Education Resources Blog

“One of the foremost advances in school-wide discipline is the emphasis on school-wide systems of support that include proactive strategies for defining, teaching, and supporting appropriate student behaviors to create positive school environments.” (source)

What is your classroom identity? What do teachers and staff expect of students? What do students expect when they walk in the classroom? Classroom management is important for every teacher, regardless of subject and grade level. Teachers want to spend their time teaching, so an effective classroom management strategy can help minimize disruptions.

"The best way to learn is to teach.” As Robert Slavin puts it, this is “the secret behind cooperative learning.” So, what is cooperative learning? It is a form of classroom group work that educators deem extremely effective. Instead of competitive or independent goals in group work, cooperative learning emphasizes working together.

Whether we like it or not, high stakes testing has arrived. One of our main responsibilities as educators is to prepare students for success on these tests. For students to succeed, we must get students’ buy in on the importance of these tests. If students own their growth in their test scores, they are more likely to take the test seriously. They are also more likely to invest time into their education, which is what we ultimately are trying to achieve.

Bullying remains a critical issue that requires the attention of an entire school. What’s more, bullies are no longer just a handful of students on the playground or in the classroom—cyberbullying has arguably created more dangerous bullies fortified with the illusion of anonymity acting behind a username can bring. So, what can schools do to make sure that at the very least students feel safe and supported within school walls?

Preventing bullying or tackling an existing bullying problem takes an entire school. Action is required of administrators, teachers, students, and parents. On a larger scale, school culture and environment is crucial for students to feel safe and to prevent bullying actions.

Sherman Oaks School, a TK-6 Two-Way Spanish Dual Immersion School located in San Jose, California, uses the Awards Maker to recognize incredible student success, and has cultivated a culture that celebrates and covets these awards, therefore encouraging student’s drive to succeed.

With so many schools focusing on character education and/or Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), we wanted to highlight how one of our Super Schools, Frank W. Reilly Elementary in Chicago, is using their Awards Maker to support their citizen/character initiatives.

Regular attendance is vital to student success. A from America's Promise Alliance emphasized that, for some students, getting to school isn’t as easy as waking up to catch the bus or getting dropped off by a parent. “Many students, particularly those living in poverty, face systematic barriers that make going to school challenging…Often times students struggling with these issues are chronically absent.” Teachers or counselors can meet with these students to set goals, troubleshoot challenges, and help to problem solve. All schools can use tips from the following list to increase student attendance, compiled from programs Count Me In! and Attendance Works.