By Essie Sutton Educators are increasingly concerned about students’ mental health and well-being. Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, research linked isolation and loneliness to psychological symptoms across childhood and adolescence. The social distancing and stay-at-home measures introduced at the start of the pandemic have since been associated with higher reports of depression and anxiety among … Read more

Closing the Youth Skills Gap: Microsoft YouthSpark and a Student’s Journey Guest article written by: Shelley Stern Grach, Citizenship & Public Affairs Director, Microsoft At Microsoft, we recognize a persistent gap between young people who have access to the training and skills they need to succeed and those who do not. With more than 75 … Read more

Guest article written by Amanda Austin, 5th grade teacher Why I Teach My decision to become an educator began during a service-learning course in my final year of college. I volunteered at a nearby elementary school located in a neighborhood struggling with poverty and violence. I spent time in a fifth-grade classroom and developed a … Read more

Originally published on CMRubin World. Reproduced here with permission. All photos courtesy of CMRubin World and Apollo. Meet the ten teachers who reached the Final Ten shortlist for the Varkey Foundation’s Global Teacher Prize 2016, selected from 8,000 nominations across 148 countries. They are Aqeela Asifi, Ayub Mohamud, Colin Hegarty, Hanan Al Hroub, Joe Fatheree, … Read more

Helping Struggling ESL Students: Practical Strategies for Teachers Learning a second language as an adult—or even as a child—can be a demanding process. English in particular poses unique challenges for new learners because of its irregular spelling, wide range of idioms and slang, grammatical exceptions, and vocabulary borrowed from many languages. These features can slow … Read more

Empathy: Why It Matters and How to Practice It Every Day Written by: Robyn Shulman Empathy is often misunderstood and used as shorthand for simple sympathy or a fleeting emotional reaction. In reality, empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It goes beyond donating money or shedding a tear … Read more

By Jacqueline Gordon As we continue researching principals’ experiences with the growing teacher shortage, I remain surprised by how many vacancies are still being filled through traditional interview processes. Having worked with and observed numerous schools and districts over the last decade, the reasons are both straightforward and obvious to anyone who recruits for a … Read more

Skodel, an Australian company focused on student wellbeing check-ins, has secured $1.8 million in funding to advance its mission of giving every student a voice that is listened to and acted upon. Co-founded by identical twins Ian and Julian Fagan together with their friend Huon Peard, the company was born from the founders’ personal and … Read more

Written by Robyn Shulman, M.Ed. Become the “Little Big You”: Practical Steps for Personal Growth A longtime friend recently reminded me of a phrase she has used to describe me for years: “You have always been this little big you.” At first I found the phrase charming, but as I thought about it more, its … Read more

In 2021 the technology sector continued to expand, with more than 220,000 new jobs added and cybersecurity projected to grow by 31 percent over the next decade. Whether you already work in tech or are preparing to enter the field, improving your performance and staying competitive will help you advance. The rapidly changing technical landscape … Read more