Today, we highlight an innovative podcasting lesson from Erik Eve’s (a Listenwise Teacher Advocate) 8th-grade social studies class in Lindenhurst, NY, featuring their explorations of historic Washington D.C sites and reflections on their field trip experience. For this project, Erik used podcasting as a medium to inspire student engagement and deepen learning, with the only…
by guest blogger: Carolina Buitrago, Ed.D. Social emotional learning (SEL) has unquestionably gained a place in the busy spectrum of educators’ priorities. There is abundant research on the benefits of purposeful SEL work in classrooms and schools for the academic success and general wellbeing of students. However, SEL is a broad domain of development, and…
Teaching civic engagement increases students’ emotional intelligence and motivates them toward conscientious community action (Bernacki and Jaeger 2008). Research shows students who participate in civic engagement gain interpersonal effectiveness, the ability to collaborate across diverse perspectives, and a sense of self-efficacy for positively impacting individuals, organizations, and communities. How can teachers bring civic engagement to…
Student engagement is key to building a safe, positive school culture that increases achievement, fosters creativity and community, and decreases boredom, alienation, and drop-out rates (Marks, 2000). Lifting up student voices and involvement in your classroom is an important factor in building positive classroom culture. In the 2016 article “Giving Students a Voice,” published by the…
We can’t believe the school year is ending, but here are some awesome story highlights by student request. Not all these stories were published this past year, but these were stories that students this year mentioned as their favorites…Enjoy! Afghanistan’s Romeo and Juliet The story of “Romeo and Juliet” is a fictional Shakespearean tragedy about…
Teacher Advocate, Erik Eve, an 8th grade social studies teacher from Lindenhurst, NY visited us with his class of 46 students last week. We were thrilled to host a podcasting workshop with an amazing, exuberant, and articulate group of students. After a half day together the students left with podcast recordings ready to edit…
Teaching kindness can create inclusive school environments and positive behavior that invites friendship. Promoting kindness is also a key in reducing its opposite: bullying. As students become more aware of their emotions, they can better empathize with others and respond with kindness. Teaching social and emotional skills, such as empathy, is increasing in many schools…
What do we want our students to learn? Of course we want them to gain mastery in grade-level content and skills. We may also want them to acquire skills to manage their emotions, set goals, feel empathy, maintain good relationships and make good decisions. Integrating content learning with social and emotional learning is a process…
Listening to a good story has the ability to spark memories, engage the senses, and elicit empathy. Some of the most memorable stories your students will hear won’t align directly with your curriculum. But teaching with stories that spark emotions are often the stories that reach your students. This is a great way to start…
