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"Back in October, we published an article about the importance of holistic teaching. When students are stressed, their capacity for learning is drastically reduced. In psychology, Maslow's hierarchy of needs explains in part why anxious and depressed students are much more likely to fail. Even if the situation is not catastrophic, a student's mind and body "feel" that the situation is very serious. All their brainpower is fixated on dealing with the fight or flight response in the body, plus the repetitive thought patterns that affect daily activities like eating, sleeping, and relationships."

"Though the iOS 8.1 update includes many bug fixes that resolve some of the frustrating annoyances that popped up in earlier versions, a handful of users have experienced something else with iOS 8.1; quickly reducing battery life. No, we're not talking about shaving a few minutes off how long your iPad or iPhone lasts, we're talking dramatically reduced battery life with rapid draining."

Michael Bluejay's Saving Electricity site reveals that powering a desktop PC with a 17-inch LCD, 8 hours a day, 20 days a month costs about $35 a year. It also claims that computers and electronics consume nearly 10 percent (in some cases below) of the average energy bill. Hence, you should take considerable approach to reduce the PC's carbon footprint.

"Taking E-Mail Vacations Can Reduce Stress, Study Says"

"Don't try to put making in a box. Don't make it a kit, standardize it, and water it down.  Don't develop a canned-for-sale-program out of it.   Don't make it a packet to sell on website. Don't reduce it to a moment in a day, a day in a week, or a kit from the shelves. Don't make it into a program that a school has to pay billions to be a part of. Don't reduce making to that "thing" that happens in a certain room or a certain space or once a month.  Please just don't reserve making for gadgety electronics or robotics.  Don't just call it STEAM. Making is connecting, interpreting, and building a relationship with the world. Let's make school more about making. The mathematics and patterns in sewing, the joy in colorful art, the visual beauty in cooking, painting, the science of mixing colors, the music of sculpture in the wind, the flow in writing from the imagination, the collaboration in developing something together, the spark in sharing cardboard creations via Skype, the motivation in sharing with the world, the engagement in raw discovery, the fun in tinkering with a pile of junk, the passion in an idea grown from a seed, and the excitement in untouched exploration."

"The scientific research on the benefits of so-called expressive writing is surprisingly vast. Studies have shown that writing about oneself and personal experiences can improve mood disorders, help reduce symptoms among cancer patients, improve a person's health after a heart attack, reduce doctor visits and even boost memory. Now researchers are studying whether the power of writing - and then rewriting - your personal story can lead to behavioral changes and improve happiness."

"In children with math anxiety, seeing numbers on a page stimulates the same part of the brain that would respond if they spotted a slithering snake or a creeping spider-math is that scary. Brain scans of these children also show that when they're in the grip of math anxiety, activity is reduced in the information-processing and reasoning areas of their brains-exactly the regions that should be working hard to figure out the problems in front of them. These new findings, published this month in the journal Psychological Science, demonstrate that math anxiety is real and can't simply be wished away. But there are specific exercises that have been shown to reduce students' nervousness and allow them to focus on their work without the powerful distraction of fear."

"We live in a stressful world, and the stress is heightened for students and educators when it's time to prepare for high-stakes tests. When test scores are tied to school funding, teacher evaluations, and students' future placement, the consequences of these stressors can be far-reaching. From a neurological perspective, high stress disrupts the brain's learning circuits and diminishes memory construction, storage, and retrieval. Neuroimaging research shows us that, when stresses are high, brains do not work optimally, resulting in decreased understanding and memory. In addition, stress reduces efficient retrieval of knowledge from the memory storage networks, so when under pressure students find it harder to access information previously studied and learned. Get the best of Edutopia in your inbox each week. Students (and their parents) often interpret suboptimal standardized test scores as a measure of the students' limitations in intelligence and potential. The consequence is a loss of confidence, further activating their brains' stress response, making it more difficult for them to employ their cognitive resources and knowledge during the tests themselves."

With energy costs soaring to record levels, taking steps to reduce energy consumption isn't just good for the environment--it's also essential for the fiscal health of schools.

Use technology to its best advantage: Online professional learning communities should be established to help rural educators share best practices and reduce isolation, and online general subject or enrichment courses should be made available to isolated rural learners.

"Phrases like "random acts of kindness" and "pay it forward" have become popular terms in modern society. Perhaps this could be best explained by those who have identified a deficiency in their lives that can only be fulfilled by altruism. It seems that we just can't get enough of those addictive, feel-good emotions -- and with good reason. Scientific studies prove that kindness has many physical, emotional, and mental health benefits. And children need a healthy dose of the warm-and-fuzzies to thrive as healthy, happy, well-rounded individuals."

"When teachers are given time to work closely with other teachers, and have achievable goals-school culture thrives."

" 37 18 2 inShare 1 Print! 6 iPad Apps for Better Classroom Management If you're looking to reduce your paper trail, keep parents in the loop and find more efficient ways to manage your students' behavior, there are apps to help you do it. Below are some of the best apps to help teachers manage their classroom. The list has been generously created and shared with us by MaryGrove College."

"n florida, a coalition of parents known as "the recess moms" has been fighting to pass legislation guaranteeing the state's elementary-school students at least 20 minutes of daily free play. Similar legislation recently passed in New Jersey, only to be vetoed by the governor, who deemed it "stupid." When, you might ask, did recess become such a radical proposal? In a survey of school-district administrators, roughly a third said their districts had reduced outdoor play in the early 2000s. Likely culprits include concerns about bullying and the No Child Left Behind Act, whose time-consuming requirements resulted in cuts to play. [1] Disadvantaged kids have been the most likely to be shortchanged: According to a 2003 study, just 56 percent of children living at or below the poverty line had recess, compared with 83 percent of those above the poverty line; a similar disparity was noted between black children and their white peers. [2] FROM OUR DECEMBER 2016 ISSUE Try 2 FREE issues of The Atlantic SUBSCRIBE The benefits of recess might seem obvious-time to run around helps kids stay fit. But a large body of research suggests that it also boosts cognition. Many studies have found that regular exercise improves mental function and academic performance. [3] And an analysis of studies that focused specifically on recess found positive associations between physical activity and the ability to concentrate in class. [4]"

"Higher education issues have been one of the hot topics of the current presidential race, with candidates touching on reducing student loan debt and improving college access. However, what has rarely come up is whether or not college is even the best option for each and every student. The general message in popular culture and political debates is that attending and graduating from a traditional four-year college is the only way to find a fruitful job after high school. However, there are a number of alternatives for students who don't necessarily want to take out loans or the academic focus of a traditional university experience, and these alternatives can still lead to fulfilling careers. Called career technical, professional, and trade or vocational training, these programs are typically offered at high schools, two-year colleges, and through other outlets."

"More people are living longer these days, but the good news comes shadowed by the possible increase in cases of age-related mental decline. By some estimates, the global incidence of dementia will more than triple in the next 35 years. That grim prospect is what makes a study published in March in The Journal of Alzheimer's Disease so encouraging: It turns out that regular walking, cycling, swimming, dancing and even gardening may substantially reduce the risk of Alzheimer's."

"Three Ring allows teachers and students to digitize student work by snapping pictures or videos with their mobile or tablet devices. It keeps student work at the center of the conversation and ensures work isn't reduced to a rote grade or forgotten in a filing cabinet."

"Although the main goal when I proposed the Tap Into Teen Minds iPad Project was to increase engagement and student achievement in the mathematics classroom, I also wanted to eliminate items used in the traditional mathematics classroom and determine whether costs could also be reduced simultaneously."