Cybersecurity 101: Essential Tips for Students & Teachers
The rise of digital learning has transformed education, providing unprecedented connectivity and opportunities. However, this shift also brings serious challenges, particularly in online privacy and security. To navigate this evolving landscape, both students and educators must understand the essentials of cybersecurity.
In today’s academic environment, cybersecurity is no longer optional – it’s a necessity. Protecting personal and institutional data is crucial, especially as digital threats become more sophisticated. A reliable VPN can play a key role in safeguarding online activities and ensuring secure access to educational resources.
This guide explores fundamental cybersecurity practices for schools and universities, offering practical strategies to protect digital identities, prevent data breaches, and create a safer online learning environment. But digital security isn’t just about tools – it’s about building a proactive mindset that prioritizes safety in every online interaction.
From password management to recognizing cyber threats, this guide equips students and educators with the knowledge they need to stay secure. By adopting smart cybersecurity habits, they can turn potential risks into strengths, ensuring a more confident and protected digital learning experience.
Understanding Digital Security in Educational Environments
Digital security is now a top priority for students and educators. With technology deeply embedded in learning, it’s crucial to grasp cyber risks. This is to safeguard sensitive info and ensure safe digital environments.
Educational settings face unique cybersecurity hurdles. They have complex networks and vast digital resources, making them vulnerable to advanced threats. With remote access, the attack surface has grown, necessitating robust security measures.
Common Cyber Threats in Academic Settings
Academic institutions often face phishing, malware, and unauthorized data breaches. Weak passwords and unsecured networks can expose encrypted data. While anonymous browsing offers some protection, it’s not foolproof against all threats.
Impact of Security Breaches on Educational Institutions
Security breaches can severely harm schools, leading to financial losses and reputation damage. They can result in stolen student records, compromised research, and disrupted learning platforms. Inadequate cybersecurity measures lead to these dire consequences.
Basic Security Terminology for Educators
Educators need to understand basic cybersecurity terms. Knowing about encrypted data, network vulnerabilities, and secure authentication is key. Training programs help staff develop strong digital defense strategies. This protects both institutional and personal digital assets.
Essential VPN Usage for Safe Online Learning
In today’s digital world, internet security is paramount for both students and educators. A virtual private network (VPN) is a key solution for safeguarding online learning spaces. It establishes a secure connection, protecting sensitive academic data from cyber threats.
Students often encounter obstacles when trying to access online educational resources. A free VPN helps overcome these hurdles by bypassing restrictions on learning materials. It encrypts internet traffic, adding an extra layer of protection for academic research and personal data.
The advantages of using a VPN go beyond basic internet security. It encrypts data, reducing the risk of interception. This is vital when using public Wi-Fi in libraries, coffee shops, or campus study areas.
Digital learning demands strong security measures. A VPN acts as a shield for online activities, concealing IP addresses and preventing tracking. This ensures students can research, collaborate, and access educational content safely.
More and more educational institutions are seeing the value in digital privacy. By adopting VPN, schools foster responsible online behavior while ensuring a secure learning environment. VPNs are crucial for bypassing geographical restrictions and protecting sensitive information in modern education.
Building Strong Digital Defense Habits
Protecting your digital presence demands a proactive stance on internet security. Students and teachers must craft effective strategies to shield sensitive data from cyber threats. IP masking and comprehensive security practices are key to a robust digital defense.
Password Management Best Practices
Creating strong passwords is vital for internet security. Follow these essential strategies to safeguard your digital accounts:
Create strong passwords with at least 12 characters for enhanced security.
Mix uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols to increase complexity.
Avoid personal information (e.g., birthdays, names) and common words that are easy to guess.
Use a trusted password manager to generate and store unique passwords securely.
Safe File Sharing Protocols
Secure file sharing is crucial in academic and professional settings. To protect sensitive data, use encrypted cloud services and verified file transfer platforms. Always confirm the recipient’s identity before sharing confidential documents.
Data Backup Strategies
Implementing strong data backup methods prevents information loss. Employ multiple backup solutions, such as cloud storage and external hard drives. Automated backup systems add an extra layer of protection against data disasters.
By integrating these IP masking and internet security practices, students and educators can develop a comprehensive digital defense strategy. This strategy minimizes risks and safeguards valuable information.
Conclusion
Cybersecurity in educational settings demands constant attention and proactive measures. Protecting online privacy is more than a technical necessity, it’s a critical skill for both students and educators. By setting up strong digital defenses, schools can greatly lower security risks.
This guide has outlined a detailed plan to protect encrypted data and personal info. It covers everything from recognizing digital threats to using secure file sharing methods. Each step strengthens the defense against cyber attacks. It’s crucial for students and teachers to see cybersecurity as an ongoing journey, requiring continuous learning and updates.
Adopting these cybersecurity practices turns digital interactions into secure experiences. Educators and learners who focus on online privacy build strong academic environments. Every action, from using strong passwords to backing up data, plays a part in a solid security plan.
As technology advances, so must our digital protection strategies. Stay updated, explore new security trends, and always prioritize protecting your digital academic space. Your dedication to cybersecurity today will lead to a safer, more confident digital learning environment
TeachThought’s mission is to promote critical thinking and innovation education.
To grow, teachers must be able to reflect critically on their own performance.
Education is ‘actuated’ by teachers.
It makes sense, then, that education should also be able to reflect critically on its own performance as well.
Currently, this occurs through the comforting precision of analysis and numbers. The language of math, data, and statistics provides a universal language that (ideally) resists rhetoric and insists on facts. This also provides a footing for research and natural anchoring points for the kinds of strategies we use to improve our schools.
To be whole, however, this critical reflection–this self-criticism–needs to be qualitative and quantitative. This means right now, we’ve only got half the picture.
