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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.
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
3 tips for setting & tracking goals with students
Michigan Virtual
This instructional coach is pushing to make grades more meaningful to students. Check out Sam Sicilia’s top three tips for setting and tracking student goals in the classroom!
The Impact of Self-Image on Students & Ways Educators Can Help Them Create a Positive One
Navigate360
A student’s self-image is formed by experiences and relationships—watch any stereotypical high school film, and you’ll see the power of comparisons and social rankings in action. These identifying exp
How Superintendents Can Foster College & Career Readiness by Incorporating SEL in a K-12 Environment
Navigate360
Social-emotional learning (SEL) can result in significant academic improvements for students. In fact, school districts in Chicago that partnered with the Collaborating Districts Initiative (CDI) from
3 tips for coding with young students
Michigan Virtual
This technology teacher is showing her K-8 students how to code. Listen to Nicole Green’s powerful story and her top three tips for coding with young students!
4 Strategies for Superintendents When Implementing a Social-Emotional Learning Curriculum
Navigate360
Social-emotional learning (SEL) plays a huge role in human development for young people, helping them manage their emotions, show empathy to others, and maintain healthy relationships. In fact, resear
How Stress Affects the Teenage Brain
Navigate360
K-12 students at all levels are experiencing tremendous changes both physically and mentally as they progress toward adulthood. Guiding students through this journey is one of the greatest rewards for
3 strategies for providing culturally responsive education to Native American students
Michigan Virtual
What does it mean to provide a culturally responsive education to Native American students? As a teacher, where should you begin? Meet Tan-A Hoffman, a second-grade teacher at JKL Bahweting Anishnabe School and a 2020-21 regional teacher of the year, representing her geographic area in Michigan’s upper peninsula. Tan-A shares some incredible stories, a brief bit of history, and three strategies for providing culturally responsive education to Native American students.
SEL Strategies Educators Can Use to Improve Decision-Making Skills in K-12 Students
Navigate360
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) found that five core competencies provide the ideal foundation for high-quality social-emotional learning (SEL) curricula. Those
10 New Year’s Resolutions for Teachers in 2022
Michigan Virtual
From filling your bucket to creating boundaries, we created these resolutions to guide you during this irregular year.
How Schools Can Address Individual Student Needs: Anxiety and Depression
Navigate360
Everyone experiences anxiety and low points from time to time, including children and teens. But when anxiety becomes excessive, it can disrupt normal function and learning and even require the suppor
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