Catholic Teachers' Lounge

Assigning group work can be a recipe for disaster no matter the age of the kids. However, disciplined assignment of roles and responsibilities can successfully help students navigate this critical, real world skill set.

In a world dominated by social media and electronic communication, facilitating classroom discussion that includes peer to peer eye contact, active listening, and mutual respect can be a significant challenge as you bridge the socratic method of yesteryear with the digital habits of today.

Electives and specials can be few and far between for some Catholic schools, but there is a concerted effort to make specials a bigger priority to help elevate kids in new ways by doing new things outside traditional academics.

This eternal question can be equally frustrating for teachers, students and parents alike as everyone has an opinion and perspective. Practice and repetition can certainly be helpful, but if you don’t know how to do it, you don’t know how to do it. Bring purpose and planning to your instructional efforts!

Reinforcing positive behavior is an exercise in creativity across ages and stages in every school. How to balance the stand-bys of food or prize rewards against the higher potential of motivating through recognition or extra freedoms.

Fear of the unknown can be a helpful mechanism to proceed with caution in some areas. It can also hold us back from future discovery. But the reality is we can’t go back to the pre-AI world and everything will look different because of it. Include the students in the conversation as you prepare them for the world they have to live in.

AI is not going away. In fact, it can be an extremly helpful tool for students, teachers and administrators when used the right way. How can it be helpful in some situations and avoided in other situations as we help students maintain their voice and appreciate who they have been created to be.

Defining the scope of procedures and policies surrounding the use of AI in a school setting can not only be overwhelming, but impossible due to the constantly changing reality. Instead, focus on how to connect universal themes of intregrity and ethics to student and teacher decision making as it relates to AI.

Navigating normal anxiety and feelings of imposter syndrom are hard enough without teachers also bearing the brunt of society’s blame game when it comes to what student’s learn (or not) in the classroom. It’s time to reject the lie that I am not enough. Shout out for doing the work and trusting yourself!

Celebrating the evolution of the anxiety inducing physical education classes of yesteryear to the life skills that can be learned learned through exercise science. PE teachers can also lead the way with creative solutions around accommodations and inclusion efforts for all students.

Learning can come to life in a memorable way when you transition outside the classroom. Laugh and learn with memories and suggestions surrounding class field trips for all ages.

Engagement ramps up when students can work through learning lessons in front of the class, but challenges abound making room for all kids at the board at the same time, let alone easing student stage fright. Explore ideas and options for 360 degree teaching!

Collective teacher efficacy is the technical term for how to get farther, faster by working together, supporting each other and believing in common outcomes. The strength of the teaching team through shared experience, communication and trust makes all the difference.

Teaching is isolating by design, but research shows one of the strongest indicators of effective learning is a teacher’s self confidence. This expands exponentially when a teaching staff collectively believes they are doing it well. Lean in and grow together!

When was the last time you asked others for advice when facing a tough challenge? It’s hard enough to admit you have a problem and even harder to seek advice, but have you considered what happens when you get vulnerable and gather input?

Whether teaching religion or navigating a dinner table discussion, engaging kids to share their thoughts and feelings is a challenge for everyone. The universal game of Roses and Thorns is uniquely suited to open minds and hearts and give every teacher insights and ideas on who needs extra love and support.

Making personal connections with students is a natural and powerful aspect of Catholic education. Hear more about how one teacher made a spiritual connection as well by matching specific saints to each individual student based on their unique gifts and personality, along with a commitment to pray for them through that saint.

Classroom size can wreak havoc on classroom design — not to mention how to incorporate individual learning vs. lectures vs. small groups and everything in between. But structure and creativity can make all the difference as students know what they are doing, when they are doing it and what tools they have to do it — even if their desk happens to be a bean bag or a make-shift lecturn.

The 8th grade class in a school from Dallas, Texas took their reigns of their destiny by self-identifying what they think an ideal 8th grade student should look like and how they should behave. This student led, backward design moment was made possible by an evironment of trust and empowerment for the students to step up on their own.

Teachers already know the benefits of data and measurements, but empowering students of all ages on the benefits of executive functions is a lifelong skill. Hear what a principal did with a custom made daily planner to help students track sleep, mood, stress, water consumption, movement and much more to help them own their daily success potential.

Building on outcomes and evidence of learning, now you can start mapping out instruction time and lesson plans. Like little clocks, kids love patterns of consistent and predictable learning systems.

Measuring outcomes in the classroom is certainly no game, but just like the Rubik’s Cube, classroom rubrics demand creativity. Setting clear rubrics healps you and the students as it reduces anxiety and confusion around what’s expected.

Curriculum Mapping embraces the concept of backward design as you set your teaching strategy around the outcomes you want to achieve by the end of the school year.

Whether it’s line leader, lunch monitor, or clean up patrol, delegating student responsibility and involvement drives engagement, leadership skills and community pride.

Sharing authority and responsibility with students can be scary, but the right level of accessibility and ownership can exponentially change the tone of classroom behavior at all ages.