A Self-Aware System Of Education
Criticism is a harsh-sounding word, but it’s close enough to the word critical to see that they belong together. To think critically is to result in ‘criticism’ of some kind, but note that criticism can happen without thinking critically. This seems to be where education gets itself in trouble.
Self-awareness is a precursor to self-knowledge; self-knowledge is a precursor to context; context is a precursor to understanding.
Applied to education as a whole–as a system–self-awareness seems awkward. It is a uniquely human trait that depends, in part, on being able to isolate one’s ‘self,’ and dissolves once one person becomes two.
To be self-aware requires that you can see around ‘yourself’ without missing anything. That you see all the parts from their beginning to their end, and in a scale that doesn’t obscure their function. Otherwise, you’re not self-aware but fragment-aware. Piece-aware.
For a school system, whole awareness would mean every school, cafeteria, classroom, athletic field, assessment, textbook, IT policy, grading policy, bus route, parent concern, committee, federal guidelines, and budget item. Every course, course title, bell schedule, class change process, and school mascot.
And students, too–their history, their interests, their reading levels, their affections, curiosities, habits, sense of self-efficacy, and their own patterns of living in native communities. Every book they loved and book they hated–every bad habit, source of academic apathy, and cause for intrinsic motivation and source of intrinsic motivation.
And teachers. And higher ed. And technology–and each of these can be scattered into ten thousand pieces themselves.
So many moving parts obscure the whole, and the whole obscures the parts–which means that self-awareness and self-criticism remain beyond our reach. The best we can muster is survey.
It’s clear that a self-aware system of education is impossible, as currently designed–which means then that a self-correcting system of education is also impossible as currently designed.
Settling
Instead, awareness for education–and educators within education–tends to come in a series of glimpses and corrections in a series of jerks. The broad vision that leads to day-to-day, semester-to-semester, and year-to-year continuity is replaced by artificial streaks of agitation, enthusiasm, and trend. Glimpses and jerks aren’t leading to the transformation that our funding, technology, and collective expertise and passion might otherwise be capable of.
Scale will be a challenge to creating a self-aware system of education that is capable of iterating and transforming itself through baked-in mechanisms that actually work.
Let’s create something huge that care-takes the intellectual and creative growth of millions and millions of little human beings, and then be surprised when the results are mediocre and the students are anonymous.
For education to become self-aware, it will have to see itself and all of its own gears. If we insist on a national system that is monitored at the state and district level, it will depend on national, state, and district efficacy and efficiency. We’ve designed, then, a system of teaching and learning–of human improvement–that is unmanageable by that very design. A system that, incredibly, wants to globalize itself.
Whether this is a challenge of size, scale, hubris, or design, ‘whole’ self-criticism isn’t possible. As long as that’s true, neither is anything but minor spurts of serendipitous improvement.
For now, in your classroom, school, or district, imagine what self-criticism and self-correction currently look like. It’s probably a mix of data teams, lesson planning feedback, and more data.
What are you doing to get a full picture of who you are, how you’re doing, and the kinds of corrections your craft as an educator demands? If we can’t come up with a good answer for this, we shouldn’t be surprised when other people (purposefully vague) come in and do it for us, stop believing in what we do, or design and fund alternatives that have thinking and design of their own.
An underperforming teacher eventually gets replaced. Underperforming schools, districts–and most critically, learning models–are perma-funded and untouchable.
Why We Play Video Games: How Our Desire For Games Shapes Our World was first published in Game Informer magazine and then on gameinformer.comby Ben Reeves
Gamers have spent countless hours saving princesses, dodging bullets, and dismembering Grecian monsters. What drives us to keep coming back to these experiences? Researchers worldwide have spent decades measuring games’ effects on our society: how they encourage or discourage violence, inspire creativity, or nurture laziness. However, people rarely ask why we play games in the first place. What drives us to collect coins, snipe aliens, or scale the walls of ancient tombs until three in the morning?
Psychologists and sociologists are only now beginning to understand why the human ability to play is so powerful. But unlocking the mystery behind this desire may do more than help us understand our obsession – it could reshape and improve society in powerful ways.
Mental Benefits
There are several mental benefits for childrens, adults, and seniors alike. Card games like Cribbage, Solitaire, and Spades enhance critical thinking, strategic planning, and decision-making skills in children by teaching pattern recognition, card combinations, and basic math concepts. Moreover, they are easy to play in person or online.
Card games are beneficial for adults as they promote cognitive engagement and relaxation that help contribute to mental stimulation and better well-being. For seniors, card games maintain mental acuity through mental agility, memory, and problem-solving, while also combating isolation. All groups benefit from stress relief and relaxation, as well as the overall positive impact on mental stimulation, skill development, social interaction, and leisure.
Three Invisible Needs Gamers often use the term ‘escapism’ when discussing their hobby, but this is a hollow explanation for what motivates us to play games. In fact, the word ‘escape’ contains some negative implications – suggesting that those who play games need to break free from the mundane slavery of their reality. We enjoy retreats to other realities – ones more fantastical than our own – but we aren’t always driven to play games because we are trying to escape our lives. The real motivations for play are far more complex, and games positively fulfill several real-world human needs.
After earning his Ph.D. in clinical and social psychology from the University of Rochester, Scott Rigby helped found Immersyve, a research company designed to examine some of these basic human needs and discover what makes video games so appealing. After collecting several years’ worth of behavioral data and conducting numerous in-house studies from companies like Sony, Activision, and Warner Bros. Interactive, Rigby feels Immersyve has nailed down a few key motivations behind our addiction to fun.
