We know adolescents read far less than younger children. Traditional classroom practices often don't help, writes ELA teacher Cheryl Mizerny. By avoiding strict regimes and providing lots of choice and motivation, educators can increase the love of reading among tweens and teens and put the joy back into books. Read more.

In this post, the authors share that 85% of the teaching population is white, and black boys in particular face unique challenges in our school system. When so much of black boys’ success is dependent on their experience in school, what can we do to change the narrative? These authors have three simple suggestions for all educators.

In today’s globally connected world, it is essential for students to have an understanding of multiple cultures and perspectives. In this edited collection, Kathy Short, Deanna Day, and Jean Schroeder bring together fourteen educators who use global children’s literature to help students explore their own cultural identities. Teaching Globally lays out why this kind of global curriculum is important and how to make space for it within district and state mandates.

As adults witness the rising tides of teenaged anxiety, it’s tough not to notice a common thread that runs through the epidemic — something that past generations never dealt with. Clutched in the hand of nearly every teen is a smartphone, buzzing and beeping and blinking with social media notifications. Parents, all too often, just want to grab their teen’s phone and stuff it in a drawer. But is social media and the omnipresence of digital interactions really the cause of all this anxiety? Read more.

Erika Christakis' book, The Importance of Being Little, is an impassioned plea for educators and parents to put down the worksheets and flash cards, ditch the tired craft projects and exotic vocabulary lessons, and double-down on one, simple word: Play.

Do your meetings make the cut? In other words, who shows up to your meetings – passive attendees or engaged participants? Meetings aren’t going away, so it’s worth considering how to best utilize meeting time, and perhaps more importantly how to tap into the full intelligence of your people. Here are three subtle adjustments that will allow you to shift the way people prepare and participate in your meetings, making each meeting more productive.

In most schools teachers and school leaders are the ones analyzing data. What would be different if students were using their own data? Do students make gains in taking ownership of their work when they’re given access to their data around that work? Read more.