Tips & Ideas
Guidance and inspiration to help you build skills and community in your classroom and school
See our three recent classroom lessons aimed at helping students grapple with both the personal and political sides of high-stakes testing:
In this interactive lesson, students learn more about the high-stakes testing debate, explore different points of view about this issue, consider their own views, and identify actions they can take to address their concerns about high-stakes testing.
Using a Circle process, students learn a little about high-stakes testing, hear about how these tests have raised stress levels for some students and educators, and consider some steps they might take to lower any stress they are experiencing.
Students learn about the Seattle teachers’ boycott of high-stakes tests and the larger testing issue, and consider a range of opinions about the effect of current high-stakes testing on teachers, students, and our education system.
A selection of activities to help you and your class mark Respect for All Week.
Jinnie Spiegler, a parent and education activist, offers suggestions for parents who want to talk with their children about what happened in Newtown.
We offer suggestions to introduce the topic of Hurricane Sandy in the classroom and ideas on ways to teach about it, with links to helpful articles and resources.
Talking with children about current events can be rough terrain but it's important because it provides a way to build compassion and critical thinking and, at the same time, address their most important questions.
'This is a hot topic among parents of the upper elementary set - and it's gotten even hotter since the movie version of Hunger Games came out. For me the decision wasn't hard...'