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"content": "\u003cp>As students across the country head back to class, one thing won’t be coming with many of them: their cell phones. This year more states than ever are banning students’ devices during school hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Texas, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tpr.org/education/2025-08-07/heres-how-san-antonio-area-schools-plan-to-implement-the-texas-cell-phone-ban\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">every public and charter school student\u003c/a> will be without their phones during the school day this fall. Brigette Whaley, an associate professor of education at West Texas A&M University, expects to see “a more equitable environment” in classrooms with higher student engagement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, she tracked the success of a cell phone ban in one west Texas high school by surveying teachers throughout the year. They reported more participation by students, and also said they saw student anxiety plummet – mainly because students weren’t afraid of being filmed at any moment and embarrassing themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They could relax in the classroom and participate,” she said. “And not be so anxious about what other students were doing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The findings in west Texas \u003ca href=\"https://cla.auburn.edu/news/articles/social-work-research-on-cell-phone-bans/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">align with results \u003c/a>from many of the states and districts that are heading back to school without phones: Students learn better in a phone-free environment. Getting cell phones out of the classroom is a rare issue with significant bipartisan support, allowing a rapid adoption of policies across red and blue states alike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some 31 states and the District of Columbia now restrict students’ use of cell phones in schools, \u003ca href=\"https://www.edweek.org/technology/which-states-ban-or-restrict-cellphones-in-schools/2024/06\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to Education Week\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Not \u003cem>everyone\u003c/em> is on board\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The rapid adoption of these policies, Whaley says, can sometimes make for uneven enforcement. While most teachers at the school she studied supported the ban, there was one teacher who refused, which caused problems for other teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alex Stegner, a social studies and geography teacher in Portland, Ore., said his school saw similar results when it adopted a ban during the 2024-25 school year. Their old policy had each teacher at Lincoln High School collect phones at the start of class in a lock box.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says some teachers left the boxes open, others closed them but did not lock them. And he, along with some of his colleagues, locked the phones up: “I was committed to kind of going all in with it and I liked it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said last school year was the first year in a decade he didn’t spend class time chasing cell phones around the room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, as the cell phone restriction goes statewide this school year, Lincoln enters into its second year with some kind of ban, things are changing a bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year students’ phones will be locked away for the entire day, not just class time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stegner thinks it will be a learning curve not just for teachers and students. His school has already been fielding calls from anxious parents worried about not being able to contact their kids throughout the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, he expects parents to relax as the school year goes on: “I do think that there seems to be this kind of collective understanding that we’ve got to do something different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The cost of going phone-free\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Like a lot of schools, Lincoln High School will be distributing individual locked bags, called Yondr pouches, to students this year. The same ones that were used in the district Whaley studied in Texas, and for about 2 million students nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stegner worries about transitioning the responsibility of holding on to phones from teachers to students: “I heard stories last year about Yondr pouches that were like … cut open, destroyed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pouches cost about $30 each, so for a school like Lincoln with more than 1,500 students, this year’s policy comes with a high price tag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other states have anticipated the high cost and set aside money for districts to make the transition. In Delaware, Rosalie Morales oversees the state’s pilot program for cell phone bans and the $250,000 attached to it. As the program enters its second year, she’s surveyed the schools that participated last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The response from teachers is definitely supportive,” Morales says. “You’ll see a different response from students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>They’re not wild about it\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When asked if the ban should continue, 83% of the participating Delaware teachers said yes, while only 11% of students agreed. Morales hopes that as time passes, that will change as students see the benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zoë George, a student at Bard High School Early College in New York City, is not quite there yet. For now, she sees her state’s ban as “annoying” especially as she starts her last year of high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wish that they would hear us out more,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s worried about the implications for homework and school work during free periods, and says often students use their phones to get work done. Her school also typically allows students to leave campus for lunch, but with a bell-to-bell cell phone policy, that gets harder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not the worst because it’s my last year,” George says. “But at the same time it’s my last year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s sad she won’t get to take pictures and videos of her friends throughout the day, it feels like she won’t have memories like she does from her other years of school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next year she hopes to be at college and is looking forward to the freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More states are banning students from using their phones during school hours. Some individual schools, as well. One of my kids has to zip the phone in a little bag during school hours. NPR’s Sequoia Carrillo has the story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SEQUOIA CARRILLO, BYLINE: This school year is the first one where every student in Texas public and charter schools will be without their phones during the school day. But Brigette Whaley, an associate professor of education at West Texas A&M University, has a hunch of how things will go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BRIGETTE WHALEY: A more equitable environment, a more engaging classroom for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: She spent the last year surveying the rollout of a cellphone ban in a public high school in West Texas, focusing on how teachers felt about the program. They saw improved engagement and more conversation between students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WHALEY: They were really happy to see that students were more willing to work with each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Student anxiety also plummeted, according to her research. The primary reason? Students weren’t afraid of being filmed at any moment and embarrassing themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WHALEY: They could relax in the classroom and participate and not be so anxious about what other students were doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: The findings in West Texas align with the results from many of the states and districts that are heading back to school without phones. Students learn better in a phone-free environment. It’s been a rare issue with bipartisan support, allowing a rapid adoption of policies across many states. That fast pace, Whaley says, can sometimes be a hazard to the policy’s impact. While most teachers at the school she studied supported the ban…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WHALEY: There was one teacher that didn’t enforce the policy well, and that seemed to cause difficulty for other teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALEX STEGNER: Every teacher had a little bit different policy on that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: That’s Alex Stegner, a social studies and geography teacher in Portland, Oregon, talking about his district’s cellphone ban. He says the different types of enforcement were normal at his school. Last year, each teacher at Lincoln High School got a lockbox to collect phones at the start of class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STEGNER: Some teachers did not lock the boxes. Some teachers left the doors wide open. And some teachers, like me, locked them. I was just committed to kind of going all in with it, and I liked it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: He said last year was the first year in a decade he didn’t spend class time chasing cellphones around the room. Now, as Lincoln goes into its second year with some kind of ban, things are changing a bit. This year, students’ phones will be locked away for the entire day, not just class time. Stegner thinks it will be a learning curve, but not just for teachers and students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STEGNER: I think some parents will struggle. But I do think that there seems to be this kind of collective understanding that we got to do something different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Like a lot of schools, Lincoln High School will be distributing individual locked bags, known as Yondr pouches, to students this year – the same ones that were used in the district Whaley studied in Texas and for about 2 million students nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STEGNER: I heard stories last year about Yondr pouches, you know, cut open, destroyed. And there’s a whole, like, logistical thing that comes with giving students these pouches and telling them, like, OK, now that’s your responsibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: So teachers seem to like cellphone bans. But as for the kids…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ROSALIE MORALES: You’ll see a different response from students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Rosalie Morales is in her second year overseeing Delaware’s pilot program for a statewide cellphone ban. She surveyed teachers and students at the end of the first year to ask if the ban should continue. Eighty-three percent of teachers said yes, while only 11% of students agreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ZOE GEORGE: It’s annoying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Zoe George, a student at Bard High School Early College in Manhattan, says no one asked her before New York State banned cellphones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GEORGE: I wish that they would hear us out more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: She’s worried about the implications for homework and schoolwork during free periods. She says her school doesn’t have enough laptops for every student, so often students would use their phones. But also, it’s just a nuisance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GEORGE: It’s not the worst because it’s my last year. But at the same time, it’s my last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Next year, she hopes to be at college, and she’s looking forward to the freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sequoia Carrillo, NPR News.