Working with parents made simple!

As parent-teacher conferences loom, educators start to get nervous. We work hard to get all of our ducks in a row-- the test score data, the report cards, and the examples of student work.  There’s an enormous amount of anxiety and stress thinking about how to accurately convey details about each student’s successes and struggles. Will parents push back on my assessment of their child? How in the world will I squeeze in all I want to say in a few short minutes? Will the parents even show up? 

Since becoming a parent I’ve been able to sit on the other side of the table and see things from a different perspective. I’ve reflected on the purpose of the parent-teacher conference and come to the realization that less is more!  Less data, fewer numbers and more stories, more connection. 

Reframe your thinking, save time and make each meeting work for everyone with our 4 secrets to successful parent-teacher conferences! 

Five Fabulous Skills for Your Students' Lifelong SuccessSocial and emotional learning (SEL) is a “hot,” necessary topic for educators. Learners Edge has a number of courses in this category to help you gain the skills needed on this topic and develop activities for your learners. One of our most popular courses is 5041: Five Fabulous Skills for Your Students' Lifelong Success. This course, affectionately known as “The Fab Five,” provides an overview of SEL and uses it as a jumping off point to further discuss success skills students need. What teacher wouldn’t want students to increase these skills for school and for life!?  

Umbrellas, Auto-Pilot, and Top Takeaways from Blended Learning Courses

On Tuesday evenings in June, course instructor Lance Raabe and I facilitated two Blended Learning courses, one on mindfulness and one on teacher wellness. Using Zoom as our platform, we virtually connected with teachers from Florida to France (yes, a teacher who logged in from France!). C’est la vie!  

Because these Blended Learning courses were so engaging (for teachers and for us!) we wanted to share our Top Takeaways!  

6 Ways Screencasting Can “Level Up” Your Classroom Instruction Screencasting isn’t just for Flipped Classrooms and Webinar recordings anymore! Teachers are now using this flexible medium to provide a more personalized learning experience for students, to connect with families, and get more done during their workday  

A screencast is a video recording of your computer or device screen that allows you to narrate actions, and include webcam footage. If you haven’t logged in and created a quick screencast yet, don’t worry.  It’s easier than you think! We’ve created an easy guide to get you started and curated our top 8 ways to use screencasting to level up your classroom. 

Students and Teachers Say the Funniest Things!

Art Linkletter devised the clever moniker, “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” and made a lot of money capturing parent stories of precocious children saying amusing things. If he had asked teachers about things they heard in the classroom, he'd have a wealth of new material to add. We asked teachers to weigh in with some of the interesting things they have heard, interactions in which they have participated, and general missteps from the mouths of teachers.  

We share them here to illustrate the messy and humorous days of teachers, and to highlight the very real vulnerability that we ask of ourselves and our students to show in the process of learning. Enjoy! 

Strategies for sparking curiosity in the classroom

Curiosity primes the brain for learning. It makes learning more rewarding and helps students learn more, and better. It also improves learning retention and deepens understanding of content. Pretty clear, right? Curiosity is a necessity in our classrooms, and since we are in the business of helping teachers, we thought we would provide you with a list of methods for awakening curiosity in your students.  

Toss that lesson plan book and go digital instead!

If you’re still using one of those lesson plan books, or (*gasp*) sticky notes to plan your weekly lessons, it’s time to upgrade. I went digital years ago and haven’t turned back since!  

Get your school year started off right!

You head to the mailbox and as it creaks open, you see a district envelope. Acceptance of the PD you took, you think…maybe even reimbursement? 

It’s the Back to School Letter (BTSL).  

The End of Break Letter. 

The No More Fun Letter. 

You can feel your heart sink into your stomach. It’s this very tangible, very time-sensitive letter that starts the school dreams and Sunday night worries. Your alarm hasn’t been set for 2 months, but now you are beholden to higher powers - the school, the contract-time clock, and your students. 

The BTSL sets the stage for all the lists and tasks that the start of school brings. But I’ve also found that the BTSL serves a much more positive purpose beyond the nudge of starting to think about the upcoming school year. Here are some messages I’d encourage you to see as silver linings of this signal (back) to action. 

Great Teaching Starts with Relationships

Classroom management. Starts with strong relationships. 

Student achievement. Starts with strong relationships.  

Social-emotional growth. Starts with strong relationships. 

Culturally Responsive Teaching. Starts with strong relationships. 

Notice a pattern? When it comes to quality teaching and learning, authentic relationships are key! The science of learning tells us that from birth, relationships and experiences drive brain development. As teachers, we have to opportunity and the duty to make relationship building a priority, thereby positively shaping the developing brains of the children in our care.

Interview with Travis Dresch

When we were kids, our minds were blown when we saw teachers outside of school. It was so out of context, but mysteriously cool: we saw them as humans, rather than just as their professional selves. 

To this end, the Learners Edge Chalk Blog interviews teachers in a regular segment called "Teacher Feature!" To hear more about the people behind the magic in the classroom, read on, and be inspired by these fantastic education superstars.

“Choose to be happy.” This is Travis Dresch’s teaching mantra. Travis is our featured teacher for August! Travis teaches high school chemistry and biology in the Cornwall-Lebanon School District in Pennsylvania. It’s apparent he enjoys science and teenagers which not everyone can say. 

I virtually “met” Travis when he signed up for one of our new courses: 5100: Train Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Practice of Happiness. His choice of courses sense given his mantra! (We thank Travis for his loyalty as this most recent course was only one of EIGHTEEN courses he has taken since 2015. Clearly Travis is also a life-long learner!)  

We asked Travis some serious, and not so serious, questions! Take a look.