Anxiety could be keeping up to 5% of students out of school, according to estimates from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. This “school refusal” is most common among students transitioning from middle school into high school, but some schools have developed home-based strategies to lead individual students to address the problem.
Full Story: National Public Radio
California middle-school teacher Emerie Lukas describes how she is helping students give and take feedback in her science, technology, engineering and math courses. She has introduced several feedback strategies to train students to give effective critiques to their peers and approach problems methodically.
Full Story: KQED-TV/FM (San Francisco)
An all-boys public school in Washington, D.C., has replaced suspensions with restorative justice. With this approach, students focus on getting to the root of the problem and work with a “care team” — a psychologist, social worker and counselors.
Full Story: National Public Radio
Educators in a New York school district have implemented professional learning communities through “collegial circles.” In this blog post, Fred Ende, assistant director of curriculum and instructional services, shares three tips for creating successful PLCs.
Full Story: SmartBrief/Education
Educators remain divided over the usefulness of the five-paragraph essay. Rita Platt, a Wisconsin teacher-librarian, says there is room for creativity within the five-paragraph essay, but Kristy Olin, a high-school English teacher in Texas, says the format is not flexible enough for older students.
Full Story: EdSurge
Teresa Donnellan is an editorial assistant at SmartBrief.
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