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “PHONE DOWN”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ERYKAH BADU: (Singing) I can make you, I can make you, I can make you put your phone down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>INSKEEP: Is there any history of human beings surviving without cellphones? Yes. Yes, there is.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As students across the country head back to class, one thing won’t be coming with many of them: their cell phones. This year more states than ever are banning students’ devices during school hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Texas, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tpr.org/education/2025-08-07/heres-how-san-antonio-area-schools-plan-to-implement-the-texas-cell-phone-ban\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">every public and charter school student\u003c/a> will be without their phones during the school day this fall. Brigette Whaley, an associate professor of education at West Texas A&M University, expects to see “a more equitable environment” in classrooms with higher student engagement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, she tracked the success of a cell phone ban in one west Texas high school by surveying teachers throughout the year. They reported more participation by students, and also said they saw student anxiety plummet – mainly because students weren’t afraid of being filmed at any moment and embarrassing themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They could relax in the classroom and participate,” she said. “And not be so anxious about what other students were doing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The findings in west Texas \u003ca href=\"https://cla.auburn.edu/news/articles/social-work-research-on-cell-phone-bans/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">align with results \u003c/a>from many of the states and districts that are heading back to school without phones: Students learn better in a phone-free environment. Getting cell phones out of the classroom is a rare issue with significant bipartisan support, allowing a rapid adoption of policies across red and blue states alike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some 31 states and the District of Columbia now restrict students’ use of cell phones in schools, \u003ca href=\"https://www.edweek.org/technology/which-states-ban-or-restrict-cellphones-in-schools/2024/06\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to Education Week\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Not \u003cem>everyone\u003c/em> is on board\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The rapid adoption of these policies, Whaley says, can sometimes make for uneven enforcement. While most teachers at the school she studied supported the ban, there was one teacher who refused, which caused problems for other teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alex Stegner, a social studies and geography teacher in Portland, Ore., said his school saw similar results when it adopted a ban during the 2024-25 school year. Their old policy had each teacher at Lincoln High School collect phones at the start of class in a lock box.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says some teachers left the boxes open, others closed them but did not lock them. And he, along with some of his colleagues, locked the phones up: “I was committed to kind of going all in with it and I liked it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said last school year was the first year in a decade he didn’t spend class time chasing cell phones around the room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, as the cell phone restriction goes statewide this school year, Lincoln enters into its second year with some kind of ban, things are changing a bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year students’ phones will be locked away for the entire day, not just class time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stegner thinks it will be a learning curve not just for teachers and students. His school has already been fielding calls from anxious parents worried about not being able to contact their kids throughout the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, he expects parents to relax as the school year goes on: “I do think that there seems to be this kind of collective understanding that we’ve got to do something different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The cost of going phone-free\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Like a lot of schools, Lincoln High School will be distributing individual locked bags, called Yondr pouches, to students this year. The same ones that were used in the district Whaley studied in Texas, and for about 2 million students nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stegner worries about transitioning the responsibility of holding on to phones from teachers to students: “I heard stories last year about Yondr pouches that were like … cut open, destroyed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pouches cost about $30 each, so for a school like Lincoln with more than 1,500 students, this year’s policy comes with a high price tag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other states have anticipated the high cost and set aside money for districts to make the transition. In Delaware, Rosalie Morales oversees the state’s pilot program for cell phone bans and the $250,000 attached to it. As the program enters its second year, she’s surveyed the schools that participated last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The response from teachers is definitely supportive,” Morales says. “You’ll see a different response from students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>They’re not wild about it\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When asked if the ban should continue, 83% of the participating Delaware teachers said yes, while only 11% of students agreed. Morales hopes that as time passes, that will change as students see the benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zoë George, a student at Bard High School Early College in New York City, is not quite there yet. For now, she sees her state’s ban as “annoying” especially as she starts her last year of high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wish that they would hear us out more,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s worried about the implications for homework and school work during free periods, and says often students use their phones to get work done. Her school also typically allows students to leave campus for lunch, but with a bell-to-bell cell phone policy, that gets harder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not the worst because it’s my last year,” George says. “But at the same time it’s my last year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s sad she won’t get to take pictures and videos of her friends throughout the day, it feels like she won’t have memories like she does from her other years of school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next year she hopes to be at college and is looking forward to the freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More states are banning students from using their phones during school hours. Some individual schools, as well. One of my kids has to zip the phone in a little bag during school hours. NPR’s Sequoia Carrillo has the story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SEQUOIA CARRILLO, BYLINE: This school year is the first one where every student in Texas public and charter schools will be without their phones during the school day. But Brigette Whaley, an associate professor of education at West Texas A&M University, has a hunch of how things will go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BRIGETTE WHALEY: A more equitable environment, a more engaging classroom for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: She spent the last year surveying the rollout of a cellphone ban in a public high school in West Texas, focusing on how teachers felt about the program. They saw improved engagement and more conversation between students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WHALEY: They were really happy to see that students were more willing to work with each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Student anxiety also plummeted, according to her research. The primary reason? Students weren’t afraid of being filmed at any moment and embarrassing themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WHALEY: They could relax in the classroom and participate and not be so anxious about what other students were doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: The findings in West Texas align with the results from many of the states and districts that are heading back to school without phones. Students learn better in a phone-free environment. It’s been a rare issue with bipartisan support, allowing a rapid adoption of policies across many states. That fast pace, Whaley says, can sometimes be a hazard to the policy’s impact. While most teachers at the school she studied supported the ban…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WHALEY: There was one teacher that didn’t enforce the policy well, and that seemed to cause difficulty for other teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALEX STEGNER: Every teacher had a little bit different policy on that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: That’s Alex Stegner, a social studies and geography teacher in Portland, Oregon, talking about his district’s cellphone ban. He says the different types of enforcement were normal at his school. Last year, each teacher at Lincoln High School got a lockbox to collect phones at the start of class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STEGNER: Some teachers did not lock the boxes. Some teachers left the doors wide open. And some teachers, like me, locked them. I was just committed to kind of going all in with it, and I liked it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: He said last year was the first year in a decade he didn’t spend class time chasing cellphones around the room. Now, as Lincoln goes into its second year with some kind of ban, things are changing a bit. This year, students’ phones will be locked away for the entire day, not just class time. Stegner thinks it will be a learning curve, but not just for teachers and students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STEGNER: I think some parents will struggle. But I do think that there seems to be this kind of collective understanding that we got to do something different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Like a lot of schools, Lincoln High School will be distributing individual locked bags, known as Yondr pouches, to students this year – the same ones that were used in the district Whaley studied in Texas and for about 2 million students nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STEGNER: I heard stories last year about Yondr pouches, you know, cut open, destroyed. And there’s a whole, like, logistical thing that comes with giving students these pouches and telling them, like, OK, now that’s your responsibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: So teachers seem to like cellphone bans. But as for the kids…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ROSALIE MORALES: You’ll see a different response from students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Rosalie Morales is in her second year overseeing Delaware’s pilot program for a statewide cellphone ban. She surveyed teachers and students at the end of the first year to ask if the ban should continue. Eighty-three percent of teachers said yes, while only 11% of students agreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ZOE GEORGE: It’s annoying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Zoe George, a student at Bard High School Early College in Manhattan, says no one asked her before New York State banned cellphones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GEORGE: I wish that they would hear us out more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: She’s worried about the implications for homework and schoolwork during free periods. She says her school doesn’t have enough laptops for every student, so often students would use their phones. But also, it’s just a nuisance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GEORGE: It’s not the worst because it’s my last year. But at the same time, it’s my last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Next year, she hopes to be at college, and she’s looking forward to the freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sequoia Carrillo, NPR News.