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The Digital Backpack
Your resource for online learning
Your trusted source for K-12 online learning insights, teaching strategies, and success stories from Michigan’s leading virtual education provider. Join us as we explore innovative approaches to help students thrive in the digital age.
Supports associated with teacher retention in Michigan
Ed Timke
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.
3 tips for starting an esports program at your school
Michigan Virtual
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.
3 tried-and-true tips for mentoring online learners
Michigan Virtual
Here’s how you can help your online students THRIVE in the virtual classroom.
Reviewing Michigan's K-12 Virtual Learning Effectiveness Report
The author of Michigan’s K-12 Virtual Learning Effectiveness Report shares a few highlights from the 2020-21 school year to encourage a deeper dive into the full report.
3 tips for building agency as a teacher
Michigan Virtual
Feeling overwhelmed and looking for strategies to take back your agency? Here are three tips for building this vital skill as an educator.
Integrating STEM in your classroom using the “Grand Challenges for Engineering”
Nikolas McGehee
What is STEM, and why should I be teaching it?STEM education has been gaining momentum since the turn of the millennium, largely because of the pace of technological advances and the rapidly changing
22 Tech Tools for 2022
Emily Sicilia
Do you need to spice up your lesson plans? Add a little pizzazz to your classroom? Or just find a tech tool that makes life easier?I've compiled 22 Tech Tools for 2022. Each includes a brief desc
3 tips for starting a therapy dog program at your school
Michigan Virtual
Check out this Michigan principal’s top three tips for starting a therapy dog program at your school!
3 tips for bringing mindfulness into your classroom
Michigan Virtual
This media specialist is bringing mindfulness into the classroom to help students manage their mental health.
3 strategies for using AAC to foster student authenticity and self-advocacy
Michigan Virtual
This Michigan speech-language pathologist is fighting for every child’s right — regardless of ability — to fully communicate their thoughts and feelings.
3 strategies for reinventing learning in Your school community
Michigan Virtual
This former superintendent is leading the charge toward reinventing learning in Michigan.
3 strategies for making sure every student belongs
Michigan Virtual
This assistant superintendent of DE&I is on a mission to ensure every student in her district feels like they belong.
3 tips for managing behaviors in the classroom
Michigan Virtual
This third-grade teacher went on a quest toward better classroom management. Here’s what she found.
3 ways to bring computer science concepts into your classroom
Michigan Virtual
This ex-software developer is leading the way in Michigan K-12 computer science education.
Do You Encourage Stigma?
Navigate360
It’s time to break through the stigma that comes with needing help to cope with mental and emotional challenges. Robust social-emotional learning programs can teach students, staff and parents how to
3 strategies for coping with & preventing educator burnout
Michigan Virtual
This therapist from Alaska is exploring the relationship between boundaries and burnout. Check out Molly Davis’s top three strategies for coping with and preventing educator burnout!
37 Black History Month resources for teachers
Sarah Hill
Did you know a teacher started Black History Month?It’s only appropriate, then, that we compile a list of unique Black History Month resources for educators.But first, let’s go back to the beginning.
How to Help Foster Self-Awareness in Students
Navigate360
Self-awareness is a skill that many adults, let alone kids, struggle with. Fortunately, however, this skill can be cultivated in youth with the right social-emotional support—and schools play an essen
Time for Teachers: Importance of Distinguishing Systemic from Individual Barriers and Solutions
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
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 first post in the Time for Teachers blog series will distinguish systemic from individual barriers, which is essential to ensure that finding time for themselves is not an undue burden on individual teachers. Some challenges require state-, district-, and school-wide solutions.
The Importance of Digital Learning: Gen Z and Gen Alpha in the Classroom
Navigate360
As a modern-day educator, you probably have experience working with both Millennials and Generation Z students—where Millennials are defined as those born between 1981 and 1996 and Generation Z are th
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