“We all have basic psychological needs,” explains Rigby, who detailed gaming’s intrinsic allure in his book Glued to Games: How Videogames Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound. “These needs operate all the time – when we’re at work, or when we’re engaging in a softball league, or on weekends while we are -playing a video game. These needs are always operating. Games perfectly target several of these needs.”
According to Rigby, Immersyve’s complex needs-satisfaction metrics narrow down to three basic categories. The first of these needs is a need for competence – that is a desire to seek out control or to feel mastery over a situation. People like to feel successful, and we like to feel like we’re growing and progressing in our knowledge and accomplishments. This need plays out in real life when people switch careers or return to school because their current job isn’t rewarding or challenging enough. It’s also easy to see how video games make us feel more accomplished. Every time we level up in Final Fantasy or defeat a challenging boss in God of War, games fulfill our desire to feel competent.
Our second psychological need is autonomy: the desire to feel independent or have a certain amount of control over our actions. This need pervades nearly every facet of our culture. The drive toward autonomy is why people instinctively dislike being manipulated; it’s why imprisonment is a punishment, and we feel an innate urge to rebel against slavery. This need explains why game series that offer players a wealth of free choices – such as The Elder Scrolls or Grand Theft Auto – are so popular.
“The terrible twos are a great example of the need for autonomy,” Rigby says. “It’s not terrible for the kid. It’s terrible for the parent who has to listen to their kid say ‘No’ all the time. What is that kid doing? The kid is showing their autonomy. They want to control their destiny, and they’re verbally flexing that muscle for the first time.”
The final psychological human need is relatedness. We like to feel like we matter to others and feel like we are making a significant contribution to society. In a 2003 study, the University of Massachusetts Medical School discovered that people with altruistic tendencies generally have higher levels of mental health and less overall life stress.
It’s easy to see how gamers can fulfill this need for relatedness by playing games with friends online. Still, oddly enough, Immersyve’s studies have found that this need for relatedness can be met even if gamers interact with people who are not real. “The way that games are written, this need can generally be met when players are talking to an in-game character,” Rigby says. “That’s why a lot of quests are often structured around helping a particular NPC find an item or collect a treasure.”
Over the centuries, we’ve gravitated towards experiences that make us feel more competent, autonomous, and related because these experiences make us feel good and mentally healthy. These needs can be fulfilled in many ways: through work, school, friends, sports, and hobbies. However, sociologists are beginning to understand that video games are one of the most seductive of all of these activities because they fulfill our psychological needs more efficiently than almost any other activity.
Games Are Work Imagine this: A man sits at a desk and pulls up a numbers database. He looks through the database and compares a list of numbers from one column to a list from another column. He takes a certain number from one cell and reallocates it somewhere else. He clicks a few buttons, waits a few seconds, and then repeats the process. Then he does it again and again. This man could be performing spreadsheet accounting work, or he could be crafting in World of Warcraft.
At their most basic levels, work and play look a lot alike. The difference between the two is that games couch this kind of work in a fiction that makes them enjoyable. A game’s narrative makes our choices feel significant enough that we buy into the game emotionally, and the feedback system encourages us to keep working.
People often view games as the opposite of work, but some sociologists believe games are an idealized form of work. “Most people find work rewarding; we have built-in emotional reward centers that encourage us to complete tasks,” says Andrew Przybylski, Ph.D., a lecturer at the University of Essex whose papers have appeared in journals like Psychological Science.
This built-in desire to feel accomplished often pushes sports stars to return to the game after retirement. People don’t like to be idle. Work meets our three invisible needs in some of the same ways that games do. Games are just more efficient satisfiers.
“The connection to how hard we work is often mismatched with the feedback we get from the real world,” Przybylski says. “Sometimes we think we really knocked it out of the park, and really you just phoned it in. Other times you might have burned the midnight oil, but no one seems to give a crap. One of the things that’s really powerful about video games is the level of connection between how hard you work and the feedback you receive for your behavior.”
Games are more consistent at rewarding us for our choices and provide a diversity of choice that the real world doesn’t provide. Gamers can go places and enter into situations that are closed off to them in real life. Games are immediately rewarding, providing instant feedback when we do something right, and telling us how well we perform every step along the way. These highly tuned feedback systems are the key to turning video games into an indispensable tool for bettering our future.
Students of the Game It’s difficult to predict exactly how our society will unlock the power of games in the coming decades. Still, video games have already influenced science, education, and business. Examining how these disciplines have profited from gaming concepts could give us a glimpse of our future.
We’ve exploited one of gaming’s most useful applications for centuries. Chess was used in the Middle Ages to teach war strategies to noblemen. In the ‘70s, computer games like Oregon Trail did a better job of getting kids excited about American history than most history professors. Today, hundreds of web portals like Kidsknowit.com offer teachers a reservoir of tools to help educate students. Games are an indispensable learning tool, but we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of their teaching potential.
“Almost all educational games suck,” says Iowa State University professor Douglas A. Gentile, who has spent his career researching how video games affect children. “They don’t put nearly the same level of attention and resources into them as something like Halo.
I’d be surprised if they get 1/100th the resources Halo does. So much of the public debate about games has been sidetracked by tragedy. We wring our hands about the cause of violence in society, and there really is no one cause. Our ability to move forward with intelligent approaches to studying and discussing games really keeps getting sidetracked by media violence.”
Many modern – even violent – games might be better teaching tools than we realize. The Assassin’s Creed series allows gamers to explore classic locales sprinkled with real historical details. Rocksmith teaches people how to play guitar, and The Typing of the Dead improves horror fans’ typing skills. The upcoming indie title Code Hero even hopes to teach young programmers how to design games.
“I think games can provide a framework for understanding contemporary issues such as governmental budgets and spending,” Przybylski says. “I’d bet SimCity veterans have a less distorted views of current city/state/federal expenditures compared to the general public.”
