“It’s the teacher that makes the difference, not the classroom.” – Michael Morpurgo Welcome to the Summie Awards! A promotional video for The Summies 2024 highlights the spirit of these awards and the educators they honor. Effective teachers deserve greater recognition. They are the architects of our future—shaping minds, building character, and guiding the next … Read more

By Mac Bogert “True leadership only exists if people follow when they have the freedom not to.” – Jim Collins What does leadership look like? When I worked on leadership development with the Defense Logistics Agency, my audiences were mostly men, many retired from the military, and strikingly direct. I never had to guess what … Read more

Written by Rich Baxter How Education Must Evolve: Neuroscience, Quantum Computing, and AI Education is rapidly converging with breakthroughs in neuroscience, advances in quantum computing, and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence. Together, these developments are redefining what it means to be human—and consequently, what it means to learn and to teach. To take full … Read more

By Kandace Bethea Supporting Early Learners During the Pandemic: Lessons from Marion County School District The pandemic created unprecedented challenges for schools, especially for early learners. At Marion County School District, our focus on the youngest students guided our response throughout this crisis. We adapted quickly, made strategic investments, and strengthened home-to-school partnerships to support … Read more

By Michelle Robinette Not long ago at Midlakes Schools, our approach to teaching literacy relied heavily on individual teachers’ backgrounds and classroom practices. While teachers within the same grade often aligned well, consistent vertical alignment from kindergarten through high school was more difficult to achieve. We are a rural district of roughly 1,500 students, with … Read more

Sleep and Learning: Why Sleep Matters for Memory, Cognition, and Student Success As the new school year begins, it’s a good time to review recent research on sleep and cognition. Emerging evidence makes it increasingly clear that sleep is essential for learning and memory, brain health, alertness, and effective thinking throughout the day. A common … Read more

Image above provided by Jeremy McGilvrey via Unsplash. If you earned your bachelor’s degree years ago and have been working ever since, you may now be considering an MBA to accelerate your career and increase your earning potential. As you review applications, you’ll notice most programs require an MBA personal statement — a focused essay … Read more

  By Dennis Pierce When Sheena Vaidyanathan teaches computer science to middle school students, she brings the sensibility of an art teacher into the classroom. Her lessons introduce basic coding concepts through creative projects—animations and algorithmic art that would be difficult or impossible to draw by hand, but are straightforward with a few lines of … Read more

How Online Learning Coordinators Can Support Distance Learning By Xuan You The role of an online learning coordinator has become especially important during the global pandemic. As international schools reopen, many students and teachers remain separated from their home countries or campuses due to travel restrictions and health concerns. Even when teachers are able to … Read more

By Tamara Fyke I have a suggestion that may sound a little radical: what if we stopped battling technology and instead embraced it? Rather than penalizing students for having phones in class, what if we allowed them—and taught students how to use them responsibly as learning tools? I tested the idea with my college-aged son, … Read more