At the end of a section of learning, it’s time for the teacher to create an assessment. This could be the end of a unit or chapter, but for what we are discussing today, a summative assessment needs to be created. Instruction is over, and we need to see what the student knows and has retained.

Where should a teacher start? The first question that should always be asked is, “Do I even need an assessment?” This may seem like a crazy question. “If I don’t give a test, what will I put in the gradebook?” But if we stop to think about it, not all learning is created equally. In the mind of a student, if something is tested, it matters because it is for a grade. So as teachers, if we test everything equally, we are sending the message that everything matters to the same degree.

In February, we celebrate all of the 45 presidents we have had for the past 200+ years. It’s a great time to integrate technology, trivia, and our standards while increasing student learning about our leaders. There are interesting and funny stories to be told about each of the presidents, and each one has made decisions that defined our country. 

Here are some ideas for getting students engaged and interested in American history through Presidents’ Day activities.

In some areas of our country, finding great teachers is becoming harder and harder. There are many teachers retiring, fewer joining the profession, and new teachers who don’t last more than a few years. We will focus on the third group here to consider what can be done to help retain new teachers.

For starters, we need to determine why people choose to leave the profession. After giving four years of college to the degree, why would someone abandon teaching in just a few years’ time?

Another year full of new and innovative EdTech ideas, products, and methods has come to an end, and you may find yourself wondering who is guiding progress in the EdTech industry at the start of 2019. Back in 2015, we made a comprehensive list of the Top 20 Influencers in EdTech, but since then, many new faces have joined in to champion growth within the industry. Here are 10 more EdTech influencers who are working to shape the industry today:

Here we are, smack dab in the middle of winter, where time moves at a snail’s pace and it seems like spring break will never get here. Typically, it is dark (or getting dark) on your way home and it’s cold—bitterly cold. So cold that you've probably needed to have several indoor recess days as well. I often wonder how early I can crawl into my pajamas without it being weird. I would never think of putting on pajamas at 5:00 p.m. during the summer, but it actually seems like a wonderful idea in the middle of winter.

So, how do we get through these bleak days of winter? Here are few ideas, both professionally and personally:

February may be the shortest month, but it has so much to offer! From Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day to Black History Month, there’s plenty of interesting facts, people, and history to weave into your lessons this month. Here is our collection of themed content to help you keep students engaged in February:

Over the past few decades, there has been a great deal of interest and desire to change, and most of the time improve, public education. Some of these ideas have been innovative, and some less than so. Some have been on a large scale, while some are more at a building level. Some have had political backing (charter schools), while others have had financial backing (think The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or Summit Education founded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg).

So, what does all this focus on “change” matter for a school building? Or does it not matter at all? Are the teachers or the principals in individual buildings impacted by these changes? Many experts, some more expert than others, have many opinions about what should or should not be going on in schools. But what impact does this have on schools that are trying to improve from the inside?

The metaphor usually goes something like this, and often when a teacher is frustrated with a class of students: “School is your job. You need to show up to work every day and work hard. Your grades are like your paycheck—the harder you work, the more you can earn in our classroom. Some of you aren’t working hard and need to be fired.”

With the 2019 winter trade show season in full swing, it’s time to get ready for another great year at the TCEA Convention and Exposition. Held from February 4–8, the convention will be in San Antonio, Texas this year—an exciting location change from past years in Austin.

This convention is the place for administrators, teachers, and tech specialists to network, collaborate, and discover new technologies to bring to their classrooms nationwide. With over 1,000 informative sessions and 450 companies exhibiting at the conference, TCEA offers a comprehensive look at the latest and greatest ideas and products in the EdTech industry.

Paraprofessionals are critical to a student’s success—I think any teacher, principal, or student would attest to this. A great para can make a difference in a classroom in a lot of ways, but they are often forgotten about. Even though they are important cogs in the educational wheel of a student’s life, they might not always be treated as such. They may not have the keys they need, the desk they need, or the training they need.