To teach a more effective lesson, you can use quick and easy pre-assessment strategies. Author and consultant Barbara R. Blackburn suggests 3 Alike/Red Herring, Word Sorts, If/Then, and Analyzing Web Content to gauge the readiness of your students and adjust your plan as needed.
Teacher Lauren Brown smiles when her history students eagerly make connections with content they’re studying in another class. Recalling a time when interdisciplinary teaching was common, she suggests ways teachers might revive a practice that emphasizes knowledge-based learning.
Plastics Pollution / Science / STEM / STEM By Design
by Anne Jolly · Published 10/05/2025 · Last modified 04/04/2026
Discarded microplastics are everywhere, including inside humans. To advance students’ awareness of the effects of plastics and the options for decreasing them, author and science educator Anne Jolly shares STEM project ideas that focus on recycling, reusing and reducing plastic.
Pediatrician Cara Natterson shares insights parents and educators can use to help children love what’s best and most healthy about their bodies and themselves as they face the complicated landscape of modern puberty, which arrives as early as 9 and is impacted by social media.
Chapman and Simons believe every student has the potential to be a leader. When everyone realizes this potential, the classroom becomes a more positive, productive place where each individual experiences increased well-being and achievement. Learn about their 5-unit framework.
Planning the pacing of a lesson and adjusting the timing along the way creates the most meaningful academic experiences for students. Middle school teacher Laurie Hornik shares six techniques she uses to help assure her lessons have well-timed beginnings, middles, and ends.
Librarians do more than read with elementary kids, check out books to middle schoolers, or gather books for reshelving in high schools. The modern school librarian is an advocate for joyful reading and a provider of meaningful learning opportunities, writes Jennifer Sniadecki.
When teachers design classrooms around how students think and engage – not just what they’re expected to know – we unlock a learning environment where curiosity replaces compliance, and excitement replaces dread, writes middle grades educator and NBCT Kathleen Palmieri.
Fall is Kasey Short’s favorite time to update her classroom library and create a list of new MG and YA books for our visitors to consider. This year’s choices explore themes that resonate with adolescent readers, including new series titles and books with diverse perspectives.
As schools navigate an ever-changing landscape, instructional coaches are increasingly in demand to help teachers not only refine their craft but also weather complex circumstances. Specialist Miriam Plotinsky shares strategies to help coaches develop empathy and adaptability.
