Columbia Spotlight

  Check out some of the best Edutopia posts from this past month: Using Genius Hour Projects to Help Students Find Meaning Teachers who guide middle and high school students to work on passion projects see several benefits, including greater learning gains. Click HERE for the article below on teaching novels 5 Strategies for Aligning PBL to Real-World Problem-Solving The closer project-based learning comes to the messy, complicated problems of our world today, the more students benefit.   A Student-Centered Model of Blended Learning When educators at a Washington, DC, high school ditched their lectures and devised a self-paced blended learning model, their students thrived. 3 Strategies to Boost Civics Education Teachers across the curriculum can promote civil discourse and share digital tools that help high school students develop the skills needs for citizenship.  60-Second Strategy: Rapid Review Getting content to stick can actually be fun if you use a quick and energ...

Columbia High School science teachers may be interested in r egistering our students to participate in the New Jersey Student Climate Challenge . As part of the process, teachers register to participate and integrate the Climate Challenge into their classroom or club activities. Students will then identify and complete a school or community project to address a cause or impact of climate change. Click here to learn more about the  Sustainable Jersey Student Climate Challenge , especially the content-based, video webinars!

The NJDOE has launched a new website replete with mental wellness resources for us educators.  "This G uide is a continuation of NJDOE’s efforts to support physically and mentally safe learning environments. The Office of Student Support Services recently revised, reorganized, and updated a set of resources related to mental health that can be found on the NJDOE’s Student Wellness webpage .  "In the months to come, online modules will be produced to support the implementation of this Guide in addition to the technical assistance and monthly webinars provided by our collaborative partners, the Northeast and Caribbean Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC). Additionally, the NJDOE will continue to gather updated resources, feedback, and data around implementation to inform revisions and subsequent editions of this document."   Today (4/4/22), the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) announced the release of professional development modules for educato...

February 22nd is Digital Learning Day . It is a great time to look at the great resources from Common Sense Media's  SEL in Digital Life Resource Center and its Digital Citizenship curriculum .  All of these resources are FREE. You only need to create a membership -- that's it. For the Digital Citizenship curriculum, you will gain access to their award-winning lesson plans to address timely topics and prepare students to take ownership of their digital lives. Browse lessons by grade and topic below , or see an overview of the curriculum . Here is what CSM has to say about their S&EL hub : "Support your students' social and emotional learning as they navigate the digital world. "Technology impacts students' social and emotional well-being, from how they express themselves to how they communicate with friends and family. With the right support, students can learn how to integrate technology into their lives to promote their well-being and be a positive infl...

I am not sure if you heard the news , but earlier this week Governor Murphy signed a bill requiring NJ schools to ensure the contributions, history, and heritage of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) will be reflected in our curriculum. NJ will now be the second-only state to do so. (You can find AAPI materials we curated last May here at this blog post .) This is not surprising when one considers that earlier this year, Governor Murphy signed into law P.L.2021, c.32, requiring each school district to incorporate instruction on diversity and inclusion in an appropriate place in the curriculum of all k-12 students.  The great news is that with these laws, new funds and resources will be provided to schools like ours. In fact, the NJDOE recently opened the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Educational Resources , a website designed to support districts in implementing the requirements of this law. The website identifies a wide range of resources from brief articles and ...

Please re-read the podcast post for updated resources including a NYT contest on podcasting. Plus, NPR has great new resources too!

Edutopia is one of the best clearinghouses of education information and pedagogy. I don't usually get snookered into top 10, clickbait articles, but I knew this one from Edutopia would be key. Check it out and see if you adapt/adopt any of these practices.  It was a year of unprecedented hardship for teachers and school leaders. We pored through hundreds of studies to see if we could follow the trail of exactly what happened: The research revealed a complex portrait of a grueling year during which persistent issues of burnout and mental and physical health impacted millions of educators. Meanwhile, many of the old debates continued: Does paper beat digital? Is project-based learning as effective as direct instruction? How do you define what a “good” school is? Other studies grabbed our attention, and in a few cases, made headlines. Researchers from the University of Chicago and Columbia University turned artificial intelligence loose on some 1,130 award-winning children’s books in...