Teen mental health is improving in new state survey data, but many high schoolers still don't feel they belong. Here are 5 LOW PREP moves grades 9-12 teachers can use this week. If you teach high school, you have probably felt it this fall: the room...

Student behavior is still the challenge teachers name first, and school-wide project-based learning (PBL) is one of the most practical ways to rebuild a calm, connected school culture. Here is what the newest data says, and five LOW PREP moves you c...

Middle school math scores stalled this year while elementary math kept recovering, new national data shows. Here are 5 LOW PREP moves grades 6-8 teachers can use this week. If your seventh graders can tell you every step of a dance trend but stall w...

The Monday after Halloween in kindergarten needs a LOW PREP graphing plan, and it needs one before you leave the building on Friday. Here is mine, written at 4:50 PM. It is Friday afternoon. The costume parade is over. A small cape is draped over th...

Halloween Friday in middle school math does not need a themed craft. It needs a LOW PREP plan that channels costume-day energy into ratios, equations and real practice. Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, which means the school version of Hallo...

AI in the classroom is now part of everyday teaching: about 3 in 5 educators used AI tools last school year, but guidance has not kept up. Here is how grades 3-5 teachers can use it wisely this week. If you have ever typed "make this passage easier ...

No Preschool November plans yet and it's Thursday afternoon? Here's a LOW PREP way to plan a whole month of fall harvest, turkeys and thankful centers. The scene: 4:58 PM, Thursday, October 29 The last car has pulled away from pickup. The glue stick...

Chromebook labels that actually stay on can end the daily "whose device is this?" mystery in a 1:1 classroom. Here is the funny truth, and the LOW PREP fix. It is 8:12 AM. The charging cart door swings open, and thirty identical gray laptops stare b...

K-2 reading scores stalled again this fall, and new data shows nearly half of our youngest readers are not yet on track. Here are 5 LOW PREP moves that help this week. If your beginning-of-year reading screener felt familiar, you are not imagining i...

The 2:47 PM energy spike hits every 3rd and 4th grade classroom. Here's a funny, honest look at the last half hour, plus a LOW PREP multiplication fix that calms the room. It's 2:47 PM. Fourteen minutes ago, my class was a gentle meadow of learners....

Halloween week in 1st and 2nd grade is pure chaos. Here's a funny, honest survival guide, plus LOW PREP Halloween math and ELA centers that keep learning on track. It's Wednesday of Halloween week. Nobody in the building has eaten a single piece of ...

School cell phone bans are a year old in most districts. New research shows how to keep phone rules steady in high school classrooms, with 5 LOW PREP moves. If your phone policy felt airtight in August and a little leaky by now, you are not imaginin...

Writing the class newsletter at 9 PM on the couch? Here's a funny, honest look at the Friday family update, plus a LOW PREP way to get it done in minutes. It's 8:52 PM. The dishes are "soaking." There's a stack of ungraded spelling tests on the arm ...

If your attendance sheet looks like a game of musical chairs this fall, you are not imagining it. Chronic absenteeism (missing 10% or more of the school year, which is about 18 days) is easing, but slowly, and it is still far above where it was befo...