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The Digital Backpack. Your Resource for Online Learning
Social Emotional Learning
Ed Timke

Time for Teachers: Self-Assessment with Community Support as Individual Solutions

Educators often cite a lack of time as one of their most significant stressors. How can we help teachers find the balance necessary to feel satisfied in their jobs and meet their social and emotional needs? This third post in the Time for Teachers blog series will discuss the importance of a self-assessment in addressing individual problems and solutions teachers face. This is not to say the onus of addressing challenges should fall squarely on the shoulders of individual teachers. Teachers need a community of practice and support to help them identify problems they might face individually that could benefit from solutions that come from consulting with colleagues.

Research
Ed Timke

Time for Teachers: Agile Meetings and Short Pulse Surveys as Systemic Solutions

Educators often cite a lack of time as one of their most significant stressors. How can we help teachers find the balance necessary to feel satisfied in their jobs and meet their social and emotional needs? This second post in the Time for Teachers blog series will discuss two possible solutions that can help all educators save time while addressing needs to serve students and communities: agile meetings and short pulse surveys.

Social Emotional Learning
Nikolas McGehee

8 go-to SEL tools for teachers

Social emotional learning — also known as “SEL” —  is a component of education that addresses the traditionally non-academic side of student development and learning. 

Online Learning
Christa Green

Effective Practices in Professional Learning Course Design: Course Content

Based on direct input from learners via end-of-course survey data, Michigan Virtual’s Instructional Product Development team gleaned the effective practices outlined in this blog in order to improve their course development and better meet the needs of the educators whom they serve.

Group of high school students working on project
Research
Ed Timke

Bolstering Michigan’s Teacher Recruitment through Grow Your Own Programs

There is a teacher recruitment and retention crisis in Michigan and across the country. Why is there a crisis? What can be done? This last post in a blog series on teacher recruitment and retention summarizes the potential to address the crisis through Grow Your Own Programs.

Research
Ed Timke

Supports associated with teacher retention in Michigan

There is a teacher recruitment and retention crisis in Michigan and across the country. Why is there a crisis? What can be done? This third post in a blog series on teacher recruitment and retention summarizes an important recent study on factors that help teacher retention in Michigan.

Bright
Nikki Herta

3 tips for starting an esports program at your school

Esports is a billion-dollar industry and growing fast. That’s just one of many reasons this assistant principal from Ludington is giving students who may not otherwise engage in school activities the critical opportunity to be part of a team.

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