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “PHONE DOWN”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ERYKAH BADU: (Singing) I can make you, I can make you, I can make you put your phone down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>INSKEEP: Is there any history of human beings surviving without cellphones? Yes. Yes, there is.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Last Wednesday was a big day for the Sussman and Frankel family. It was the first day of school at California Creative Academy, a charter school in Los Angeles where 5-year-old Eli is newly enrolled in kindergarten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were super freaked out,” Mollie Sussman told NPR, referring to herself and her husband, Brad Frankel. “We were really scared and [Eli] was pretty scared” leading up to the milestone, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among her fears was that Eli, an only child, might feel overwhelmed by the transition from a small preschool to a new elementary school with kids up to the eighth grade. She worried that he might cry, that he might have a meltdown, or that he wouldn’t handle the structure of a kindergarten day with no naps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But after participating in a class activity, where they traced outlines of one another’s hands, Sussman and her husband eased out of the classroom with no issues. “He was ready when we left. He did really well and he was super brave.” In fact, she said laughing, the only one in their three-member family who shed a tear that day was her husband.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sussman and Frankel are not alone in their anxiety. Eli is one of more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr70/nvsr70-17.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">3.6 million children born in 2020\u003c/a> amid the COVID-19 pandemic who are walking into elementary schools across the country this fall. They’re children who came into a world full of masked adults dousing themselves in hand sanitizer. Many spent the first year of their lives either in isolation in lockdowns or with only a handful of trusted people in their bubbles. And the long-term impact on these “COVID kindergartners” remains unclear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4800x2860+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4c%2F9c%2Fc7bce52b46e880ddd95664a108f4%2Fgettyimages-1211233711.jpg\" alt=\"A woman stops to view a public art installation aimed at turning boarded-up shopfronts into works of art in Los Angeles on April 28, 2020.\">\u003cfigcaption>A woman stops to view a public art installation aimed at turning boarded-up shopfronts into works of art in Los Angeles on April 28, 2020. \u003ccite> (Frederic J. Brown | AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Research shows that \u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2812812\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">early childhood experiences can have lasting effects\u003c/a> on development and growth, according to a 2023 study published in the \u003cem>Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics (JAMA Pediatrics)\u003c/em>. While nurturing experiences can increase cognitive capabilities and academic achievement, early life disadvantages can lead to a persistent deficit in skills to manage adversity, stress and self-esteem. It follows then, that parents, experts and educators are hypervigilant, tracking how the hardships of the pandemic may manifest in this generation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just being in utero during a highly stressful time had some developmental effects on infants,” Dani Dumitriu, a pediatrician and neuroscientist at Columbia University and chair of an ongoing study on pandemic newborns, told NPR. “They weren’t large effects but that was a very worrisome sign given that so many women gave birth during that period.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dumitriu’s research, \u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2787479\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">published in 2022\u003c/a>, found that 6-month-old infants born during the early months of the pandemic had slightly lower scores on a screening of their gross motor, fine motor and personal social skills, compared with a historical cohort of infants born before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re talking about things like baby being able to sit up, baby being able to reach for things, maybe engaging in a face-to-face interaction, very basic things,” she said, explaining that mothers filled out a standard developmental \u003ca href=\"https://agesandstages.com/products-pricing/asq3/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">questionnaire\u003c/a> providing the data for the study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, Dumitriu said, as they’ve continued to track these children and expanded the study to include more kids born pre-pandemic, they have found that the COVID babies quickly caught up. “The good news is that it looks like that trend really is restricted to the early pandemic phase of 2020 and did not continue past that year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A child’s brain is extraordinarily plastic or malleable,” she said. “One of the important things about child development is that what happens at 6 months is not predictive of what happens at 24 months and it’s not predictive of what happens at 5 years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Eli’s journey\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sussman said these findings parallel her family’s experience. As working parents, Sussman and her husband enrolled Eli in day care at 11 months. He’s since been enrolled in nursery school and pre-K. He seemed to be meeting all of the established metrics, but at about 2 years old, Sussman realized Eli wasn’t speaking at the level that her mommy apps told her he should be. “There were for sure a number of words you should know by a certain time and he didn’t know them,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.epicresearch.org/articles/childhood-speech-development-delays-increasing-since-the-start-of-the-pandemic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2023 study\u003c/a> published in \u003cem>Epic Research\u003c/em> found that children who turned 2 between October and December 2021 were about 32% more likely to have a speech delay diagnosis than those who turned 2 in 2018. That rate increased dramatically, up to nearly 88%, for children who turned 2 between January and March 2023. Overall, the speech delay diagnoses increased from an average of 9% of children in 2018 to nearly 17% in the first quarter of 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4873x3299+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F2c%2Fa0%2F719c556945c486c1f0234ec68556%2Fgettyimages-1275890753.jpg\" alt=\"Masked schoolchildren wait to have their portraits taken for picture day in September 2020 at Rogers International School in Stamford, Conn.\">\u003cfigcaption>Masked schoolchildren wait to have their portraits taken for picture day in September 2020 at Rogers International School in Stamford, Conn. \u003ccite> (John Moore | Getty Images North America)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sussman immediately sought help and enrolled Eli in speech therapy, where she was relieved to hear that this was a common issue. “The speech therapist said that they had seen an increase in the number of kids coming to speech therapy. Likely because of the lack of exposure to mouths and facial expressions, because it’s a big part of how you learn to talk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time Eli turned 3 “he was so much more verbal and really in a great place,” Sussman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Pandemic behaviors and habits that can spell trouble for kindergartners\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Other effects of the pandemic and subsequent social-distancing practices have led to lingering, potentially detrimental behaviors in children, which can show up in kindergarten or much later, according to Dumitriu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the most important is parental stress, Dumitriu said. “Many studies around the world show there’s a very well-described intergenerational effect of maternal stress during pregnancy on the developing child,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Children also \u003ca href=\"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=Young%20children%E2%80%99s%20screen%20time%20during%20the%20first%20COVID-19%20lockdown%20in%2012%20countries.&author=C%20Bergmann&author=N%20Dimitrova&author=K%20Alaslani&publication_year=2022&journal=Sci%20Rep&volume=12&pages=2015\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">spent more time on screens\u003c/a> during lockdown than they did in a pre-pandemic world and that can make them less ready for school, according to a study published in the journal \u003cem>Nature\u003c/em>. Michelle Yang, a resident physician with Children’s Hospital of Orange County who studied screen time use in kids, said there are many dangers associated with television electronic devices for children ages 2 to 5 years. “Exposing children at this age to two to three hours of screen time showed increased likelihood of behavioral problems, poor vocabulary, and delayed milestones. This is especially true for children with special needs,” she wrote in an \u003ca href=\"https://health.choc.org/the-effects-of-screen-time-on-children-the-latest-research-parents-should-know/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">article\u003c/a> providing guidelines for parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School attendance and preschool enrollment levels have also suffered since the pandemic. The U.S. Department of Education’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ed.gov/teaching-and-administration/supporting-students/chronic-absenteeism#:~:text=The%20Department%20is%20using%20every%20tool%20in,suggests%20that%20children%20who%20are%20chronically%20absent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">most recent study\u003c/a> on attendance found that the rate of chronic absenteeism — which is when students miss 10% or more of school — averaged 28% across the country during the 2022-2023 school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The results of the changes in behavior and habits are reflected in test scores, Kristen Huff, head of measurement at Curriculum Associates, a company that provides national grade level testing, told NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since school returned after the pandemic, even students who were not in school because they were too young to be in kindergarten during the [lockdowns] are coming into kindergarten behind or less prepared rather than their pre-pandemic peers,” Huff said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the company’s \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.bfldr.com/LS6J0F7/at/j37vw8rh26mgjtr6sk47pq3r/ca-sosl-executive-summary-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2025 State of Student Learning report\u003c/a>, the percentage of 5-year-olds who are arriving kindergarten-ready in reading has declined by 8 points since 2019 — from 89% to 81%. The declines are even greater in math. Only 70% of kindergarten students are testing at expected grade level, compared to the 2019 cohort, which was at 84% in 2019. The disparities are deeper still when broken out by race and income. Since 2023, majority Black and majority Hispanic schools continue to show a steady increase in test scores across most grades, but their test scores remain well below their white counterparts. The same is true for students whose families live on incomes below $50,000 per year versus those living above $75,000 annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The good news, Huff said, is that students are making strides. But while they’re growing at comparable rates to pre-pandemic, the improvement is not enough to make up for the academic ground that has been lost, she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is why we need to focus on that acceleration in the rate at which they’re learning,” Huff said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like Dumitriu, Huff focuses on the malleability of children’s brains as well as the expertise of educators. They just need the right resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know what works,” she said. “We know what is needed in classrooms, in schools and for students and to support teachers. And when those things are in place, these schools — even when they’re in low-income communities — can buck the trend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LEILA FADEL, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Millions of children born during the COVID pandemic start kindergarten this year. NPR’s Vanessa Romo went to find out – are the nation’s 5-year-olds ready for school?