What’s it like in classrooms right now? The only way to know is to ask a teacher, so we sat down with a first-grade elementary teacher and a sixth-grade social studies & science teacher and listened.

In this episode of The Continuing Educator, our hosts talk about how to establish a real rapport with your students and build a classroom culture where they can trust and thrive. The first step? Ask your kids how they want the class to work for them, and be honest about what you expect in return. Kids can smell inauthenticity. Plus: Tips for when to step in to kids’ conflicts with each other, the utility of unicorns and mermaids, and a google-form for hair-adjacent encouragement.

In this episode of The Continuing Educator, we talk to a working educator about the importance of family literacy and strategies for increasing it. Our guest Martin Silverman is the principal at Salinas Elementary School in Universal City, TX, and has worked as a teacher in both urban and rural schools. From his own experiences growing up, he saw the importance of literacy as a focus in families and has sought to revitalize that practice in the families of his students.

Researchers from NWEA partnered with NewSchools Venture Fund  to explore the relationship between school culture and climate, social and emotional learning, and academic achievement. Learn more about this innovative research partnership.

Brought together by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, NWEA and Tacoma Public Schools worked together to collaboratively define a set of challenges and develop meaningful, evidence-based solutions around two workstreams critical to student learning and success; social-emotional learning and family engagement.

Building a culture of goal setting doesn’t have to be a chore. Get actionable guidance and practical strategies for amplifying student learning in this new collection of posts from Teach. Learn. Grow.

The essence of family literacy is that parents are supported as the first teachers of their children.” Family Literacy is the idea that long after diapers and baby steps, our children have so much to learn by watching, observing, and collaborating with trusted adults at home, particularly when it comes to building a strong foundation for reading with confidence. On this episode, we dive deeper into this idea and share the how and why of building and sustain robust family literacy practices.