Building blocks of a better world While games help us learn about yesterday, they could also be a building block for a better tomorrow. Several businesses have taken the ‘sticky’ qualities that make video games engaging and applied them to traditionally mundane tasks.
Gamification is a buzzword often tossed around the conference tables of Fortune 500 companies. The concept promotes the idea of rewarding virtual currency to consumers who complete simple tasks. Foursquare users are familiar with the concept of gamification and its slow drip of new badges and awards. However, gamified services don’t meet our invisible needs on the same level as mainstream video games. Instead of razzle-dazzling customers with extrinsic baubles and badges, in the near future, businesses may fine-tune their feedback systems to tickle our psychological needs. Someday, filing accounting spreadsheets could be more like playing World of Warcraft. But games are already helping people get better at their jobs in many practical ways.
“There are a number of great studies showing that first-person shooters increase our visual perception and help gamers pick information off of a screen quickly, which is the kind of skill that an air traffic controller needs, for example,” Gentile says. “A couple other studies with microscopic surgeons show that surgeons who have played games in the past are better at advanced surgical skills – that gaming is, in fact, a better predictor than how many years of training they’ve had or how many surgeries they’ve performed.”
Aside from the physical benefits of gaming, video games excel at setting clear goals and showing a player’s progression toward those goals. This approach already radiates across the social networking where progress bars litter sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Spotify. Other businesses have developed feedback mechanisms that allow customers to track their progress toward improved social, financial, and physical health. Unique puzzle games like Foldit and EteRNA encourage problem solvers to fold the structure of selected macromolecules differently, which will help further scientific learning and possibly cure diseases.
That they lower the barrier of entry for people to get behind new social causes is one of the reasons why people play video games. For example, the simple online quiz game Freerice has encouraged gamers to collect more than 90 billion grains of rice for the World Food Programme. Much like Twitter allows its users to interact with celebrities and businesses unlike any other medium in history, future game-like services and tools could encourage new social team building, allowing users to voice their opinions and affect societal change in myriad new ways.
No one believes that every facet of our lives would improve if it adhered to the rules of video games. Life can’t be all fun and games; sometimes, effort is needed to produce results. Some work is work. However, most industries and human endeavors may prosper if they do a better job meeting the psychological needs of their audience. No form of human expression understands needs satisfaction better than video games.
When used correctly, video games hold the potential to show us the world through a different set of lenses – to craft experiences that engage our minds both cognitively and socially, and ultimately make us feel like active participants in shaping our destiny.
Critical thinking is a skill we’re told to cultivate, like reading literature or maintaining eye contact during small talk.
It’s about stepping back, analyzing, and questioning everything, even when it would be so much easier to just agree with the loudest person in the room. But not all of us are wired to lean into logic, dissect every detail, or embrace the cold, hard facts. Some zodiac signs are, let’s say, a bit allergic to critical thinking. They’re the dreamers, the feelers, the ones who’d rather trust their guts than their Venn diagrams.
The question of whether the stars influence our ability to think critically is both amusing and oddly serious. People are complex, formed by a mix of upbringing, personal experiences, and, perhaps, cosmic alignment. So, which zodiac signs are the most vulnerable when it comes to critical thinking? Let’s examine what the universe might have to say about it.
Pisces: Fantasy Over Fact
Pisces doesn’t question reality; they reinterpret it. The zodiac’s resident romantics, are more comfortable swimming in a sea of imagination than navigating the rocky shores of critical thought.
It’s not that Pisces can’t think critically – they just often choose not to. Why question when you can believe? For a Pisces, life is better experienced emotionally than clinically examined. For those intrigued by how these ethereal souls view the world, you can explore a broader cosmic lens with Nebula horoscope and astrology.
Cancer: Feels-First, Facts-Later
Cancer’s relationship with critical thinking is complicated. They feel everything, and their emotions often lead the way, overshadowing logic.
Their world is filtered through their heart, not their head. These natural nurturers are deeply intuitive, often mistaking gut feelings for gospel truths. Tell a Cancer their reasoning is flawed, and you might as well be critiquing their favorite comfort blanket.
Of course, Cancers are capable of deep thought, however, sometimes their emotions can get in the way. But maybe that’s the beauty of Cancer: it reminds us that sometimes the heart knows things the mind can’t comprehend. If you’re seeking insight into their emotional depths, a free psychic chat can be a fascinating starting point.
Sagittarius: The Optimists with Selective Logic
A free spirit and a philosopher of the zodiac, Sagittarius has a reputation as a true wanderer of life. They might ask you big lifetime questions that no philosopher has an answer to. But wanting to see the big picture so badly makes them bored to seek the real answers.
Sagittarius thrives on belief and optimism, not skepticism and analysis. They’d rather explore a possibility than poke holes in it, making them more prone to take things at face value. That’s not to say they lack intelligence – they just save their mental energy for things that excite them. Curious to dive deeper into the Sagittarius logic? Psychic advisors might just help you crack their adventurous code.
Taurus: The “Don’t Make Me Question It” Type
Taurus loves stability. They build their lives on a foundation of comfort, tradition, and trust in what works. This is why critical thinking often feels like a threat to their well-curated worldview. A Taurus won’t dive into an endless loop of questioning unless absolutely necessary – and even then, it might take some convincing.
Their stubbornness isn’t necessarily a weakness; it’s more about preserving their sense of security. Taurus would rather double down on what they already know than risk rocking the boat with too much analysis. And honestly? We all envy their ability to say, “No thanks” to overthinking.
Leo: The Confident Believer
Leo’s confidence is both their superpower and their Achilles’ heel. They’re bold and self-assured, and radiate an energy that makes people want to believe in them. But this confidence can occasionally blind them to the need for critical thinking.
