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How do you think your students are doing on their summer reading lists so far? It’s fun to imagine them leaned up against a shady tree with a good classic, isn’t it? (A teacher can dream!) Wouldn’t you love that kind of lazy day? Who’s to say you can’t have one—or several? Summer reading is important for teachers too. And usually, after a busy school year, it’s quite a treat. Read more

Carol Dweck’s groundbreaking mindset research has been all the rage in education circles for a number of years now. Her research shows that students with growth mindsets—those who welcome a challenge and believe they can improve with effort—perform better than students with fixed mindsets who tend to avoid difficult tasks and who believe certain traits, like intelligence, can’t be grown.

Teachers can help nurture the growth mindset, and many have made it a priority to do so in their classrooms. But what, exactly, does this look like? Many people understand Dweck’s research to mean we should encourage and praise effort, not outcomes. But this understanding, Dweck says in a recent interview in The Atlantic, misses the mark. Read more

Plenty of research confirms that schools with positive climates, in which the students have strong social-emotional skills, are ideal learning environments. Teachers and parents don’t need research to believe this—it’s common sense that when people are shown kindness as opposed to hostility, they’re far more apt to succeed in school and beyond. Read more