How to Connect with Students at the Start of the School Year

The start of the school year is an exciting and important time for educators and students. Read these tips for planning and creating a welcoming classroom environment focused on student success to set the stage for a supportive learning atmosphere […]

How to Plan Well-Designed, Innovative Lessons that Boost Student Engagement

The past school year has taught us all a lot of valuable lessons. In spite of the challenges that came with a year of “non-traditional” school and experiencing a “new normal,” we also saw tremendous gains in our professional skills and in our […]

Meeting SEL Through PBL

When it comes to preparing our students for the future, there are many learning activities and digital tools for us to choose from. However, it can be overwhelming to sort through all of the options to decide which method or digital tool might have […]

Using PBL to Support an Inclusive Classroom Community

Project Based Learning (PBL) is an engaging method of teaching that prepares students for life beyond the classroom. In our current social climate, it is more important than ever for students to investigate their own personal and social identities. […]

Instructional Approaches that Foster Social-Emotional Development

Imagine you are preparing for an upcoming lesson. You plan to explore a topic with your students and have created a variety of resources for them to unpack. Students will research this topic using digital tools over a period of time. Then to […]

Powerful Learning Through PBL

Project-based learning (PBL) is something that I thought I knew a lot about a few years ago. As a language teacher, for many years I had been assigning my students to complete projects which I thought were authentic PBL. However, after some […]

Games to Engage Elementary Students

As we begin classes and a new year, it is a perfect time to plan for the future. As educators, we are constantly encouraging our students to try new activities to develop skills. We need to model that as adults. According to neuroscientists, any […]

Tools for Promoting Social and Emotional Learning Through PBL and STEM

It has been an interesting start to the school year. We are all working in different learning environments, some of which may be changing each week. Unlike when schools closed in the spring, we now have more experience and ideas that we can have in […]

PBL: Key to Building Student Passions and Growth Mindsets

Project-based learning (PBL) is fairly new to me. A few years ago after attending some conferences and reading a few books, I realized that I had not been doing authentic PBL. Instead, I had been assigning projects, and only promoting student choice […]

The Future of Future-Ready: How the Pandemic Changed Education

"So, just now that we've reopened our buildings, I'm able to sleep at night."

Dr. Michele Eller is the assistant superintendent at Chickasaw City Schools in Chickasaw AL, on the outskirts of Mobile. A district with approximately 1,100 students in […]