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>VANESSA ROMO, BYLINE: Last Wednesday was a big day for the Sussman and Frankel family. It was 5-year-old Eli Frankel’s first day of school at California Creative Academy, a charter school in Los Angeles. Mollie Sussman, his mom, told me about the day sitting at her kitchen table while the Hot Wheels-obsessed boy played next to us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MOLLIE SUSSMAN: As parents, every single milestone you go through feels like the biggest deal when you’re in it. And then afterwards, you’re like, oh, like, we got through it. It’s totally fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ROMO: Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among her fears was that Eli might feel overwhelmed by the transition from a small preschool to a bigger school. She worried that he wouldn’t be able to handle the structure or just cry. But to her surprise, only her husband teared up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ELI FRANKEL: I was playing a monster truck race (ph).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: And who’s winning?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ROMO: The Sussman and Frankels are not alone in their anxiety. Three-point-six million children were born in 2020 as the coronavirus ushered in one of the most extraordinary periods in modern history. And scientists are still trying to figure out how this generation may be different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DANI DUMITRIU: First of all, I’d say we’re way too early, right? Like, trying to say something about 5-year-olds right now is scientifically impossible because science lags by at least a couple years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ROMO: That’s Dani Dumitriu at Columbia University. She’s the co-chair of an ongoing study on pandemic newborns. One of their first findings, published in 2023, was that 6-month-old infants born during the early months of the pandemic showed slight developmental delays in their motor skills. That was particularly troubling, Dumitriu said, because there’s ample research showing that early childhood experiences can have lasting effects on development and growth. But the good news is that those infants quickly caught up, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DUMITRIU: The early child brain is extraordinarily malleable, and any measure that we use in that very early phase is not really predictive. It’s just an indicator of that child in that moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ROMO: Kristen Huff has been tracking the academic growth of K-through-12 kids since before the pandemic. Huff is head of measurement at Curriculum Associates, which provides national-grade-level testing. Their latest study, which covers the 2023-24 school year, found that…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KRISTEN HUFF: Even students who were not in school because they were too young to be in kindergarten during the pandemic are coming into kindergarten less prepared than their pre-pandemic peers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ROMO: According to the report, just 81% of 5-year-olds are arriving kindergarten-ready in reading. That’s down from 89% in 2019. And scores dropped 14 points in math. Still, Huff is optimistic about the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>HUFF: We know what is needed in classrooms and schools and to support teachers. And when those things are in place, these schools, they can buck the trend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ROMO: That’s just going to take a lot of commitment from the grown-ups, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vanessa Romo, NPR News.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF DJ SHADOW, ET AL.’S “SCARS”)\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Last Wednesday was a big day for the Sussman and Frankel family. It was the first day of school at California Creative Academy, a charter school in Los Angeles where 5-year-old Eli is newly enrolled in kindergarten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were super freaked out,” Mollie Sussman told NPR, referring to herself and her husband, Brad Frankel. “We were really scared and [Eli] was pretty scared” leading up to the milestone, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among her fears was that Eli, an only child, might feel overwhelmed by the transition from a small preschool to a new elementary school with kids up to the eighth grade. She worried that he might cry, that he might have a meltdown, or that he wouldn’t handle the structure of a kindergarten day with no naps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But after participating in a class activity, where they traced outlines of one another’s hands, Sussman and her husband eased out of the classroom with no issues. “He was ready when we left. He did really well and he was super brave.” In fact, she said laughing, the only one in their three-member family who shed a tear that day was her husband.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sussman and Frankel are not alone in their anxiety. Eli is one of more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr70/nvsr70-17.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">3.6 million children born in 2020\u003c/a> amid the COVID-19 pandemic who are walking into elementary schools across the country this fall. They’re children who came into a world full of masked adults dousing themselves in hand sanitizer. Many spent the first year of their lives either in isolation in lockdowns or with only a handful of trusted people in their bubbles. And the long-term impact on these “COVID kindergartners” remains unclear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4800x2860+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4c%2F9c%2Fc7bce52b46e880ddd95664a108f4%2Fgettyimages-1211233711.jpg\" alt=\"A woman stops to view a public art installation aimed at turning boarded-up shopfronts into works of art in Los Angeles on April 28, 2020.\">\u003cfigcaption>A woman stops to view a public art installation aimed at turning boarded-up shopfronts into works of art in Los Angeles on April 28, 2020. \u003ccite> (Frederic J. Brown | AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Research shows that \u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2812812\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">early childhood experiences can have lasting effects\u003c/a> on development and growth, according to a 2023 study published in the \u003cem>Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics (JAMA Pediatrics)\u003c/em>. While nurturing experiences can increase cognitive capabilities and academic achievement, early life disadvantages can lead to a persistent deficit in skills to manage adversity, stress and self-esteem. It follows then, that parents, experts and educators are hypervigilant, tracking how the hardships of the pandemic may manifest in this generation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just being in utero during a highly stressful time had some developmental effects on infants,” Dani Dumitriu, a pediatrician and neuroscientist at Columbia University and chair of an ongoing study on pandemic newborns, told NPR. “They weren’t large effects but that was a very worrisome sign given that so many women gave birth during that period.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dumitriu’s research, \u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2787479\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">published in 2022\u003c/a>, found that 6-month-old infants born during the early months of the pandemic had slightly lower scores on a screening of their gross motor, fine motor and personal social skills, compared with a historical cohort of infants born before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re talking about things like baby being able to sit up, baby being able to reach for things, maybe engaging in a face-to-face interaction, very basic things,” she said, explaining that mothers filled out a standard developmental \u003ca href=\"https://agesandstages.com/products-pricing/asq3/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">questionnaire\u003c/a> providing the data for the study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, Dumitriu said, as they’ve continued to track these children and expanded the study to include more kids born pre-pandemic, they have found that the COVID babies quickly caught up. “The good news is that it looks like that trend really is restricted to the early pandemic phase of 2020 and did not continue past that year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A child’s brain is extraordinarily plastic or malleable,” she said. “One of the important things about child development is that what happens at 6 months is not predictive of what happens at 24 months and it’s not predictive of what happens at 5 years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Eli’s journey\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sussman said these findings parallel her family’s experience. As working parents, Sussman and her husband enrolled Eli in day care at 11 months. He’s since been enrolled in nursery school and pre-K. He seemed to be meeting all of the established metrics, but at about 2 years old, Sussman realized Eli wasn’t speaking at the level that her mommy apps told her he should be. “There were for sure a number of words you should know by a certain time and he didn’t know them,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.epicresearch.org/articles/childhood-speech-development-delays-increasing-since-the-start-of-the-pandemic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2023 study\u003c/a> published in \u003cem>Epic Research\u003c/em> found that children who turned 2 between October and December 2021 were about 32% more likely to have a speech delay diagnosis than those who turned 2 in 2018. That rate increased dramatically, up to nearly 88%, for children who turned 2 between January and March 2023. Overall, the speech delay diagnoses increased from an average of 9% of children in 2018 to nearly 17% in the first quarter of 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4873x3299+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F2c%2Fa0%2F719c556945c486c1f0234ec68556%2Fgettyimages-1275890753.jpg\" alt=\"Masked schoolchildren wait to have their portraits taken for picture day in September 2020 at Rogers International School in Stamford, Conn.