Educators

Photo credit: Mosborne01by Annette BreauxMaster teachers—those who have figured out how to get students to do and be their best, how to simplify the complex, how to look forward to their jobs each day, and how to create lasting memories in the hearts and minds of students—once struggled as new teachers, too. The following 10 practices not only helped master teachers over the initial hump of inexperience but also sustained their ongoing success.Read the rest of the story from ASCD.

Photo credit: KitAyby Paul FainWASHINGTON — The Association of American Colleges and Universities has worked to make its voice heard in discussions about competency-based education, MOOCs and other trendy alternatives to traditional higher education.Read the rest of the story at Inside Higher Ed.

by Motoko RichROHNERT PARK, Calif. — In a stark about-face from just a few years ago, school districts have gone from handing out pink slips to scrambling to hire teachers.Read the rest of the story at The New York Times.

Margaret Searle, ASCD author and educator, spent time with Dr. Berger to discuss the field of education and the value the profession of teaching can bring to those young people looking for their career path to emerge.Searle specializes in consulting with districts and schools in the areas of curriculum alignment, differentiated instruction, inclusive education, leadership team development, and training teams to implement Response to Intervention (RTI). She is also as an adjunct professor for Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio.Her teaching experience covers every grade from preschool through 8th in both a general and special education capacity. Her administrative experience has been as a K–12 supervisor in Dayton City Schools as well as a middle school principal in Springfield, Ohio, and an elementary school principal in Toledo, Ohio. She served as an adviser to President George H. W. Bush on elementary and secondary education issues.Searle has also contributed her expertise as an author with the following books:Teacher Teamwork: How do we make it work? (2015)Causes and Cures in the Classroom: Getting to the Root of Academic and Behavior Problems (2013)What Every School Leader Needs to Know About RTI (2010) 

Comedy Central’s viral “TeachingCenter” sketch imagines a world where teachers sign million-dollar contracts and students wear their jerseys.

Photo Credit: Walter Limby Mark ThomaAn issue that’s likely to arise in the debates leading up to the next presidential election is preschool education. Among the questions involved: Should preschool programs be available to all children no matter their socioeconomic status? Should America invest in programs such as Head Start or Perry Preschool so that all children can attend? Does any evidence show these programs work?Read the rest of the story at CBS MoneyWatch.

Allison Rodman took time to discuss the personalization of PD for teachers with Dr. Berger.

Photo credit: David Hawgoodby Dr. Francis CollinsWhen children enter the first grade, their brains are primed for learning experiences, significantly more so, in fact, than adult brains. For instance, scientists have documented that musical training during grade school produces a signature set of benefits for the brain and for behavior—benefits that can last a lifetime, whether or not people continue to play music.Now, researchers at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, have some good news for teenagers who missed out on learning to play musical instruments as young kids. Even when musical training isn’t started until high school, it produces meaningful changes in how the brain processes sound. And those changes have positive benefits not only for a teen’s musical abilities, but also for skills related to reading and writing.Read the rest of the story on the National Institutes of Health Director’s Blog.

Photo Credit: S B F Ryanby Tara E. BuckSouthern New Hampshire University president argues true disruption comes in the form of online, competency-based providers who deftly meet modern students’ — and industry’s — needs.Read the rest of the story on EdTech.