When Leos feel secure in their convictions, they’re unlikely to question them deeply. Why would they? From their perspective, they’ve already arrived at the correct answer. Still, their charisma often carries them through, even when their reasoning isn’t entirely sound.
How Critical Thinking Can Be a Strength
It’s important to remind yourself that everyone is different and that’s why our universe is so beautiful. Some signs are just wired differently, while others thrive on examination and reasoning. It’s a matter of perspective rather than intelligence.
The world’s Sagittariuses, Cancers, and Pisces serve as a reminder that not everything requires close examination to be appreciated. Sometimes you just have to jump without looking, follow your heart, or trust your instincts. So, don’t hurry to judge the book by its cover.
However, astrology is a fun method to investigate how our heavenly personalities affect how we approach logic, whether you’re a dreamer seeking to hone your analytical abilities or a critical thinker seeking to broaden your perspective.
TeachThought’s mission is to promote critical thinking and innovation education.
Simple premise, as titled: what sorts of ‘things’ make teaching unsustainable, and what sort of advice can help teachers reflect on these ideas to mitigate any damage and make the profession more enjoyable, and thus sustainable.
10. Grow a healthy and useful professional learning network.
And this should have significant implications for instructional design–spiraling, for example. Some ideas students can ‘get’ right away, while others will take all year. Continuously spiral those sufficiently complex ideas so students have a chance to master them.
8. You don’t need a million tools and strategies to teach well.
You don’t need a million tools and strategies to teach well, so use a handful that are flexible and powerful.
The 40/40/40 rule is a wonderful on-the-fly measuring stick to help prioritize content, teaching, and assessment. Other useful tools that can come in handy? Metaphors, similes, and teaching with analogies (using them to teach complex ideas–“a thesis statement is the _____ of an essay a…”; “The Civil Rights movement was like…”; RAFT assignments. Choice boards.
Be picky.
7. Never take it personally.
Teaching is a deeply human endeavor, and so, of course, it’s natural to ‘take it personally.’ By all means, do so. But as much as possible, endeavor to be a professional in the same way a surgeon is. While surgeons undoubtedly care about their patients because they care, they have to be professional, calculated, and objective. You never know what a student is going through, or ‘where they are’ in their development as human beings. Have a short memory, and be their best chance to become something great.
6. The students should talk more than you do.
This one’s easy to forget, especially when you have so much to teach. There’s the shift though–try to focus on what students are learning and how rather than what ‘you’re teaching.’
This isn’t much different than a relationship, marriage, money, or any other career.
You can’t teach if you’re exhausted, misinformed, too hard on yourself, disconnected, or misunderstand your role in some critical way (as a colleague, a peer, a teacher, a department leader, etc.) It’s not your job to save the world. Every child needs something different. In response, try to adopt learning models, tools, teaching strategies, and more–and use them in a way that doesn’t require superhuman effort from you to make it work.
They should work harder than you do.
4. You’re a professional and you control your own attitude.
You see what you want to see, so choose to see and assume the best in people and circumstances, and move forward from there. Schools can be places full of bad policies and absurd bureaucracy. There’s too much pressure to accomplish too much from too many different places. You probably can’t change most of that, so focus on what you can change–and that starts with how you think.
The students are always watching you. How you treat people (even the ‘problem students’); how you show compassion or model accountability. Where you go for resources. How you define ‘success.’ What you do when you’re frustrated or upset. Your dedication and craft and expertise. They may not see it all every single time, but they never stop watching.
This means your voice carries on outside the classroom, where they’ll continue to talk about you–for years to come if you’ve done it well.
3. How you make students feel can last a lifetime. Careful.
You are a larger than-life-figure to most students. You’re a teacher–you may be the loudest voice in their already busy mind. Consider the character you play in that mind accordingly. Further, how you frame students in your mind absolutely changes how you’ll think about and respond to and teach students.
2. You come first
This is counter to what teachers have long practiced–and been conditioned to believe.
While student-centered classrooms are what we strive to provide, they absolutely cannot come at the cost of teacher well-being. In fact, any teaching or education practices in general that come at the cost of teacher well-being are inherently unsustainable.
And any system (e.g., public education) that misuses and ‘destroys’ the parts (e.g., teachers) it depends on to function is, at best, flawed and irrational and, at worst, destructive and unsustainable. Just like airlines remind adult passengers to put the oxygen mask on themselves before their children, educators, too, must put themselves first. You can’t teach if you’re not ‘okay’–and you can’t consistently be ‘great’ if you’re not thriving as a human being and professional educator.
While teachers have to possess and demonstrate skill and expertise in a wide range of areas, from psychology to technology to content areas and people and communities, we also often have a ‘thing.’
Whatever ‘it’ is, it’s equal parts identity, purpose, love, and curiosity. Whether it’s the students, your craft, your content, your community, or something else entirely–be clear in your own mind about why you do what you do, and never let it go.
Advice For Teachers? 10 Things To Not Lose Sight Of This Year; adapted image attribution flickr user sparkfunelectronics
Whether you’re using formative assessment for data to personalize learning within a unit, or more summative data to refine a curriculum map, the ability to quickly and easily check for understanding is a critical part of what you do. (Which was the idea behind 10 Assessments You Can Perform In 90 Seconds Or Less.)
The following infographic Mia MacMeekin offers up 27 additional ways to check for understanding. Some aren’t necessarily quick–“Test what you learned in a new situation”–but there are a dozen or more other ideas that are worth adding to your teacher toolbox, many of which aren’t content-related, but rather cognitively related (Locate 3 people who agree with your point of view.)
Image attribution flickr user deepcwind and miamacmeekin
TeachThought’s mission is to promote critical thinking and innovation education.