\">\u003cfigcaption>Masked schoolchildren wait to have their portraits taken for picture day in September 2020 at Rogers International School in Stamford, Conn. \u003ccite> (John Moore | Getty Images North America)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sussman immediately sought help and enrolled Eli in speech therapy, where she was relieved to hear that this was a common issue. “The speech therapist said that they had seen an increase in the number of kids coming to speech therapy. Likely because of the lack of exposure to mouths and facial expressions, because it’s a big part of how you learn to talk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time Eli turned 3 “he was so much more verbal and really in a great place,” Sussman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Pandemic behaviors and habits that can spell trouble for kindergartners\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Other effects of the pandemic and subsequent social-distancing practices have led to lingering, potentially detrimental behaviors in children, which can show up in kindergarten or much later, according to Dumitriu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the most important is parental stress, Dumitriu said. “Many studies around the world show there’s a very well-described intergenerational effect of maternal stress during pregnancy on the developing child,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Children also \u003ca href=\"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=Young%20children%E2%80%99s%20screen%20time%20during%20the%20first%20COVID-19%20lockdown%20in%2012%20countries.&author=C%20Bergmann&author=N%20Dimitrova&author=K%20Alaslani&publication_year=2022&journal=Sci%20Rep&volume=12&pages=2015\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">spent more time on screens\u003c/a> during lockdown than they did in a pre-pandemic world and that can make them less ready for school, according to a study published in the journal \u003cem>Nature\u003c/em>. Michelle Yang, a resident physician with Children’s Hospital of Orange County who studied screen time use in kids, said there are many dangers associated with television electronic devices for children ages 2 to 5 years. “Exposing children at this age to two to three hours of screen time showed increased likelihood of behavioral problems, poor vocabulary, and delayed milestones. This is especially true for children with special needs,” she wrote in an \u003ca href=\"https://health.choc.org/the-effects-of-screen-time-on-children-the-latest-research-parents-should-know/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">article\u003c/a> providing guidelines for parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School attendance and preschool enrollment levels have also suffered since the pandemic. The U.S. Department of Education’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ed.gov/teaching-and-administration/supporting-students/chronic-absenteeism#:~:text=The%20Department%20is%20using%20every%20tool%20in,suggests%20that%20children%20who%20are%20chronically%20absent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">most recent study\u003c/a> on attendance found that the rate of chronic absenteeism — which is when students miss 10% or more of school — averaged 28% across the country during the 2022-2023 school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The results of the changes in behavior and habits are reflected in test scores, Kristen Huff, head of measurement at Curriculum Associates, a company that provides national grade level testing, told NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since school returned after the pandemic, even students who were not in school because they were too young to be in kindergarten during the [lockdowns] are coming into kindergarten behind or less prepared rather than their pre-pandemic peers,” Huff said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the company’s \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.bfldr.com/LS6J0F7/at/j37vw8rh26mgjtr6sk47pq3r/ca-sosl-executive-summary-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2025 State of Student Learning report\u003c/a>, the percentage of 5-year-olds who are arriving kindergarten-ready in reading has declined by 8 points since 2019 — from 89% to 81%. The declines are even greater in math. Only 70% of kindergarten students are testing at expected grade level, compared to the 2019 cohort, which was at 84% in 2019. The disparities are deeper still when broken out by race and income. Since 2023, majority Black and majority Hispanic schools continue to show a steady increase in test scores across most grades, but their test scores remain well below their white counterparts. The same is true for students whose families live on incomes below $50,000 per year versus those living above $75,000 annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The good news, Huff said, is that students are making strides. But while they’re growing at comparable rates to pre-pandemic, the improvement is not enough to make up for the academic ground that has been lost, she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is why we need to focus on that acceleration in the rate at which they’re learning,” Huff said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like Dumitriu, Huff focuses on the malleability of children’s brains as well as the expertise of educators. They just need the right resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know what works,” she said. “We know what is needed in classrooms, in schools and for students and to support teachers. And when those things are in place, these schools — even when they’re in low-income communities — can buck the trend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LEILA FADEL, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Millions of children born during the COVID pandemic start kindergarten this year. NPR’s Vanessa Romo went to find out – are the nation’s 5-year-olds ready for school?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>VANESSA ROMO, BYLINE: Last Wednesday was a big day for the Sussman and Frankel family. It was 5-year-old Eli Frankel’s first day of school at California Creative Academy, a charter school in Los Angeles. Mollie Sussman, his mom, told me about the day sitting at her kitchen table while the Hot Wheels-obsessed boy played next to us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MOLLIE SUSSMAN: As parents, every single milestone you go through feels like the biggest deal when you’re in it. And then afterwards, you’re like, oh, like, we got through it. It’s totally fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ROMO: Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among her fears was that Eli might feel overwhelmed by the transition from a small preschool to a bigger school. She worried that he wouldn’t be able to handle the structure or just cry. But to her surprise, only her husband teared up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ELI FRANKEL: I was playing a monster truck race (ph).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: And who’s winning?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ROMO: The Sussman and Frankels are not alone in their anxiety. Three-point-six million children were born in 2020 as the coronavirus ushered in one of the most extraordinary periods in modern history. And scientists are still trying to figure out how this generation may be different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DANI DUMITRIU: First of all, I’d say we’re way too early, right? Like, trying to say something about 5-year-olds right now is scientifically impossible because science lags by at least a couple years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ROMO: That’s Dani Dumitriu at Columbia University. She’s the co-chair of an ongoing study on pandemic newborns. One of their first findings, published in 2023, was that 6-month-old infants born during the early months of the pandemic showed slight developmental delays in their motor skills. That was particularly troubling, Dumitriu said, because there’s ample research showing that early childhood experiences can have lasting effects on development and growth. But the good news is that those infants quickly caught up, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DUMITRIU: The early child brain is extraordinarily malleable, and any measure that we use in that very early phase is not really predictive. It’s just an indicator of that child in that moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ROMO: Kristen Huff has been tracking the academic growth of K-through-12 kids since before the pandemic. Huff is head of measurement at Curriculum Associates, which provides national-grade-level testing. Their latest study, which covers the 2023-24 school year, found that…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KRISTEN HUFF: Even students who were not in school because they were too young to be in kindergarten during the pandemic are coming into kindergarten less prepared than their pre-pandemic peers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ROMO: According to the report, just 81% of 5-year-olds are arriving kindergarten-ready in reading. That’s down from 89% in 2019. And scores dropped 14 points in math. Still, Huff is optimistic about the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>HUFF: We know what is needed in classrooms and schools and to support teachers. And when those things are in place, these schools, they can buck the trend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ROMO: That’s just going to take a lot of commitment from the grown-ups, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vanessa Romo, NPR News.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF DJ SHADOW, ET AL.’S “SCARS”)\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "using-picture-books-and-classroom-dialogue-to-honor-and-respect-students-name",
"title": "Using Picture Books and Classroom Dialogue to Honor and Respect Students' Names",
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"headTitle": "Using Picture Books and Classroom Dialogue to Honor and Respect Students’ Names | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Enunciated syllables, slow speech and spelling — these are the adjustments some students find themselves making as \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/52183/teachers-strategies-for-pronouncing-and-remembering-students-names-correctly\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">they introduce themselves to their teachers each school year\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For these students, whose names might be misspelled in emails or autocorrected in text messages, this annual ritual carries significance. It often determines what they will be called for the entire school year. “This is a matter children feel strongly about, yet adults aren’t always as attentive to,” said elementary school teacher \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/jenorr?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jennifer Orr\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to a \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2011 study\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">,\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> daily mispronunciations of names are microaggressions that can significantly affect \u003ca href=\"https://www.sjsu.edu/people/marcos.pizarro/courses/185/s1/Names.pdf\">students’ self-perception and sense of belonging\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Names are one of the topics covered in \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://stenhouse.com/products/9781625315755_were-gonna-keep-on-talking\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re Gonna Keep on Talking\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which Orr co-authored with Philadelphia educator \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MattRKay?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Matthew R. Kay\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The book guides educators through how to foster meaningful conversations about race with elementary school students. The names unit, which Orr has done about five times over the last 15 years, uses books to initiate discussions within the classroom. The authors recommend how to structure partner and class dialogues and how to create a supportive environment for students to share their experiences related to names. The unit also encourages students to delve deeper into their own identities by gathering information about their names from their families.