At Springfield Renaissance School in Massachusetts, strong bonds between teachers and students drive academic success.

“I’m going to ask us now for a mindful breath,” a teacher announces to a group of seventh-grade students who are humming with nervous anticipation before their final exam at Springfield Renaissance School. “What do we need? Calming? Awakening? Let’s do a Spider-Man breath!”

Placing prompts throughout a text challenges students to analyze and interpret what they read—improving reading comprehension.

Reading comprehension is an important skill throughout all grade levels, and students who struggle to comprehend texts may disengage from learning. Engaging instructional practices allow students to form a connection with the content.

One of the most popular ideas in education is applied in ways that its creator never intended.

When Howard Gardner introduced his multiple intelligences theory 35 years ago, it was a revolutionary idea that challenged long-cherished beliefs.

Focusing on who students are as individuals—instead of on learning differences or other descriptors—starts with empathy.

As educators strive to be inclusive of all children, one way to begin is to actively use person-first language, a form of linguistic etiquette in which we describe a trait or diagnosis as something a person has rather than as who they are—e.g., “a person with diabetes,” not “a diabetic.” This is a way to honour and welcome students with different abilities. Indeed, how we discuss and describe our students profoundly impacts their sense of inclusion in the classroom.

Teachers, just like everyone else, have all sorts of ideas about who they are, how things should be, how to light Bunsen burners, what they want their lives to be like.