The Teaching Now blog explored the latest news on the teaching profession, from practical classroom tips to raging policy debates. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: teaching, teaching profession, and curriculum.
Student Well-Being & Movement
IRA Campaign Aims to Net 4 Million Student-Reading Minutes
The International Reading Association announced this week that is again teaming up with the American Basketball Association to encourage students to increase the time they spend reading. The program, called Fast Break for Reading, provides participating students a ticket to an ABA game of their choice, as well as a certificate and eligibility for a grand prize.
Science
YouTube's 'Pop Science' Videos Gaining Popularity
The number of subscribers to educational YouTube channels tripled in 2013, according to an end-of-year NPR story. And a major contributor to that growth has been increased interest in "pop science"—or what YouTube calls "explainer"—videos.
Equity & Diversity
Educator's Resolution: Enough With the 'Feel-Good' Teacher Movies
Joshua John Macklin, a New York City middle school reading teacher, says it would be beneficial to those working for real improvement in schools if Americans made a collective New Year's resolution to desist from relying on feel-good teacher movies for their information about struggling schools
Professional Development
Teacher Tech-Training Incentive: $350 Toward an iPad
St. Cloud School District will refund teachers up to $350 for the purchase of an iPad if they complete 5 hours of iPad classes.
Education
Top 10 Teaching Now Blog Posts for 2013
Here are the most popular Teaching Now blog posts from the last 12 months.
Professional Development
New National-Board Certifications Still Declining
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards announced this week that 4,117 teachers received certification from the group in 2013—down 17 percent from the previous year and more than 50 percent from 2008.
Equity & Diversity
Chicago Schools to Teach African-American History in Core Courses
More than two decades after Illinois enacted a law that requires public schools to teach African-American studies, the 404,000-student Chicago school district announced a new curriculum guide for incorporating the subject into core classes.
Teaching Profession
'Tis the Season: 2013's Popular Gift Ideas for Teachers
Media outlets have been publishing gift suggestions for teachers in the past few weeks, so we compiled a list of the most popular ideas for teachers this year.
Classroom Technology
Study: iPads Help Students Grasp Challenging Science Concepts
A new study by researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics suggests tablet-computer simulation programs can significantly boost students' grasp of difficult scientific concepts.
Federal
Good News From PISA? U.S. Math/Science Gender Gap Closed
In the United States, there was no statistical difference between boys' and girls' scores in either math or science on the 2012 PISA test.
Professional Development
Contest for Tech-Savvy Teachers
Today, PBS LearningMedia, a classroom-resource hub for teachers, announced its 2014 PBS LearningMedia Digital Innovators Program.
Equity & Diversity
Noguera: Educators Must be 'Guardians of Equity'
At a conference keynote, education advocate Pedro Noguera said that inequity is deeply ingrained in the U.S. education system because, in American society, the pursuit of excellence is often seen as being "at odds with equity."
School & District Management
'Hour of Code' Aims to Get Students Programming
A new campaign for Computer Science Education Week is attempting to get 10 million K-12 students to spend an hour learning how to code.
School & District Management
A Formula for Teaching Controversial Topics
A teacher has developed a formula to debate topics like gun control with her middle school students.