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While Kay’s previous work, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://stenhouse.com/products/9781625310989_not-light-but-fire\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not Light, But Fire\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, explored how to facilitate discussions about race with high schoolers, this sequel tailors the approach to the needs of younger learners. “You don’t get [elementary school] kids’ attention for 45 minutes, even in the upper grades. That’s a long period of time for a child to stay focused,” said Orr. “These discussions have to happen over months instead of class periods.” Regardless of grade level, Kay and Orr agreed that these are conversations children are eager to have.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Exploring names through engaging books\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Orr said it’s important to create a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59104/identity-mastery-belonging-and-efficacy-four-ways-student-agency-can-flourish\">supportive and inclusive classroom community\u003c/a> before getting into discussions about names. “I don’t want kids to end up feeling raw or vulnerable because we haven’t built the space for that kind of a conversation,” she said. It’s crucial to establish foundations of trust and effective communication even with students one may have taught in previous years. According to Kay, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/61775/how-important-was-your-favorite-teacher-to-your-success-researchers-have-done-the-math\">strong teacher-student rapport\u003c/a> should never be taken for granted. As he put it, “You can’t spend last year’s currency.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Orr’s approach includes practicing active listening and respectful engagement with her students. She often does interactive read-alouds, pausing at planned points while reading picture books to encourage and hone students’ discussion and listening skills. Orr uses books to open the door to the conversation. “There are children’s books coming out all the time on names in a way that is so exciting,” she said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.candlewick.com/cat.asp?mode=book&isbn=0763693553&browse=Title\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alma and How She Got Her Name\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">by Juana Martinez-Neal is one of Orr’s go-to books for kicking off the unit. In this book, Alma Sofia Esperanza José Pura Candela wants to know why she has so many names. Her father explains how she got each one. After the character Alma is introduced, Orr asks students to share their thoughts about her name. “Does it seem too long?” Students will often use this opportunity to relate in with comments like “I’m named after my grandma too!” She also stops for discussion halfway through \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alma and How She Got Her Name\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> so students have the opportunity to discuss with a partner. “What do you think of Alma’s name now?” Orr asks. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another book that Orr uses is \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theinnovationpress.com/your-name-is-a-song\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Your Name Is a Song\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow and Luisa Uribe. The book follows a young girl who is upset that no one is pronouncing her name correctly. The main character’s mom teaches her about the musicality of names from other cultures. The story resonates with students, bridging the common experience of name mispronunciation. Through these books, students begin to grasp that names can carry rich histories, Orr said. In all, each read-aloud and discussion takes about 25 minutes, so that her young students don’t get bored or restless.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Extending conversations beyond the classroom\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Books also serve as a catalyst for taking the conversation beyond the classroom walls. Recognizing the importance of\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www2.ed.gov/documents/family-community/partners-education.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> collaboration between school and home in nurturing a child’s sense of identity\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, she suggests that students go home and initiate discussions with their families about the significance and stories behind their names. This part of the unit can lead to self exploration for students and open up a window to their parents’ decisions, according to Kay. Orr proactively reaches out to families to inform them about the discussions taking place in class, so they won’t be blindsided by their child’s questions. She emphasizes that participation in these conversations at home is optional, as is sharing in class. “They can make it fit their comfort level,” Orr said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC1058124335&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In class, Orr and Kay recommend starting the next conversation with “Who wants to share what they’ve learned about their name from their family?” This dialogue allows students to share their newfound understanding and feelings about their names. Orr is often surprised by the unique stories and experiences that students bring forward. Some Latino students have told her that other teachers Americanized their names. For example, instead of “David,” where the “i” is pronounced with a long “e” sound, a teacher might use the flat “i” like the sound in zip. She also remembered a fifth grader one year who was a recent immigrant from China. “I swear she spent a week trying to get me to say her name properly,” she admitted. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Orr noted that elementary school students will often just accept the way their name is pronounced until they have this conversation in class. She said that name discussions may not always result in kids being able to advocate for themselves but they become more likely to advocate for other students. “That power between adults and kids is still so strong. And yet, on behalf of someone else, they’ll stand up to that power and they’ll make it clear that actually, no, that’s not how you say it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a high school teacher, Kay is excited by the prospect of not being the first one to have conversations about identity and culture with students. “I can see the inquiry seeds,” he said. Orr and Kay envision a future where elementary school teachers continue to introduce these conversations, paving the way for students to advocate for the pronunciation of their names as well as for the respect and recognition of others’ identities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: This story was updated to include the name of the illustrator of \u003c/em>Your Name Is a Song.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Welcome to MindShift, the podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Nimah Gobir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong> Matthew R. Kay is a high school English teacher in Philadelphia. He’s also the author behind the book \u003cem>Not Light, But Fire. \u003c/em>And he knows how to spark meaningful conversations with high schoolers. In the book, he shares a lesson that’s an absolute hit with his students. And it’s all about their names\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay: \u003c/strong> I think every teacher has that one lesson where like, if you’re going to observe me, I’m going to look like a rock star. Like the principal walks through, you’re like, “Say less. I got this”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> This is your knock it out of the park lesson? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> Oh, easy, easy. This is the one where the kids are lined up afterwards to say they didn’t get a chance to share. This is the one where I have to apologize to my colleagues. I’m like, “What can I do? I’m sorry.” It’s so juicy and it feels so good. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Matt teamed up with elementary school teacher Jennifer Orr for their new book, \u003cem>We’re Gonna Keep on Talking.\u003c/em> They’ve taken lessons from his high school teaching experience and tailored them for younger students. Today’s episode features a conversation about how Matt’s lesson about names looks in Jen’s elementary school classroom. We’ll get into that conversation after the break\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Matt, you wrote \u003cem>Not Light But Fire\u003c/em> about your experience teaching in high school classrooms a few years ago. Can you tell me about your decision to add \u003cem>We’re Gonna Keep On Talking\u003c/em> to the canon?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> One of the biggest thing that was asked of me, teachers would come up to me and they would say, When are you going to come up with the elementary books? And that was something that I normally kind of brushed aside. Like I respected it, but I was kind of like, well, you know, never because I’m not an elementary teacher. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But I feel like what separated \u003cem>Not Light\u003c/em> was my storytelling . \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I feel like that’s the part that’s hardest for someone who doesn’t teach high school — the actual visualization of what does this conversation look like? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s why I decided to see if I could find an elementary teacher who could who could help with that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Jen, this book is all about your experience in the classroom with elementary school students. There’s a part where you talk about a lesson on students’ names, and it’s different from the lesson that Matt uses with his students. Can you tell me how you scaffold this conversation for younger kids?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr: \u003c/strong> Sure. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ve taught in several different schools in my school district and in almost all of them. There have been kids who have really struggled with their with name, pronunciation, children whose who they or their families had emigrated to this country. And their names do not fit our kind of Americanized way of saying things. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> And as many things are in my elementary classroom and in many, it’s tied into a lot of literature. So there’s several different books that we read throughout the course of the unit and really talk through things through the lens of the books as a way to kind of open the door to the conversation and then make it much more personal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr: \u003c/strong> It was always designed around discussing kids first names. Where does your name come from? What does your name mean? Knowing that some families may not want to have that conversation. Keeping it open ended for kids they could choose to share or not share. The conversation then grew into last names as well as kids started to notice things about each other’s last names, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> noticing kind of beginning to really build an understanding of why people are names and what those what weight is carried in names and where that can carry history as well as for your own self. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong> Talking about names can get vulnerable because it can bring up stuff about race and identity. What are some strategies that can teachers use to ensure students feel valued in conversations like these and respected by not only you as the teacher, but also the other kids in the room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> That’s a huge question because none of this works if we don’t start from that point. A\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">t the start of each school year. It’s not only important that we build that community within our classroom, which is huge and crucial, and we talk about some different ways to do that in the book, but also to build that community with our colleagues and with the families of our students because we’re all going to be involved in this. