Catholic Teachers' Lounge

Shifting from education to application to keep students engaged between spring break and the end of the school year. Make learning about the student while helping them find God everywhere and in everything.

Drama, drama, drama. Harnessing and inspiring student energy and passion through theatre and the arts in elementary school.

High energy, “teacher on the street” conversations with engaging practitioners on the exhibit floor of NCEA 2023. Hear from a principal about school culture and one teacher’s creative teaching techniques around film and literature.

How to make the most of speakers, workshops and conferences. Best strategies for maximizing the learning and camaraderie at teacher gatherings.

Space matters when it comes to learning. It can be fun to create the ultimate Pinterest worthy classroom, but magic happens when the environment is perfectly suited to the topic you are teaching.

It can be scary to give up control in the classroom, but we also know the ideal teaching methodology is giving students the opportunity to teach themselves and each other.

The pressures of school sports can be legendary, especially with the rise in club sports and specialization, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Building community while maintaining reasonable priorities can be the new normal.

Conversation and participation can be a challenge for any classroom, but Ashley Schoeller uses the concept of a fishbowl to create robust, yet controlled interaction and engagement.

When given the chance, students can thrive when allowed to participate in their learning environment. What if you challenged your class to “Choose a seat where you can learn best today.”

Show and tell takes on a new spin with fellow student trying to guess the special item using their inquiry skills.

Catholic Teachers’ Lounge hosts Jill Annable and Colleen McCoy-Cejka welcome curriculum expert and Mr. Roger’s protégé, Joellyn Cicciarelli, to the lounge for a special deep dive discussion. Mixed with personal stories, practical examples and plenty of empathy for teachers navigating current challenges, the three experts provide creative solutions for making learning really rich, exciting and acti...

Keeping the focus on Easter Joy during the busy, hectic and anxiety driven whirlwind countdown toward the end of the school year.

Art can transform student understanding and appreciation of not just faith, but a multitude of topics, including science, history and reason.

Experiences with nuns can run the gamut between eccentric, interesting and demanding, but their dedication and faith is always unmatched. What has been your experience with sisters?

Traditions of the church can bring structure and comfort throughout the year. This is especially true for Palm Sunday and Holy Week.

Catholic schools uniquely provide opportunities for public engagement, whether it is participation at Mass, presentations in class, or even activities in front of the whole school for various functions.

By design, it can be helpful to embrace our differences as teammates as well as teachers to play to our strengths across curriculum and grades.

Reinforcing good behavior is the key to child development. Explore the long term impact of currency or other rewards on motivating students.

The pandemic forced us to rethink the process of teaching and we have a great opportunity to continue experimenting with new models. What needs to be hands on and what doesn’t?

How does your school culture reflect radical welcoming? Do you have an official onboarding plan? Are students and families welcomed naturally by all?

Testing for student progress can take many forms, but a great tool for assessing skill development over the course of the year is portfolio assessments. Learn how to make the transition.

Rocket science development is driven by failure — but our culture says perfection is a must. Science teacher Isaac Forquor exemplifies training students on the benefits of effort over perfection.

Fear of doing it wrong gets in the way of effective inclusion efforts for nuerodivergent students. How to embrace the beauty of belonging for all kids.

What is the academic impact of students’ choices and behavior? Is the class grade measuring knowledge or the students’ ability to follow directions, or both? If not in the grade, how do we measure behavior?

Discipline is a necessary part of every teacher’s classroom experience, but there are ways to ease the process — even when parents and administration need to get involved.