Simple ways to increase classroom play

Skills that should be "simple" have slowly become lost in the shuffle of technology. As teachers, it's important to incorporate activities in your classroom that allow students to work on their grasp and grip. Susie, one of our Curriculum & Instruction team members, is here to give you some quick ideas!

Blended Learning: The Best of Both Worlds

Bert & Ernie.

Peanut butter & jelly.

Coffee & cream.

What do these perfect pairings have in common?

1. They work well together.
2. They complement one another.

Just like these well-known perfect pairings, we have our own “perfect pairings” at Learners Edge that come in the form of our Blended Learning courses, which are taken without leaving the comfort of your home, kitchen, or coffee shop.  

Intrigued?

Here’s how they work!

St. Patrick's Day Celebrating & Learning

149 million people.

That’s how many celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in 2018 according to statistics from CNN.

If wearing green, instigating shenanigans and being Irish for the day means St. Patrick’s Day to you, you are not alone.

For those of us surviving living in the Bold North, St. Patrick’s Day becomes our beacon of hope. The celebration of St. Patrick’s Day means we are halfway through March and that much closer to spring.

Celebrations enrich our lives. They spark joy, teach gratitude, and can be used to create a sense of community in our classrooms.

In this short (and sweet) video, we get a glimpse of how Ms. Laurance creates a sense of community with her students:

In addition, this blog explains four strategies teachers can enlist to ensure a sense of community is established for students:

1. Having Morning Meetings
2. Establishing rules together
3. Greeting each student as they enter the room
4. Focusing on relationships from day one

Although these four strategies are right on the mark, we would like to suggest a fifth strategy for the list: Celebrations!

Personalizing your continuing education

Do you ever ask yourself, “How can I earn credit for all of this learning!”? 

Learners Edge has the answer, you can. 

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3! 

At Learners Edge, we offer a suite of Personalized Continuing Education courses where YOU tell US what you want to learn.  

You can do it in three easy steps!  

One Word, One Goal. Start.

My colleague Jess played soccer in college. An accomplished mid-fielder--who was later moved to forward due to her dazzling ability to score goals, Jess’ all-time favorite soccer player is Abby Wambach. Ms. Wambach holds the record for the most international goals scored (184). Both Jess and Abby know a thing or two about setting (and scoring) goals.

Goal setting is everywhere as we kick off 2019. With all of our plans to eat healthy, get fit, and make positive changes--I began to wonder...why do some people set goals and achieve them, while others can’t seem to “score”? As teachers, how can we guide our students to set and achieve goals?

To answer this question, I put our team together and we developed a game plan with three ways teachers can assist their students in setting, and achieving, goals.

Preventing Those Mid-Year Blues

It's that time of year again where mental health seems to be a struggle for everyone. As educators, we need to be aware of how our students are feeling at all times. This video blog from one of our amazing Curriculum and Instruction team members, Susanne, is a great start for learning more about student mental health.

How to stay financially fit in 2019!

In a weekly meeting about our Learners Edge blog, we searched for gaps in the topics we cover for teachers. At the time, I didn’t see anything we had missed, but later, while reading articles for an upcoming blog called “The 25 Things Teachers Want You to Know About Teaching” (coming soon!) I recognized a pattern: each of the articles I read included comments or quotes about teachers and money — how much teachers earn, how much of their own money teachers spend on classroom supplies/to help students, and how often teachers work summer jobs to make ends meet.

I found the gap and it was money.

Remembering the Great Moments From 2018

My friend Bob passed away at the age of 92. Bob and I used to talk about how fast life goes as we grow older. In our conversations, we spoke of a life well-lived, his children, his grandchildren and his great grandchildren. Paradoxically, my colleague, and brand-new mom, Katie and I talk about the future, life’s possibilities and the seemingly endless sleepless nights that come with parenthood. No matter where we are in our lives, whether looking back or looking ahead, taking time to purposefully reflect is sometimes powerful, and always meaningful. Here is our Learners Edge year in review.

It's about to get personal...

Although I am not (yet) a famous “influencer” I will do my part to try to influence you into using a new educational acronym: PCE!

Simple ways to increase classroom play

Skills that should be "simple" have slowly become lost in the shuffle of technology. As teachers, it's important to incorporate activities in your classroom that allow students to work on their grasp and grip. Susie, one of our Curriculum & Instruction team members, is here to give you some quick ideas!