By Elizabeth Jorgensen

Can I tell you a secret? I hate grades.  

I don’t like judging my students or ranking them. I don’t like placing value on them or on their work. And I’ve found that if I place judgment on progress, students stop trying. 

While my colleagues...

Most students hate required reading. Hacking Literacy author Gerard Dawson explains how to improve this issue with the 80/20 Analysis in the Hack Learning Podcast episode above.

Here are the highlights:

The Problem: Required Reading is a Drag

Many literacy teachers face a conundrum:...

Juan and Shelly are walking home from school, both looking down and kicking an empty, crushed soda can. Finally, Juan breaks the silence.

"Shelly, did you ask any questions in class today?"

"No," she says quietly. "The teachers hate me, and when they do call on me, the kids all laugh."

"You...

Asking questions is one of the best ways to get students thinking about a topic. However, not all questions are created equal. Some questions are simply factual recitations or closed questions that can be easily answered with a yes or no.

To increase student engagement and understanding, ask...

Dear educator, winter break is finally here! It's time to relax and recharge before the new year. Here are five fun and healthy must-do's during your time away from the classroom:

1. Catch up on sleep.

Most educators could use more sleep. Likely you're nodding your head in agreement....

As educators, we know that one of our most important responsibilities is to help our students develop the skills they need to be successful in life. One such skill is resilience—the ability to bounce back from setbacks and difficulties.

Teaching resilience is not difficult. It does,...

For years, classroom management has been a huge part of the teacher training process. While this is an extremely important area to master, one fact that many new teachers don't realize when they're in their classrooms for the first time is that classroom management isn't really about...

When students enter the classroom, project-based learning (PBL) is probably the last thing on their minds. They're more interested in what they'll be doing that day and who they'll be sitting next to.

But in many effective and engaging classrooms, PBL is the first thing on the educator's...

School leaders are expected to be the driving force in education, inspiring their teams to give students their best. However, they face roadblocks as they enter their school buildings each day.

Unfortunately, school leaders, teachers, and staff often deal with the same problems:

• low funding...

Teaching is hard. The learning process for students has changed drastically in the past 10 years, and it's changing even faster now. Students are more anxious than ever before but also better equipped to handle this anxiety through technology and improved rapport with teachers and peers. 

...