrow—Through Student Genius Hours
By: Jen Schneider. Genius Hour means students use at least one hour of their class time each week to explore their own questions, create projects and share with others. Here's how implementing it in my classroom turned it into a community.
Post-Secondary
Creating Change-Agents: The Intersection of Critical Thinking and Student Agency
By: Jenny Pieratt. As educators, we know that in order to develop the next generation with the skills to innovate and improve our world we can no longer teach students what to think. We must teach them how to think.
SEL & Mindset
Creating a Mindful Classroom Environment
A special ed teacher and yoga instructor shares the importance of being mindful in the classroom and provides strategies to reduce stress for both student and teachers.
Future of Learning
Teaching Students To Ask Questions For 21st Century Success
As educators, we must teach students skills to solve problems we’ve never seen before and won’t see for years. Teaching students to ask questions enables them to gain many of the skills they'll need for success in the 21st Century.
EdTech
4 Tips to Ensure Teachers Use The EdTech You Purchase
By: Andrea Friend and Stacey Ryan. Here are four tips to ensure your newest edtech purchase is something educators can and actually will use in the classroom this year.