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"Anxious, overconfident, curious, indifferent, angry, amused, lonely, hopeful, embarrassed, empowered, afraid, excited, diminished-teachers have seen all these emotions emerge from students as they engage with classroom content. Emotional responses to lessons often go through students' minds before they even begin to think about the material: This stuff is stupid/awesome/beyond me. I'm not comfortable with this. Finally, something I'm good at. Maybe somebody will notice I can't read. Let's see her find a mistake in that one-it's perfect. Does the teacher know I didn't study this last night? Some of us deny this reality and claim we aren't trained to guide children's emotional health. We think our purpose is to teach content and skills only, not to deal with the touchy-feely stuff. This attitude turns a blind eye to the developmental nature of the students we serve, and it runs afoul of how minds learn. Unless we're the most severe of sociopaths, we all have emotional responses that affect what we do. Adding to the messiness, our individual perspectives and experiences may put us out of sync with others' emotional states, even as the institutional nature of schools demands emotional synchronicity. The resulting miscommunication, blame, anxiety, and frustration are not the best ingredients for a good day at school. Teachers who deny the emotional elements of teaching and learning can become exhausted from ceaseless confrontations with students' emotional states, often blaming their personal stress and students' failure to learn on students' lack of motivation or maturity. They grow disconnected from students, creating an almost adversarial relationship with them: I need to get them to shape up. It's them or me. These students are hopeless; why should I bother? It's the parents who created this situation. This attitude can bleed into daily interactions with students and colleagues. It doesn't have to be this way. We can develop constructive responses to our own

"As a parent and educator, I know it is super important that my kids learn how to make smart financial decisions now, before they go off into the real world.  But I know that raising money confident kids isn't always easy. It involves planning. It involves understanding ourselves how to be money confident-and that can be scary, even as adults. So when I was asked by the good people at T. Rowe Price to take a look at the Money Confident Kids® resources they have for school and home, you bet I was ready. The more I learn, the more I can help my children become financially fit. I really love the range and creativity of these resources, and you will, too."

"Computing is an integral part of every aspect of our lives, from how we connect with each other to the way we do our jobs and get around. Computing is the number one source of all new wages in the U.S. economy and there are currently 500,000 open computing jobs across the country. Yet, according to a Code.org report, only 15 states require all high schools to offer computer science. Many parents, educators, and education institutions are calling for computer science to be a high school graduation requirement. As one commentator pointed out: Schools teach math to students regardless of whether they want to become mathematicians because it is foundational. The same is true of computer science. There are a number of benefits to taking computer science in high school."

"In some instances, research illuminates a topic and changes our existing beliefs. For example, here's a post that challenges the myth of preferred learning styles. Other times, you might hear about a study and say, "Well, of course that's true!" This might be one of those moments. Last year, Dr. Karlsson Wirebring and fellow researchers published a study that supports what many educators and parents have already suspected: students learn better when they figure things out on their own, as compared to being told what to do.  "

"Tell me if this sounds familiar: Your alarm goes off at 7:00 am. It's a school day. It's time to get out of bed and get ready to make that early morning bell. But in that moment, you feel as though there is no force on the planet that could make you open your eyes and surrender your comfortable position under the covers. Your mom comes into the room, already dressed for work. "You know," she says, "you wouldn't be so tired if you'd just gone to bed a little earlier." Is she right? Also, why isn't she ever tired in the morning? Most teens would agree that they're much sleepier in the morning than their parents are. There's a single molecule that's largely responsible for this difference. And no, it's not caffeine - it's melatonin!"

"I've explored the science behind what makes kids happier, what type of parenting works best and what makes for joyful families. But what makes children - from babies up through the teen years - smarter? Here are 10 things science says can help:"

Assessment is arguably the piece of the learning cycle we get most wrong. Whether looked at from the perspective of the learner, the teacher, the school administrator, the politician or the parent, assessment is misunderstood and poorly utilised as a tool for learning. The importance of changing this situation is only made more salient in light of the countless research studies from the likes of Jon Hattie & Dylan Wiliam that points to the power of effective assessment. So, what are the common mistakes and how might we avoid them?

"I truly believe that part of being an advocate for kids is believing that all of them, no matter what, possess redeeming qualities. I know that I see kids do absolutely amazing things with talent and grit and an awareness of other people that I don't remember myself or my classmates having when I was their age. On the flip side, I know we have students who are so angry and struggling and do things that are unkind and frankly, sometimes violent. But, instead of asking why the students are so poorly behaved, I think the better question is what support did we miss as parents/educators/society and how can we bring out the goodness? My point being…no matter the child, if we don't believe that there is a place inside of them that has the potential for greatness then that is more about our shortcomings than it is about them. "

"All over Canada, and at many schools in North America, today is the first day of school. Doing the work that I do today, I did not realize that until I opened up Facebook this morning and was hit by a barrage of "the first day of grade _____" pictures all over my feed.  The excitement on the faces of many students was contagious, but it also seemed that some parents were pretty happy to send their kids back to school as well What I have been thinking about a lot lately is about how we maintain that "first-day" excitement in our students throughout the year? Although this is something that I do my best to support in my work, I know that this is not an easy task for educators and schools as there are so many variables in the lives of our students and ourselves that have an impact on our experience in school. My focus here is on how do we create an experience in school that is both joyous while challenging.  The reason both elements are essential is that it is easier to "challenge" our students to grow in a space where they are excited to be in the first place. If a student hates coming to school every day, it is going to be a lot tougher to push them toward growth."

"Because parents everywhere need all the help we can get keeping our kids somewhat academically stimulated, TIME is the latest company to step up and offer to help-with a free digital library of TIME for Kids. Several digital editions of TIME for Kids (and the financial literacy magazine Your $) are now available through the end of the school year. The magazine's content is curated for four different grade groups: K-1; 2; 3-4; and 5-6."

"Any parent balancing work, homeschool and the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic is bound to have their limits tested by sheltering in place with kids who haven't seen their friends or participated in sports. Lisa Damour, a clinical psychologist and author of Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls, knows well about the stress families face in ordinary times. In these extraordinary times, she has the following advice for families to help get through the crisis:"

"This is great news for parents and kids who are reeling from the news of school closures due to the Coronavirus. Joe Wicks, famous as The Body Coach, has said he will become 'the nation's P.E. teacher' by giving daily online P.E. classes for kids! Starting from Monday he will be holding kids' workout classes on his You Tube channel, and he will be doing them every weekday at 9am during the school closures. The workouts are designed to be kid friendly, will last half an hour, and won't need much space so they can be done indoors if you're self-isolating."

"As educators around the country are preparing students and parents for several weeks of virtual learning, the STEM Careers Coalition has introduced dozens of new digital resources that are easily adaptable for use at home.  These highly engaging activities are appropriate for grades K-8 and encourage students to use their problem-solving skills to address everyday challenges. Read below for an overview of four of our favorite new activities! "