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Blog post Courtney LeidnerSREB Analyst II

Tips on Starting a STEAM School: A Look at Jefferson Middle School

Tips on starting a STEAM school: a look at Jefferson Middle School

Jefferson Middle School in Columbia, Missouri, is a great example of a STEAM school that works. This is why their session at the 2023 Making Schools Work Conference was so great: They showed what made their program work and gave tips on how you can start a program at your school. And we compiled them here for you!

Blog post Debra CullenSREB Instructional Coach

Mastering Master Schedules: Insight on Creating a Plan That Actually Works

Ways to Master Your Master Schedule

How can you create a master schedule that is focused on rigor, remediation and resilience? In other words, how do you create a master schedule that will actually be useful to your teachers and students?

In this post, we talk about how Mill Creek Middle School in Tennessee utilizes promising practices in master scheduling that you may want to try for yourself.

Blog post Keshia KingSREB Instructional Coach - Math

Sharing Is Preparing: Collaborating With Students on Creating Success Criteria

Reasons to Collaborate with Students When Making Success Criteria

We recently talked about the importance of using success criteria in your classroom. This isn’t something you have to do alone, though. Working with students to create these measures can be a great way to help them understand the purpose of your assignments.

In this post, we show you how student collaboration on success criteria can benefit everyone.

Blog post Megan Boren | SREB Project Manager

Let’s give our teachers what any employee needs to be successful

Total Teacher Preparation Program Completions in the SREB Region We have a public-school teacher vacancy and turnover problem — more are leaving than coming in. In 2021, turnover equated to a loss of over 152,000 teachers from their positions in the SREB region. Yet we only prepared shy of 58,000 new teachers (traditional and alternative prep combined).  

Blog post Ashley ShawSREB Communications Specialist

Knowing Isn’t the Same as Understanding: Tips on Aligning Your Curriculum to Encourage Deeper Learning

Tips on Aligning Your Curriculum to support deeper learning

Students are good at learning the facts of the lesson to pass a test, However, it can be a lot harder to help them truly understand the material. 

In this post, we talk about ways to help students move past knowing the assignment and reach a place of understanding…all while helping you align your curriculum to the standards.

Blog post Natalee JonesPolicy Analyst

SREB Region Lags Behind in New Skills Report

In the new Coursera Global Skills Report, the United States ranked 78 out 100 countries on job skills observed from Coursera’s learner base. The three job-relevant skill domains compared in the report were business, technology and data science.

Blog post Connie Luper, School Improvement Senior Leadership CoachAshley Shaw, SREB Communications Specialist

Turn up the Boombox: How Music Can Boost Learning

Image of a student wearing headphones with an overlay with the text "Ways to Boost Learning Through Music"

Think about all of the times you’ve gotten a song stuck in your head. Music is powerful like that. 

In this post, we talk about how you can take advantage of that power to help students learn. All you need to do is add a little music to your class!

Blog post Ashley ShawSREB Communications Specialist

7 Tools and Activities You Can Use to Keep Your Class Engaged

Picture of the "Breaking Out of the Box" session with an overlay and the text: Ideas to Make Your Class Engaging

In this post, we give you ideas on activities you can do to make your class more engaging for your students.

If you have been looking for ways to make your class more interactive, then this is a great place to start.

Blog post Ashley ShawSREB Communications Specialist

New Economy, New Class: Adam Welcome Provides Questions to Ask to Transform Your Class

Image of Adam Welcome on stage with an overlay and text that says "Questions to Ask to Transform Your Class:  Promising Practices from Our 2023  Making Schools Work Conference"

The world your students will encounter when they leave your classroom is different than the world you encountered when you left school. As job opportunities and technology changes, your classroom should change with it.

In the 2023 Making Schools Work Conference closing address, Adam Welcome shared ways to make sure your classroom is transforming with the times, and we have compiled them here for you.  

Blog post Ashley ShawSREB Communications Specialist

Is Your Glass Half Empty or Full? Lessons From Kelsey Tainsh on Shifting Perspectives to Improve Schools

Title image: Picture of Kelsey Tanish on stage at the 2023 Making Schools Work Conference with an overlay and the title of the post.

Kelsey Tainsh knows what it means to overcome adversity. At 15, a brain tumor caused her to become paralyzed. She didn’t let that stop her, though.

In her featured session at the 2023 Making Schools Work Conference, she talked about how a change in perspective can change everything, and what that means for your classroom.

Blog post Ashley ShawSREB Communications Specialist

Combining Education With Job Skills: Tips From the 2023 Making Schools Work Opening Address

Packed ballroom listening to the opening speaker

In his opening address at the 2023 Making Schools Work Conference, Adam Welcome talks about how the changing economy means we need some changes to the way we teach. 

Job experience and skills are more important than ever, and what those job skills will be are changing too. In this post, we give you insights into his opening address.

Blog post Ashley ShawSREB Communications Specialist

What We Learned at the 2023 Coaching for Change Conference

Coaching for Change opening conferenceSometimes seeing an abandoned hallway is scary…like if you are stuck in the middle of a horror movie, for example.

Other times, it is a bad sign…like if you are throwing a big house party, it’s two hours after it was supposed to begin, and still nobody has showed up!

Still, though, at other times, it’s a sign of a success…like at the 2023 Coaching for Change Conference, where you could walk down any hallway during a session and not see anyone (because everyone was so involved in the great lessons being presented.)

Blog post MariTere Molinet, Guest BloggerSREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program Graduate

Giving Feedback: The art of speaking up to collaborate and empower

MariTere Molinet
An occasional series from the Doctoral Scholars Program on postsecondary topics

When I first started my Ph.D. program, I was taken aback that none of the talks offered to graduate students focused on how to give feedback to others. Plenty of workshops discussed how to receive feedback, but coming from an industry where feedback was encouraged and expected, I felt we were missing a part of a very important equation.

Blog post Pilanda Watkins-Curry, Ph.D., Guest BloggerSREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program Graduate

Pursuing the Ph.D. – How to Get Your Research Published

Pilanda Watkins-Curry, Ph.D.
An occasional series from the Doctoral Scholars Program on postsecondary topics

Publishing a journal article is a significant milestone for a Ph.D. student’s academic journey. It showcases your contributions to your respective field and acts as a validation of your research skills and expertise. The process of publishing can often seem overwhelming and time-consuming, but with the right approach, it can be a relatively smooth experience.

Blog post Jhonatan Saldana, Guest BloggerSREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program Participant

Putting Yourself Before Your Work

An occasional series from the Doctoral Scholars Program on postsecondary topics

After working in research in one capacity or another for the past six years, the most common topic I hear about when speaking with fellow students is stress. We just can’t help but mention the stress of working on a time crunch, the stress of submitting grants, the stress of funding; stress is always an underlying theme to our careers and one that appears to have no end. However, not all is doom and gloom. There are many ways in which we can try to balance our work-related stress, and below are two which can get overlooked.