Some students are hard to motivate. The methods we typically use for motivatation—things that work with most students—don’t work with this group. This can be really frustrating for teachers who work with these students, as the behaviors often don’t “make sense” to those of us in education. Why would a student with plenty of opportunity to learn, and therefore advance their stake in life, not take that opportunity? It just doesn’t make sense.

Are you swamped throughout the school year? Do you get resources delivered to you, but just don’t have the time to look at them? How many sites have you bookmarked during the school day, never to go back to?

As our school year winds down, summer is usually the time we can take a break and relax. It is also the perfect time to catch up with some resources we found over the school year and just didn’t have a spare moment to peruse.

Here are some tools and resources to organize these educational finds we have stumbled across:

The end of the school year is upon us, but that doesn’t mean the learning has to stop! Here are some fun lesson plans and activities for June to help keep your students engaged until summer break:

End of the Year Review: These renovated lessons offer the perfect opportunity to review math and language arts concepts covered during the school year. Choose from either K-2 elementary students or grades 3-5.

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Now that we are 17 years into the 21^st century, it is interesting to note that thus far, our 21^st century learning skills are still very relevant. When looking through the four elements of the Framework for 21^st Century Learning, we see the skills listed that our students continue to need through the first two decades of our century.

Within the first element, civic literacy is an area that many schools continue to need resources for. From kindergarten to high school, it is critical for students to have exposure to the role we play as citizens in the various governmental structures. There are some resources listed on the framework page, but what could a school do to move toward real-world, application-level learning for civics and citizenship?

Summer is just around the corner, and now is the perfect time to plan your reading list. Whether you’re looking to explore new teaching methods, work on your personal well-being, or take a break with a beach read, here are our top picks for this summer.

One of the best parts of the Google platform is that it is constantly improving and changing. I guess that is probably an opinion statement, as sometimes these changes can be frustrating—for example, when buttons move or formatting options come and go. This can be a headache, but overall, I feel the Google Suite options are much more robust than they were when I first started using them six year ago.  

For me, the really amazing part is that Google actually takes feedback, listens to it, and acts on it to improve the product. Not that novel of an idea, I know, but the speed at which they can move in doing so sets them apart from others in the tech world. I’m not a Google salesperson—it does have its limitations and faults—but as a lifelong learner, I love the challenge of always having to keep up to date on the latest format.

When I started teaching—and before I had my own children—I often referred to my students as “my kids” or “my kiddos.” I truly felt connected with them, and did my best to guide them onto their successes during the school year. When I became a mother for the first time, my equilibrium shifted. No longer were my students the sole focus of my day, and I slowly learned to prioritize my tasks. I needed to use my time more efficiently and with greater intention in order to arrive home and be completely present with my own children.

If keyboarding is an important skill for students to learn and master—and many would say that it is—what are some good tools to help students learn this skill? Like many online options, there are free versions that can work for different circumstances. Sometimes free versions have limits, and paying a little bit for one of the programs is well worth the money. But other times, especially when students are first learning keyboarding, free versions are just fine.

Teacher appreciation week rolls around at a perfect time every school year. May is typically full of fun and craziness, so teachers deserve appreciation this month more than any other time of the year—although they really need to be appreciated year round!

It can be hard to find something that tells a teacher how much they mean to you. By the end of the school year, strong bonds and relationships have been formed in the classroom, so it is important to show gratitude. And another apple for the teacher’s desk just doesn’t cut it!

Teaching is a hard job. Even if you aren’t a teacher—heck, even if you don’t have kids—you would probably agree that teaching is tough. Teachers are on their feet most of the day, delivering lessons while blocking out eye rolls, yawns, nose-picking, kids leaning back in their chairs, excessive talking, students playing on “hidden” devices, bodily noises, and more. Why do we do it? It’s certainly not for the money or accolades. Yet, nothing quite compares to the feeling of a good day of teaching when things go right, kids respond, and you feel like you’ve gotten through to your students.