School librarians have much more on their plates than just managing books, often spending a great deal of time educating students and teachers, learning about and implementing new technology, and reading up on the latest new releases for young adults and children.
It can be a lot to keep up with, but luckily other librarians are sharing their wisdom, experience, and expertise via the web. We’ve brought together 121 excellent blogs written by teachers, librarians, tech experts, and book lovers that can act as amazing resources for any school librarian.
If you add TeachThought to the list, that’s 121. : )
SCHOOL BLOGS
Edutopia – Insights on teaching strategies and school reform.
Teacher Toolkit – Practical resources for classroom management and teaching.
Cult of Pedagogy – Articles on educational practices and teaching tips.
Free Technology for Teachers – Tech tools and resources to enhance learning.
Cool Cat Teacher – Tips and inspiration for K-12 educators.
The Principal’s Desk – Leadership insights for school administrators.
Education Week – National education news and analysis.
MindShift – Exploring the future of learning and educational trends.
Teaching Channel – Video resources for classroom teaching.
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day – Resources for English language learners.
Finding Common Ground – Discussions on school reform and teacher advocacy.
The International Educator – Perspectives on global education and teaching abroad.
Education Rethink – Creative approaches to teaching and learning.
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning – EdTech resources for educators.
The Innovative Educator – Modern strategies for effective teaching.
TeachThought – Resources and innovative ideas for educators.
Kleinspiration – Classroom strategies and technology integration tips.
Teaching in the Middle – Resources and methods for middle school educators.
The Cornerstone for Teachers – Advice on classroom management and teaching strategies.
Shake Up Learning – Innovative teaching ideas using technology.
The Art of Education – Resources for art teachers.
Physical Education Blog – Ideas and activities for PE teachers.
Special Education Teacher – Strategies for inclusive education.
Science Teacher Blog – Resources for teaching science at all levels.
Mathematics Teacher Blog – Innovative approaches to teaching math.
Literacy and NCTE – Resources from the National Council of Teachers of English.
Mindful Schools – Resources for integrating mindfulness into education.
Teachers Pay Teachers Blog – Ideas and resources from fellow educators.
ReadWriteThink – Resources for teaching reading and language arts.
Family Engagement in Education – Strategies for involving families in learning.
K-12 Tech Decision Maker – Insights on technology use in schools.
EdSurge – EdTech news and resources for educators.
School Library Journal – Resources and news for school librarians.
EdLeadership – Best practices for educational leaders.
The Teaching Channel Blog – More resources and inspirational teaching videos.
Learning Forward – Professional development resources for educators.
The Reading Teacher – Research-based strategies for teaching reading.
Principals’ Page – Leadership tips and resources for school principals.
Teaching Tolerance – Resources for teaching inclusivity and social justice.
The Lesson Plan Diva – Lesson planning and educational resources.
BOOK BLOGS
Book Riot – Diverse reading recommendations and book culture.
Literary Hub – Reviews, essays, and scholarly articles.
Brain Pickings – Thoughtful insights and recommendations on literature.
ReadWriteThink – Resources and activities for teaching reading and writing.
Children’s Book Council – Resources and recommendations for children’s literature.
The Horn Book – Reviews and resources dedicated to children’s and young adult literature.
The New York Times Book Review – Critical reviews and literary insights.
Booklist Online – Curated book recommendations for various age groups.
Forever Young Adult – Young adult literature reviews and discussions.
School Library Journal – Reviews, articles, and resources for school librarians.
The Bookish – Contemporary book news and recommendations.
Crime Reads – Book reviews focused on mystery and crime genres.
The Children’s Book Review – Reviews and resources for children’s books.
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books – Discusses romance novels and the genre.
The Reading Zone – Focuses on children’s literature and teaching resources.
Shelf Awareness – News and information for readers and book industry professionals.
The Book Smugglers – Focuses on speculative fiction and diverse authors.
Literary Rambles – Writing resources and trends in children’s publishing.
A Kids Book A Day – Daily recommendations of children’s books.
The Modern Mrs. Darcy – Literary lifestyle blog with book recommendations.
BookPage – Book reviews and recommendations across genres.
Teen Librarian Toolbox – Focuses on young adult literature and programming.
Historical Novel Society – Reviews and promotes historical fiction.
Kirkus Reviews – Comprehensive book reviews for all age groups.
The Bookish Elf – Focus on children’s literature recommendations.
Reading Rockets – Literacy resources and book recommendations for young readers.
The Book Report Network – Reviews and recommendations in various categories.
Books’ N’ Music – Articulates book reviews alongside relevant music.
The Novel Experience – Highlights unique literature and author interviews.
Lit Hub’s “A Reading List” – Curated lists of books and themed discussions.
Storytime Felts – Resources for storytelling and reading with young children.
Picture Bookshelf – Reviews focusing on picture books for young learners.
LibraryThing – Community-based book recommendations and reviews.
Best Books for Kids – Compression of recommended children’s literature.
Bookish – Discusses books, trends, and author interviews.
Books, Laughs, and Life – Reviews and chats about relatable literature.
The Reading Life – Personal insights and recommendations on various books.
Book Nerds Unite – Community reviews and discussions on contemporary titles.
Captivating Readers – Resources for engaging readers with good literature.
The Book Whisperer – Focuses on fostering a love for reading in children.
LIBRARY BLOGS
In the Library with the Lead Pipe – Insights into academic libraries and trends.
The Digital Shift – Focus on technology in libraries.
Library Journal – Professional news and insights for librarians.
Programming Librarian – Guides for innovative programming ideas in libraries.
Public Libraries Online – Features on services and trends in public libraries.
School Library Journal – News and resources tailored for school libraries.
The Unquiet Librarian – Insights into modern school library practices.
A Librarian’s Guide to Etiquette – Advice for navigating library work relationships.
