On the other side of online learning

Shannon Smith

How Can We Make School A Place Students WANT to Be?

Michigan Virtual

Meet Kyle Saari, a fifth-grade teacher for Negaunee Public Schools, who reminds us that “comfort leads to confidence” and that when students are excited to be at school and take ownership over their learning, the results can be absolutely incredible.

Competency-Based Education and the Classroom Challenges

Nikolas McGehee

The Case for Coaching and Tutoring

Nikolas McGehee

All the things I wish I knew earlier about online teaching

Holly Boleski

Why Growth Mindsets Are So Important For Student Success in Math

Michigan Virtual

Meet Christy Trombetta, an online math teacher at Michigan Virtual who has a particular knack for helping students develop growth mindsets in her online math classroom. When a student tells her they’re “bad at math,” she takes this self-labeling as a signal that the student may need extra support to shift their inner dialogue from “I’m bad at math” to “I can actually do this.”

Are Grade Levels Getting In The Way of Learning?

Michigan Virtual

Meet Mike Burde, assistant superintendent at Kenowa Hills Public Schools, who shares his vision for a system of schooling that goes beyond “time-based advancement” and instead revolves around personal mastery.

A Forest Most Beautiful

Michigan Virtual

Meet Kelly Tillman, an art educator at Walled Lake Consolidated Schools who teaches a choice-based art classroom and reminds us that — rather than stepping back to see the forest for the trees — it’s often the variation between the trees themselves that makes the forest most beautiful.

We need to give our teachers the professional trust they deserve

Shannon Smith

While structure and accountability are critical components in the education of children, teachers also need to feel respected as the highly educated, specially trained experts they are, most of whom would not remain in the field if not for their passion.

It Takes a Village to Educate a Child

Michigan Virtual

Meet Kerry Downs, the executive director of the Flint Community Education Initiative who provides insight into the rich history of community education in Flint, shares her belief that every school should be a community school, and reminds us that teachers alone shouldn’t bear the burden of educating the “whole child.”

Eight Years of Research on K-12 Special Populations and Motivation

Kristen DeBruler, PhD

Over the past eight years, Michigan Virtual has paid particular attention to online special populations and subsequently online student motivation. Our research team has focused on topics such as online credit recovery, supporting online students with disabilities, and the role of motivation in online courses.

The Life-Affirming Role Of Authenticity in Learning

Michigan Virtual

Meet Amos Briscoe, an art educator for the Washtenaw Alliance for Virtual Education (WAVE) who shares his journey going from feeling like an actor on a stage to bringing authenticity front and center in his classroom.

Research on K-12 Online Best Practices

Kristen DeBruler, PhD

One of the first themes to clearly distinguish itself during the analysis of the reports published by Michigan Virtual was best practices in K-12 online learning. Over the last several years, our research team has explored factors for online student success such enrollment reason, student pacing, teacher-student communication, and instructor role.

What's Best for Kids

Michigan Virtual

Meet Tanya Leon, an English teacher at Richards Middle School with a vision for rebuilding a system of schooling that’s personalized at scale.

Stop calling it "learning loss”

Stacey Schuh

I kept thinking about how negative the word “loss” sounded when describing my children’s remote learning experiences. It bothered me and made me feel as if all of the hard work done to support students wasn’t being acknowledged or given the credit it deserves.

Teaching for Today & Tomorrow: 2021 Takeaways

Sarah Hill

Valuing vs. Acknowledging Diversity

Michigan Virtual

Meet Joy Taylor, a teaching consultant from WAVE who reminds us that there’s a big difference between ACKNOWLEDGING diversity in education and VALUING it.

Podcast: Learning like an Innovator with The Henry Ford

Michigan Virtual

Where Does Tech Belong in Teaching?

Michigan Virtual

Meet Amy Gwizdz & Bob Harrison, an instructional technology coach duo from Dearborn Public Schools with insights on how to leverage technology to create student-centered classrooms.

Best of 2020

Michigan Virtual

A compilation of our top-viewed content in 2020, including blog articles, podcasts, webinars, research articles, and more.