Teachers are stressed. Parents are stressed. Students are stressed. This school year has been overwhelming for just about everyone. As schools have done their best to try to navigate how to safely give students the best learning experience they can, they’ve had to make some tough decisions. In many [...]
What is the meaning of a ‘flex day’ in schools? A flex day is an entire school day dedicated to flexible learning time for students. This enables them to work independently, get extra help where they need it, and pursue enrichment projects. Many schools have a ‘flex block’, ‘activity period’ [...]
Right now the present and the future are both scary. They’re scary for parents and teachers, for the scientists, healthcare workers and volunteers, for the government officials and the people in charge. By now the phrase “we’re building the plane as we’re flying it” has become a pretty common [...]
Severe anxiety is on the increase for kids and teens in the U.S. as well as depression and substance abuse. According to an article from NPR ED, some 1 in 5 kids suffers from mental illness of some kind, and 80% will not get the needed treatment. This has [...]
-- Trent C, Grade 9 FLT is the name of a flexible block program at a high school in New Hampshire that allows students to have time in the school day for intervention and enrichment. This time gives students a voice and boosts academic achievement and overall social-emotional [...]
You can do whatever you want. And so can your students. In the physical world, and the digital world. Of course, our actions have consequences. This can be a little easier to see in the physical world -- for example, you can drive 30 miles over the speed limit [...]
What makes or breaks a new program at a school? Often, preparedness and having all (or most) staff onboard. All of the systems of support need to be in place. If a school is considering adding a flex period to their school schedule for extra help, intervention, remediation, enrichment, [...]
Why is student voice important in schools? Well, you know that feeling when no one seems to be listening to what you’re trying to say? Most of us have experienced that feeling from time to time. And likely, we brush it off. But what if you felt like this for [...]
In the Bronx, a 6th grade girl named Omarina finds her life falling apart. She and her mother are evicted from their apartment. Omarina and her father, who left the family when she was young, are about to be reunited when he dies of a stroke. As her mother [...]
What is education really about? Test scores and letter grades? Sometimes it certainly seems that way. But looking forward, there are a lot of positive changes being made -- or talked about. Sometimes talk of education reform may get away from what's actually important: the students. Kids will rely [...]