Hack Library School – Focus on library education and future trends.
Letters to a Young Librarian – Career advice and discussions for new librarians.
Teen Librarian Toolbox – Resources for engaging teens in libraries.
Library Hat – Innovative strategies for library services.
The Shifted Librarian – Focuses on the future of libraries in a digital age.
Library as Incubator – Encourages arts and creativity in library spaces.
The Librarian’s Guide to Getting Things Done – Productivity tips for librarians.
Tech-Savvy Librarian – Guides to technology usage in libraries.
The Creative Librarian – Inspires creativity in libraries and educational contexts.
Librarians Without Borders – Focus on global library initiatives and outreach.
Library Marketing – Strategies for effectively promoting library services.
Library Research Service – Research and statistics for library professionals.
The Academic Librarian – Insights and discussions on academic library practices.
The Library Science Collective – Collaborative blog for library professionals.
The Book Riot – Collection of book-related discussions and library insights.
Diverse BookFinder – Tools and resources for diverse literature in libraries.
Around the World in 80 Books – Focus on global literature and library services.
Librarian’s Almanac – Daily insights and thoughts on library management.
The Library Assistant – Resources for library assistants and staff.
Library Science Moves – Updates and strategies in the library field.
Open Spaces – Focus on improving library spaces for community engagement.
Understanding the Library – Guides for library policies and outreach.
Abstracts of Librarianship – Consolidated views on the library profession.
The Reference Section – Reference tips and strategies for library staff.
Books In Bloom – Literary events and their significance in libraries.
Librarian’s Toolbox – Essential resources for library professionals.
Library Leadership – Leadership strategies for effective library management.
Digital Preservation Blog – Focus on preserving digital resources in libraries.
The Reference Librarian – Focus on reference service innovation.
Skills for Librarians – Professional development resources for skills enhancement.
Library Legislation – Updates on legislation affecting libraries.
The Nonprofit Librarian – Strategies for funding and promoting library services.
TeachThought’s mission is to promote critical thinking and innovation education.
The goal of the model is simple enough–not pure academic proficiency, but instead authentic self-knowledge, diverse local and global interdependence, adaptive critical thinking, and adaptive media literacy.
By design this model emphasizes the role of play, diverse digital and physical media, and a designed interdependence between communities and schools.
The attempted personalization of learning occurs through new actuators and new notions of local and global citizenship. An Inside-Out School returns the learners, learning, and ‘accountability’ away from academia and back to communities. No longer do schools teach. Rather, they act as curators of resources and learning tools and promote the shift of the ‘burden’ of learning back to a more balanced perspective of stakeholders and participants.
Here, families, business leaders, humanities-based organizations, neighbors, mentors, and higher-education institutions all converging to witness, revere, respond to and support the learning of its own community members.
The micro-effect here is increased intellectual intimacy, while the macro-effect is healthier communities and citizenship that extends beyond mere participation, to ideas of thinking, scale, legacy, and growth.
Applying old thinking in constantly changing and unfamiliar circumstances as a constant matter of practice
Constant practice of prioritized big ideas in increasing complexity within learner’s Zone of Proximal Development
Project-based learning, blended learning, and Place-Based Education available to facilitate highly constructivist approach
5. Mentoring & Community
‘Accountability’ via the performance of project-based ideas in authentic local and global environments
Local action –> global citizenship
Active mentoring via physical and digital networking, apprenticeships, job shadows and study tours
Communal Constructivism, meta-cognition, Cognitive Coaching, and Cognitive Apprenticeship among available tools
6. Changing Roles
Learners as knowledge makers
Teachers as the expert of assessment and resources
Classrooms as think-tanks
Communities not just audience, but vested participants
Families as designers, curators, and content resources
7. Climate of Assessment
Constant minor assessments replace exams
Data streams inform progress and suggest pathways
Academic standards prioritized and anchoring
Products, simulation performance, self-knowledge delegate academia to a new role of refinement of thought
8. Thought & Abstraction
In this model, struggle and abstraction are expected outcomes of increasing complexity & real-world uncertainty
This uncertainty is honored, and complexity and cognitive patience are constantly modeled and revered
Abstraction honors not just art, philosophy, and other humanities, but the uncertain, incomplete, and subjective nature of knowledge
9. Expanding Literacies
Analyzes, evaluates, and synthesizes credible information
Critical survey of the interdependence of media and thought
Consumption of constantly evolving media forms
Media design for authentic purposes
Self-monitored sources of digital & non-digital data
Artistic and useful content curation patterns
The Inside-Out Learning Model Central Learning Theories & Artifacts: Situational Learning Theory (Lave), Discovery Learning (Bruner), Communal Constructivism (Holmes), Zone of Proximal Development & More Knowledgeable Other (Vygotsky), Learning Cycle (Kolb), Transfer (Thorndike, Perkins, Wiggins), Habits of Mind (Costa and Kallick), Paulo Freire, and the complete body of work by Wendell Berry
The traditional scene is familiar: Students drift into class while we announce “Your warm-up is on the board,” followed by the usual shuffle for supplies and various requests. But in today’s educational landscape, we can do better with these precious opening minutes.
Why Opening Minutes Matter
Peak cognitive readiness
Prime time for memory formation
Critical window for establishing engagement
Opportunity to build classroom culture
Sets the tone for deep learning
Modern Strategies for Class Openers
1. Facts and Fibs
Create facts and fibs about the upcoming topic on strips of paper. In groups, students discuss each of these and separate into piles. For example, if students will be learning about the desert, one strip might say, “Deserts are always hot.” Another: “Desert animals often have long periods of dormancy to survive.” As students learn about deserts, they rethink their facts and fibs, repositioning the strips. Were the group’s answers correct?
