May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, an observance aimed at normalizing conversations about mental health and ending the stigma against mental health issues and treatment.

In the COVID-19 era, mental health awareness is critical. Every student has been, and continues to be, profoundly impacted by the pandemic. Whether they’ve been isolated from friends and family, experienced economic uncertainty, or even suffered a loss, it’s an important time to start an open dialogue with students about their mental health.

Talking to Students about Mental Health

Having a conversation with students about mental health can help cultivate a safe space for questions and empower students to manage…

Explore Part 4 of our series, “Voices in Social Studies” where educators and thought leaders share the latest in social studies teaching and learning. Read part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Historical Context and Background Knowledge

Not too long ago, I had a teacher reach out to me via email and say, “Dr. Eakins, I need some help. I think I messed up when I taught a lesson on the Negro leagues.” So she and I talked on the phone and one of the things she shared with me was how she was really excited to teach about the Negro league, especially relating to…

By Angela Duckworth and Giacomo Bono

Published as a part of a collaboration between McGraw Hill and Character Lab, where this piece first appeared. Character Lab advances scientific insights that help kids thrive (you can watch a short video here). By connecting researchers with educators, Character Lab seeks to create greater knowledge about the conditions that lead to social, emotional, academic, and physical well-being for young people throughout the country.

“Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now!”

— Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton: An American Musical

Why does gratitude matter?

When you feel gratitude, you feel a sense of…

By Angela Duckworth, Character Lab Founder, and CEO

Sixty Seconds of Actionable Advice, Based on Science, Brought to you by Character Lab

Published as a part of a collaboration between McGraw Hill and Character Lab, where this piece first appeared. Character Lab advances scientific insights that help kids thrive (you can watch a short video here). By connecting researchers with educators, Character Lab seeks to create greater knowledge about the conditions that lead to social, emotional, academic, and physical well-being for young people throughout the country.

Write a gratitude letter to someone you’ve never properly thanked.

This was the task I recently assigned as homework to my undergraduate class. I explained that the recipient…

School Principal Appreciation Day is on May 1 and I must say that I truly feel appreciated each day that I have been a principal in the great state of New Jersey. It is truly a dream job! Seven-time SuperBowl winning quarterback, Tom Brady shared his advice with an elementary student during the pregame SuperBowl LV show and that was find something that you enjoy, work really hard at, and it will never feel like a job.

I’ve never dreaded going to work as a principal, even on the days that I knew were going to be a challenge. In…

I remember when I was going through my internship before I graduated with my master’s in education, and my mentor said something that I think about frequently. She said, “As a teacher, it is vital to take your craft and work it every day. It is necessary to try something different because you never know what will work.” Many years later, and several hundred hours of teaching later, I still think that this is a crucial thing to do. As educators, if we do not try new things and have a method of experimentation with what works and what does…

A School Forest Story

A few weeks ago, our school community experienced several challenging events in a row. It was just one of those weeks where each day felt worse than the last, and stress levels and tensions were high for both students and staff. Then came Thursday. Thursdays are always days for outdoor, place-based learning at High Marq. The field experience that week was one of our annual “Survival Days,” where students work in established teams to practice survival skills at one of our school forests. The sun was shining, the skies were clear, and the students had purposeful work to do together…

Today’s teens know that the Internet can be incredibly useful. More and more teens and young adults have personal web pages and use the Internet for a variety of purposes. Unfortunately, the Internet can also be a dangerous place. The hazards you can encounter range from upsetting situations — like being insulted in an instant message, blog, or text message — to physical threats, such as Internet predators.

This doesn’t mean that being online isn’t worth the risks. It just means that you need to know how to protect yourself. Here are a few precautions to take when you’re online:

Understand Cyberbullying

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