Schools are doing their best to help kids with mental health, but I wonder if they’re on the right track. My district uses SEL (Social Emotional Learning) lessons, surveys and counselors, but a lot of parents see the SEL techniques as controversial. Without parents on board, will it work? If…
A few days ago, in an act of unspeakable savagery, 19 children were slain at Robb Elementary School in Texas.
Is it just me or is there a lot of marijuana in schools?
Help! We’ve created a monster. My husband and I are now realizing that we’ve spoiled our son. We’ve given him everything he wants and treated him more like a grandchild than our own child. We …
School libraries have been under fire for carrying books that many parents deem inappropriate. I don’t think libraries should carry everything, but I’m also against book banning. Help me!
I saw this on Facebook: “No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship,” and I thought it was so accurate. My son does much better with teachers who really try to get to kn…
I was recently shocked to discover that when students who cannot speak English enroll in American schools, some school districts make no effort to systematically teach them our language. It’s …
So many of my children’s friends have anxiety, depression, are in therapy, or have talked about suicide. I know social media has a lot to do with it, but could parenting be part of the cause?
I admit it. Sometimes I yell at my daughter, usually when she’s done something I’ve told her a thousand times not to do. My husband says I shouldn’t, but when I try to quietly reason with her,…
At my son’s elementary school, the kids have to walk in straight lines everywhere they go, like it’s a military compound. He sometimes gets in trouble for stepping out of line, but I’ve tried …
I'm hearing from teachers about struggles with special needs students. What's happening?
Hope Scholars Academy, a local Christian high school has added two faculty and new electives to its curriculum.
It feels like my son eats in school all day. He gets gummies for good behavior in one class and lollipops for the same reason in another. One teacher gives out candy on test days, and two let …
All members of the Mount Pleasant community, young and old, can share the joy of the traditional high school musical when Lucy Beckham High School students present "You´re a Good Man, Charlie …
Dr. Gerrita Postlewait has done more for teachers in CCSD than anyone since I’ve been in this profession, and that may be her lasting legacy.
While it’s honorable for teachers to use personal days only out of necessity, there’s nothing dishonorable about utilizing the benefit for less critical reasons.
I had to make an appointment for my child, and to set the date I asked his teacher when the next test was so I didn’t schedule the appointment for that day. The teacher didn’t seem happy with …
I’ve read that teachers are complaining about bringing in new curricula because, with all the other challenges they’re facing this year, it’s too difficult to put the curricula in place. My qu…
My kids’ charter high school lets them eat and use cellphones during class. Given all the disruptions and problems this causes, I asked the principal to reconsider the policy. He said he turne…
Because cheating is common does not mean it is insignificant. If permitted to take root, the seeds that allow it to occur in grade school can sprout into a barbed bramble of selfish, entitled, and unethical behavior in adulthood.
It’s really not hard to raise unspoiled children. You don’t have to love them any less. You just have to know when you’re crossing the line from proper attention to overindulgence.
It’s the third week of school and the teacher still doesn’t remember my child’s name. I know teachers have a lot on their plates, but is it too much to expect them to remember their students’ names?
If you don’t want to do what it takes to instill in your kids important values, there are 2.5 million online strangers who are willing to do it for you.
Our natural inclination is to draw back from strangers. Relatives are strangers until we invite them to take a special place in our lives. A warm embrace is an important way of doing that. Teaching children to accept their relative’s physical affection is teaching them that they’re part of a family.
Officials can simultaneously fend off and stem the bleed of teachers from the classroom by enacting parental codes of conduct. If students and teachers have to abide by standards of civility, parents should, too.
I’ve heard teachers complain about emails they get from parents, that they’re mean-spirited, rude, etc. It makes me paranoid to email the teacher because sometimes they just come across the wr…
Accountability is critical to doing our best work and doing it the right way. When we’re being held accountable, there’s always a voice in our head saying, “What will my teacher (or my boss, my mother, the police, etc.) say if I do that?”
We do make sacrifices for our children, but children can learn to make sacrifices, too, even if it’s just for the benefit of their parents’ sanity.
As our culture becomes more divided, it’s crucial to teach with a balanced or apolitical perspective. “Children must learn how to think,” Margaret Mead said, “not what to think.”
Preventing them entirely would mean curing the most severe forms of mental illness. Schools can’t do anything like that. It might make us feel better to add social-emotional learning (SEL) pro…
I saw where South Carolina’s Richland District 2 in Columbia is looking at measures to ensure consistency in grading, in accordance with a larger national movement. What could it mean for schools?
You said recently that districts should lower class sizes because it would address a lot of issues like low achievement, discipline, and mental health. The problem with your solution is there …
Charter schools: good or bad?
The most concerning aspect of the Supreme Court ruling on student athletes' ability to profit while in college could very well be its effect on high schools.
For the last month of school, my child’s teacher didn’t assign any work. When I asked about there being no grades, he said the last few weeks were difficult because with testing and non-instru…
What do teachers think about schools getting rid of exclusionary forms of discipline?
How can we promote a more equitable education for all?
Drug testing kids comes with high risks. The most serious is that it could break your relationship with your children at a time when they need you the most. Clearly it’s a big, bold, invasive step, so it must be carefully contemplated.
The best idea to help students academically and emotionally would be to hire more teachers and lower class sizes.
It seems like everything we want to get rid of in schools over the last 20 years has the effect of making things less challenging and more comfortable for the student.
How do you teach kids that they shouldn’t always be arguing with their siblings or being disrespectful to each other, including us? We have a big rule against disrespect, but it doesn’t seem to work.
There are a dozen bad reasons why a student shouldn't film a fight in school.
An opinion article called “7 Teacher Ideas for Supporting Students Who Aren’t Doing Any Work at All” has been making the rounds. On your Facebook page, you said the ideas were well-intentioned…
My children play video games. My daughter plays games on her iPad and my son has a game console. My wife thinks we should be more cautious about what they’re playing. I used to play a lot when…
We know that our educational system isn’t working for kids in poverty. How can schools help kids to avoid poverty, especially if it’s a cycle?
The job of public school coach isn’t exactly a fertile breeding ground for lofty expectations. It is a thankless job. However, most coaches manage to do wonderful work. Many seem to have endless energy for what they do because they love the sport, enjoy helping kids, and thrive on competition.
The Fordham Institute released a follow-up study to their grade inflation report which showed that students of teachers with tough grading standards and high expectations scored much higher on those end-of-course exams than students whose teachers indulged in practices associated with grade inflation.
If children know your rules, know that you’re fair, and don’t like the consequences for stepping out of line, they will soon rise to your expectations.
Positive character traits have to be instilled, cultivated, and encouraged.
The responsibility for paying attention rests on the listener.
Once again I’m reading that failures are way up. Teachers are telling me that the students who haven’t done anything all year will just be passed on to the next grade along with my kids who ha…