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> Even the conversation around names, in my classroom, it doesn’t happen in the first week of school because we haven’t had a chance yet to build that community. I don’t want kids to end up feeling raw or vulnerable because we haven’t built that space for that kind of a conversation before we have it. So we have to be careful that we’re not jumping into it too soon. T\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">hat may or may not be true for Matt…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> To be honest, it’s the same in in secondary. I\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">n one of my PD sessions to talk about myths about safe spaces and one of them is that it’s permanent. Ou\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">r metaphors that we use for safe spaces like building and stuff like that probably need a little bit of work because it like leads to the assumption that you build it and then it’s built right. But it’s really it’s more about building and maintaining and maintaining and maintaining. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> You can you can’t spend last year’s currency like the kids I’m about to meet in a month, it’s best for me to assume that they don’t know me from a can of paint , even if I work with them last year. Because who knows what happened this summer. They could be a different kid. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir\u003c/strong>: So what I’m hearing is that it takes intentional time and you actually keep spending that time. You don’t get to just bank it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> I think that’s true of almost anything in a classroom. You spend the start of the school year setting all of these things up and making sure they’re established but that doesn’t mean you’re done with it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Jen, you mentioned that this unit takes a lot more time at the elementary school level because you’re working with little ones who – let’s be honest, can have a really short attention span. I love the idea of using books to initiate that broad conversation and then slowly getting more and more focused. Can you tell me some of the picture books that you read during this unit?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr: \u003c/strong> \u003cem>My Name Is a Song\u003c/em>, which is a beautiful one of a young girl who is complaining about how no one pronounces her name correctly. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And her mom really sort of reassuring her about the way that that names are songs and how beautiful that is. And by the end of the book, I’m not sure if she’s fully convinced of the beauty of it and the fact that she knows her name is still going to be mispronounced, but she definitely has some reassurance\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> Another one is Juana Martinez Neal’s book, \u003cem>Alma and How She Got Her Name\u003c/em>. And Alma has I can’t remember it now, you know, maybe six or seven names in her name. And the book is her father explaining to her where each of those names came from, which is our great introduction into then talking about where did your name come from and inviting children and their families into that conversation through that book.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Something I’ve heard you say is that nothing happens at the elementary school level without getting families involved. How do you involve parents and caregivers in this unit?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> At the end of that first day of digging into the book, I will reach out to families and say, We read this book. We had this conversation. Kids may be asking you where their name came from and if you’re willing to share with them and if they want to share with the class we’ll be talking about that in the coming weeks.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> There’s a lot going on with names. There are all these situations that I don’t want kids to feel uncomfortable with. And then sometimes it’s a single parent and it may also come down to this child is living with someone who is not their parent who may not even know their name story. A bit part of it is to make sure that families that this is an option and we’re really interested and that we’re not trying to put anyone on the spot and that kids have that same sense.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> What is really cool about this unit is that it gives students the opportunity to learn more about their teachers because it sounds like you two also talk about your names with your students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> I just really love the self-exploration and the showing kids the power and also like opening up a window to their parents decisions, I think, which is something that’s really cool. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay: \u003c/strong> I get to open up about myself, you know, like I’m Matt is boring. Oh, there’s no meaning behind it, all that kind of stuff. But that’s because my parents both had unique names and they didn’t like everybody always jacking their name up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> Matt could be a white dude and I until you meet me. So they didn’t want me to have any kind of disadvantages on resumes and stuff. So they were really intentional about Matt. And then I went and turned around, gave my daughters two very unique names that they will always have to correct people. And so it’s just weird about it how that cycle keeps going. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Unique names are very character building. I’m saying that as some one with a unique name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> You always have to spell it out\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Yeah, yeah my name has an ‘H’ at the end, so I had to learn how to correct people as they were spelling it. How about you, Jen?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> I was one of those kids I probably wouldn’t have wanted had this conversation because I have no story behind my name. Something I still hold against my parents. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And like Matt I, my children have names that have stories behind them because I always hated that my parents were like “I don’t know. It was pretty.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In this name activity were there any surprising moments or stories that emerged during this name unit that stood out to you that were meaningful or impactful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> There’s a lot of good stories in that chapter. J\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">elly was one of them. S\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ome early teacher couldn’t pronounce her name, and so she they gave her the nickname and then she went with it. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We recognize a teacher probably overstepped their bounds. We recognize all those things. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I didn’t force her to not go by this nickname. Unfortunately, a lot of well-intentioned teachers can push so hard, and the kid’s like, really fine with the nickname. W\u003c/span>e just examined what happened. I’m not moralizing.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> My job is to help you understand things, right? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> Every year there are things that come as a surprise to me. Even when I have spent weeks with these kids or have had conversations with families. The piece that really stands out to me is that I had a couple of students over the years, several students, but with LatinX names who who had regularly had teachers Americanize them. So instead of David, who was David. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These young ones just accept that their name is being mispronounced until we have this conversation often. And then they will say “But that’s not how we say my name at home. That’s not my name.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> But even when they realize this isn’t okay, they often would not at first grade or kindergarten advocate for themselves, but they advocate for each other. And so I would notice, you know, they would be a substitute teacher who hadn’t yet gotten this, who’s going through the role in P.E. or something, and says David David would just be like, “Yeah,” but others are like “It’s David.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> It was really interesting to see that they felt strongly about their names but that power between adults and kids is still so strong and yet on behalf of someone else they’ll stand up to that power\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And I feel like this unit tells students Oh no, you can advocate for how it is pronounced and what other people call you. And that’s an important lesson, I think at a young age, at the elementary school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> It’s similar at the high school level too. O\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ften it’ll be someone else who tells me something about a name or pronoun. It’ll be a classmate. If they’re speaking up to me, that means that teachers before them have made it okay to speak to them in a critical way. \u003c/span>In ninth grade, I’m like a gateway teacher to high school. It’s kind of like, hey, look, you’re going to have to if you don’t advocate for yourself, that’s going to be a problem. Like, it’s going to be a problem in a way that it might not have been a problem before. It’s going to definitely be a problem now because like things are coming at you a little fast. Things are like you got to be able to say, I need more time, I need an extension, I need this, I need that. I need you to call me by his name, like those things. And so I love it when that work has been done early so that they come in and that’s one less kid you have that initial conversation with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Matthew R. Kay is going into his 18th year teaching in Philadelphia. His other book is called \u003cem>Not Light But Fire.\u003c/em> Jennifer Orr has been teaching elementary school for 25 years. The book she wrote with Matthew is called \u003cem>We’re Gonna Keep on Talking\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> MindShift will have more minisodes coming down the pipeline to bring you ideas and innovations from experts in education and beyond. Don’t forget to hit follow on your favorite podcast app so you don’t miss a thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The MindShift team includes me, Nimah Gobir, Ki Sung, , Kara Newhouse, and Marlena Jackson-Retondo. Our editor is Chris Hambrick. Seth Samuel is our sound designer. We receive additional support from Jen Chien , Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldaña and Holly Kernan. MindShift is supported, in part, by the generosity of the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and members of KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Enunciated syllables, slow speech and spelling — these are the adjustments some students find themselves making as \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/52183/teachers-strategies-for-pronouncing-and-remembering-students-names-correctly\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">they introduce themselves to their teachers each school year\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For these students, whose names might be misspelled in emails or autocorrected in text messages, this annual ritual carries significance. It often determines what they will be called for the entire school year. “This is a matter children feel strongly about, yet adults aren’t always as attentive to,” said elementary school teacher \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/jenorr?