Explore sensory toys that support focus, calming, and skill-building for students with special needs—plus where to find them online.

When practiced regularly, breathing techniques can become powerful self-regulation tools that serve students throughout their academic lives and beyond.

I began the school year in a classroom with eighteen standard desks. Today, I have none. This isn’t a lament about budgetary constraints or overcrowded classrooms; it’s a deliberate choice.

To many in the field, a poor first year of teaching is the first step in an accepted, almost ritualistic career timeline. Perspectives on a teacher’s first year seem to have shifted, though, since my generation entered the workforce.

I was recently involved with an art exhibition in the Thanet District of Kent, England, that helped students see themselves as artists, advocates, and changemakers.

Drama is far more than a performance-based art. It is a dynamic educational tool that improves students’ capacity to understand perspectives far removed from their own.

The trick to not using all your personal days during the first month of school is to focus on stopping bad behavior before it starts, instead of punishing students after the fact.

Something as simple as lining up can bring clarity, consistency, and connection, benefiting not just students, but staff as well.

The first six weeks of a new school year are essential. In middle school classrooms, those weeks are not just a warm-up. Rather, they are the foundation on which the entire school year is built.

Most people tend to assume that my students are capable of less-than-stellar academic performances because they have complicated lives outside school.

The current thinking on discipline is preemptive, rather than reactive. Change how you run your classroom, experts suggest, and discipline issues will no longer be a problem.

When you have a teacher who has presence, students are impacted in ways that positively affect the class. But what exactly is teacher presence?

As we transition from traditional teaching and learning approaches to digital and interactive ones, we need to carefully plan and prepare the learning environment.

Ensuring that every student in your classroom feels like they belong.

You see, here’s the thing that some of us – teachers and parents alike – don’t really take time to stop and think about: kids’ feelings have value too. And they all have their own needs and wants at any given time.

I have lost count of the number of times I have been told that rules without relationships lead to rebellion. Yet today, relationships with students seem to be feared instead of embraced. Over the years, quite by accident, I have discovered that this precept from days gone by is critical to classroom rules and to learning itself. Relationships are an essential part of learning, especially relationships between teachers and students.

Password management can be a daunting classroom challenge for K–12 educators. Here we’ll take a deep dive into some of the more effective solutions for getting kids logged in.

When students are asked about the qualities of good teachers, caring is always at or near the top of the list. Perhaps you’ve heard the statement, “They won’t care until...