What Do We Do with Screen Time? If you lead an elementary school, you have likely heard the concerns: Screens harm children’s eyes. Screens rewire young brains. Young children need books and blocks, not tablets. The media shares research and warnings; parents raise these worries at back-to-school night and parent meetings; teachers raise them in […]
In 2022, most of us had never heard of ChatGPT. By 2023, it was a household name. By 2024, it wasn’t just ChatGPT anymore, as AI-powered tools were everywhere, generating images, building presentations, and writing code. It’s 2026, and AI isn’t a trend educators are watching from a distance. It’s already sitting in every classroom, […]
The Road to Academic Success and Social, Emotional, and Mental Wellness Well, that subtitle sums up many of the goals of schools these days. Who knew you could accomplish it all through play? The reality is that the more schools are concerned about academic achievement, the more they double down on lessons – probably the […]
If You Give a Kid a Real-World Problem If you want to engage students, offer them a real-world problem to solve! (See my blog: “If You Give a Kid a Real-World Problem.”) A compelling problem will drive them into the curriculum; they’ll have a “felt need” to learn! And in our technologically advanced world, they […]
In the blockbuster The Imitation Game, Alan Turing is stigmatized as arrogant and apathetic. In a classroom, children labeled with these characteristics are less likely to be authentically engaged. Their education and career opportunities become limited as a result. However, when we shift our mindsets and frame those characteristics as self-aware and passionate (for Turing, […]