In math, fact and fib strips might say, “.61 is greater than 0.064” or “There is not a number between 5.4 and 5.5.” Facts and fibs facilitate talking about math.
2. Survey
It’s hard to beat surveys to answer the question, “What’s this got to do with me?” About to embark on a government unit? A short survey in which students respond to questions about driver’s licenses, voting, marriage requirements, etc. can get every student involved.
Tackling a piece of text about a character in a tough predicament? Survey questions inquire about ways in which students might handle these situations. Students are more likely to be motivated to read when there is a personal connection to the text. They are now wondering, “Hmmm, I wonder how the character will get out of this mess?” (Before the survey, students were likely thinking about lunch.)
3. Question Cards
Pass out index cards to groups with “What? Who? When? How? and Where?” written on the cards. Students ‘play’ their cards by creating questions about the topic.
For example, if the upcoming lesson is on snails, a student might inquire, “Why are snails so slimy?”
More Strategies For The Beginning Of Class
Digital Check-ins (2-3 minutes)
Use tools like Mentimeter or Padlet for quick emotional temperature checks
Digital exit tickets from last class become entry points today
QR codes that lead to thought-provoking prompts
Micro-Discussions (3-4 minutes)
Think-Pair-Share with purposeful prompting
“Silent conversation” boards (physical or digital)
Random topic generators tied to learning objectives
Learning Preview Activities
Interactive concept maps
Prediction challenges
Real-world problem scenarios
Connection Builders
Personal relevance questions
Current events links
Cross-disciplinary connections
Success Starter Checklist
Does it activate prior knowledge?
Is it accessible to all learners?
Does it connect to today’s learning goals?
Can it be completed in 3-5 minutes?
Does it promote student agency?
Is there a digital/analog flexibility?
Implementation Tips
Have systems ready before students enter
Use timers visually displayed
Build consistent routines while varying content
Include options for both individual and collaborative engagement
Incorporate student choice when possible
Designing early lesson activities that serve multiple purposes: engagement, assessment, community building, and content preview – all while maintaining efficient classroom management. When done right, these first few minutes create momentum that carries through the entire lesson.
TeachThought’s mission is to promote critical thinking and innovation education.
In today’s digital landscape, social media platforms have become crucial for educational engagement, especially in STEM fields. TikTok, a leading short-form video-sharing app, has gained immense popularity globally. Yet, in the USA, access to TikTok is restricted, hindering students and educators from tapping into its educational value.
This piece delves into TikTok’s role in enhancing STEM engagement and the ways to bypass access restrictions in the USA. By grasping TikTok’s educational impact and the current restrictions, we can enable learners to continue their STEM exploration. This is achieved through the medium of short-form video content.
Understanding TikTok’s Educational Impact and Current Restrictions in the USA
The emergence of TikTok has transformed our interaction with digital content. This platform, known for its short-form videos, has become a focal point for educational content, especially in STEM fields. It has redefined how we engage with and learn from technology.
TikTok’s intuitive design and engaging visuals have drawn educators and STEM enthusiasts to it. They use it to share their knowledge through interactive science experiments and math tutorials. This has turned TikTok into a significant tool for promoting STEM education in the USA.
Current Access Limitations and Their Effects on Learning
Despite its popularity, TikTok has faced increased scrutiny and restrictions in the USA. Some educational institutions have blocked access to the platform, citing concerns over data privacy and content moderation. These restrictions could limit the educational benefits TikTok offers, especially for those interested in STEM fields.
Why Educational Content Matters on Social Platforms
The significance of educational content on platforms like TikTok cannot be overstated. These platforms provide a unique opportunity to make STEM subjects more accessible and engaging. By leveraging TikTok, educators and STEM enthusiasts can inspire a new generation of learners. They can also deepen our understanding of these critical fields.
Using TikTok VPN Solutions for Educational Access
In lieu of its reputation, TikTok’s educational content can be a treasure trove for students and teachers. However, geographical restrictions often hinder access. Leveraging VPN (Virtual Private Network) solutions can be transformative. VPNs establish a secure, encrypted tunnel between your device and a remote server. This bypasses geographical barriers, allowing you to access TikTok content blocked in your region.
Setting up a TikTok VPN is remarkably simple. Begin by researching and selecting a trustworthy VPN provider, such as those listed on FreevpnPlanet.com. These providers offer specialized VPN solutions for unblocking TikTok, ensuring a seamless and secure experience. After choosing a VPN, simply download the app, connect to a server in an area where TikTok is accessible. Instantly, you’ll gain access to the platform’s vast educational content.
Using a free TikTok VPN opens a door to a plethora of engaging STEM-related videos, tutorials, and collaborations. It can significantly enhance your learning experience. Whether you’re a student delving into new scientific concepts or an educator looking to integrate TikTok into your teaching, a reliable VPN can remove access barriers. It paves the way for a more enriched educational journey.
Conclusion
Maintaining open access to TikTok’s educational content, especially in STEM subjects, can be hugely helpful for teachers. It fosters engaged learning and nurtures the next generation of innovators. The strategic use of VPN solutions can help overcome current access limitations in the USA. This empowers students and educators to explore the platform’s rich educational offerings.
G They convey complex STEM concepts in an engaging and digestible manner. By leveraging this powerful platform, educators can create immersive learning experiences. These experiences inspire students to explore these vital fields with enthusiasm and curiosity.
As we move forward, recognizing the value of social media platforms like TikTok in enhancing STEM education is essential. By embracing the opportunities presented by TikTok VPN technologies and the wealth of educational content available, we can empower students. This empowers them to cultivate their STEM engagement and unlock a future filled with scientific breakthroughs and technological advancements.
TeachThought’s mission is to promote critical thinking and innovation education.
