The Power of the 5:1 Ratio: How Fostering Positive Interactions Can Transform Student Learning

Danielle Peck

The 5:1 ratio has completely changed my thinking about interactions in the classroom. It all started with a question about grading. After all, part of our jobs as teachers is to provide corrective feedback to help students grow. The 5:1 ratio helps to ensure that students can receive this feedback effectively. More importantly, however, it can help us be intentional about creating a classroom environment that centers our humanity.

A simple template for SEL check-ins

Andrea McKay

Using this simple template, our online instructors have learned a lot more about what’s going on in their students' lives, both sorrows and joys. This information can help teachers better connect with students and figure out what might be getting in the way of learning.

Three surprising benefits of holding structured check-ins with students (plus a free template!)

Anne Perez

Looking to cultivate a more student-centered classroom? Try holding structured check-ins with students. You'll immediately start seeing these three key benefits.

21st-century skills: What are they, how should I teach them, and why are they important?

Nikolas McGehee

A roadmap to K-12 innovation: Three takeaways from Michael Horn’s latest masterpiece

Michigan Virtual

Here are our top takeaways from educational futurist Michael Horn's latest book, which offers a practical roadmap to K-12 innovation for school leaders.

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

Ed Timke

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.

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

Ed Timke

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.

8 go-to SEL tools for teachers

Nikolas McGehee

Effective Practices in Professional Learning Course Design: Course Content

Christa Green

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.

Effective Practices in Professional Learning Course Design: Assessments, Format, Structure, and Appearance

Christa Green

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.

Step 2: How do we gain an empathetic understanding of the problem at hand?

You’ve already completed the first step of this process – immersion. You’ve immersed yourself in the problem at hand and discovered the right questions to ask.  Now, you’re ready to conduct research to start answering those questions.

3 tips for bringing hope into the alternative classroom

Michigan Virtual

Bolstering Michigan's Teacher Recruitment through Grow Your Own Programs

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 last post in a blog series on teacher recruitment and retention summarizes the potential to address the crisis through Grow Your Own Programs.

Modernizing Professional Learning, Modeling Effective Practices for Student-Centered Learning

Christa Green

Based on direct input from learners via end-of-course survey data, Michigan Virtual’s Professional Learning Services team has modernized their professional learning for educators while modeling effective practices for student-centered learning.

3 things to consider when implementing restorative practices

Michigan Virtual

Getting ready to take restorative practices to the next level in your school community? Check out this list of strategies first!

3 ways to bring digital literacy into your classroom

Michigan Virtual

This Kalamazoo teacher is passionate about teaching digital literacy skills to the next generation.

Esports is coming to a school near you (here's why that's a good thing!)

3 tips for engaging students in the post-pandemic classroom

Michigan Virtual

This Michigan teacher is changing up her instruction to better meet the needs of her students in the post-pandemic classroom.

Simulations, Visualizations, and Interactives: When to use them, why you should use them, and where to find them

Nikolas McGehee

3 ways to support students experiencing trauma

Michigan Virtual

Check out this Washtenaw teacher’s go-to strategies for creating a trauma-informed classroom.