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jennifer Orr\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to a \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2011 study\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">,\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> daily mispronunciations of names are microaggressions that can significantly affect \u003ca href=\"https://www.sjsu.edu/people/marcos.pizarro/courses/185/s1/Names.pdf\">students’ self-perception and sense of belonging\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Names are one of the topics covered in \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://stenhouse.com/products/9781625315755_were-gonna-keep-on-talking\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re Gonna Keep on Talking\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which Orr co-authored with Philadelphia educator \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MattRKay?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Matthew R. Kay\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The book guides educators through how to foster meaningful conversations about race with elementary school students. The names unit, which Orr has done about five times over the last 15 years, uses books to initiate discussions within the classroom. The authors recommend how to structure partner and class dialogues and how to create a supportive environment for students to share their experiences related to names. The unit also encourages students to delve deeper into their own identities by gathering information about their names from their families.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While Kay’s previous work, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://stenhouse.com/products/9781625310989_not-light-but-fire\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not Light, But Fire\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, explored how to facilitate discussions about race with high schoolers, this sequel tailors the approach to the needs of younger learners. “You don’t get [elementary school] kids’ attention for 45 minutes, even in the upper grades. That’s a long period of time for a child to stay focused,” said Orr. “These discussions have to happen over months instead of class periods.” Regardless of grade level, Kay and Orr agreed that these are conversations children are eager to have.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Exploring names through engaging books\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Orr said it’s important to create a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59104/identity-mastery-belonging-and-efficacy-four-ways-student-agency-can-flourish\">supportive and inclusive classroom community\u003c/a> before getting into discussions about names. “I don’t want kids to end up feeling raw or vulnerable because we haven’t built the space for that kind of a conversation,” she said. It’s crucial to establish foundations of trust and effective communication even with students one may have taught in previous years. According to Kay, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/61775/how-important-was-your-favorite-teacher-to-your-success-researchers-have-done-the-math\">strong teacher-student rapport\u003c/a> should never be taken for granted. As he put it, “You can’t spend last year’s currency.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Orr’s approach includes practicing active listening and respectful engagement with her students. She often does interactive read-alouds, pausing at planned points while reading picture books to encourage and hone students’ discussion and listening skills. Orr uses books to open the door to the conversation. “There are children’s books coming out all the time on names in a way that is so exciting,” she said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.candlewick.com/cat.asp?mode=book&isbn=0763693553&browse=Title\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alma and How She Got Her Name\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">by Juana Martinez-Neal is one of Orr’s go-to books for kicking off the unit. In this book, Alma Sofia Esperanza José Pura Candela wants to know why she has so many names. Her father explains how she got each one. After the character Alma is introduced, Orr asks students to share their thoughts about her name. “Does it seem too long?” Students will often use this opportunity to relate in with comments like “I’m named after my grandma too!” She also stops for discussion halfway through \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alma and How She Got Her Name\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> so students have the opportunity to discuss with a partner. “What do you think of Alma’s name now?” Orr asks. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another book that Orr uses is \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theinnovationpress.com/your-name-is-a-song\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Your Name Is a Song\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow and Luisa Uribe. The book follows a young girl who is upset that no one is pronouncing her name correctly. The main character’s mom teaches her about the musicality of names from other cultures. The story resonates with students, bridging the common experience of name mispronunciation. Through these books, students begin to grasp that names can carry rich histories, Orr said. In all, each read-aloud and discussion takes about 25 minutes, so that her young students don’t get bored or restless.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Extending conversations beyond the classroom\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Books also serve as a catalyst for taking the conversation beyond the classroom walls. Recognizing the importance of\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www2.ed.gov/documents/family-community/partners-education.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> collaboration between school and home in nurturing a child’s sense of identity\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, she suggests that students go home and initiate discussions with their families about the significance and stories behind their names. This part of the unit can lead to self exploration for students and open up a window to their parents’ decisions, according to Kay. Orr proactively reaches out to families to inform them about the discussions taking place in class, so they won’t be blindsided by their child’s questions. She emphasizes that participation in these conversations at home is optional, as is sharing in class. “They can make it fit their comfort level,” Orr said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC1058124335&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In class, Orr and Kay recommend starting the next conversation with “Who wants to share what they’ve learned about their name from their family?” This dialogue allows students to share their newfound understanding and feelings about their names. Orr is often surprised by the unique stories and experiences that students bring forward. Some Latino students have told her that other teachers Americanized their names. For example, instead of “David,” where the “i” is pronounced with a long “e” sound, a teacher might use the flat “i” like the sound in zip. She also remembered a fifth grader one year who was a recent immigrant from China. “I swear she spent a week trying to get me to say her name properly,” she admitted. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Orr noted that elementary school students will often just accept the way their name is pronounced until they have this conversation in class. She said that name discussions may not always result in kids being able to advocate for themselves but they become more likely to advocate for other students. “That power between adults and kids is still so strong. And yet, on behalf of someone else, they’ll stand up to that power and they’ll make it clear that actually, no, that’s not how you say it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a high school teacher, Kay is excited by the prospect of not being the first one to have conversations about identity and culture with students. “I can see the inquiry seeds,” he said. Orr and Kay envision a future where elementary school teachers continue to introduce these conversations, paving the way for students to advocate for the pronunciation of their names as well as for the respect and recognition of others’ identities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: This story was updated to include the name of the illustrator of \u003c/em>Your Name Is a Song.\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Welcome to MindShift, the podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Nimah Gobir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong> Matthew R. Kay is a high school English teacher in Philadelphia. He’s also the author behind the book \u003cem>Not Light, But Fire. \u003c/em>And he knows how to spark meaningful conversations with high schoolers. In the book, he shares a lesson that’s an absolute hit with his students. And it’s all about their names\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay: \u003c/strong> I think every teacher has that one lesson where like, if you’re going to observe me, I’m going to look like a rock star. Like the principal walks through, you’re like, “Say less. I got this”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> This is your knock it out of the park lesson? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> Oh, easy, easy. This is the one where the kids are lined up afterwards to say they didn’t get a chance to share. This is the one where I have to apologize to my colleagues. I’m like, “What can I do? I’m sorry.” It’s so juicy and it feels so good. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Matt teamed up with elementary school teacher Jennifer Orr for their new book, \u003cem>We’re Gonna Keep on Talking.\u003c/em> They’ve taken lessons from his high school teaching experience and tailored them for younger students. Today’s episode features a conversation about how Matt’s lesson about names looks in Jen’s elementary school classroom. We’ll get into that conversation after the break\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Matt, you wrote \u003cem>Not Light But Fire\u003c/em> about your experience teaching in high school classrooms a few years ago. Can you tell me about your decision to add \u003cem>We’re Gonna Keep On Talking\u003c/em> to the canon?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> One of the biggest thing that was asked of me, teachers would come up to me and they would say, When are you going to come up with the elementary books? And that was something that I normally kind of brushed aside. Like I respected it, but I was kind of like, well, you know, never because I’m not an elementary teacher. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But I feel like what separated \u003cem>Not Light\u003c/em> was my storytelling . \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I feel like that’s the part that’s hardest for someone who doesn’t teach high school — the actual visualization of what does this conversation look like? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s why I decided to see if I could find an elementary teacher who could who could help with that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Jen, this book is all about your experience in the classroom with elementary school students. There’s a part where you talk about a lesson on students’ names, and it’s different from the lesson that Matt uses with his students. Can you tell me how you scaffold this conversation for younger kids?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr: \u003c/strong> Sure. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ve taught in several different schools in my school district and in almost all of them. There have been kids who have really struggled with their with name, pronunciation, children whose who they or their families had emigrated to this country. And their names do not fit our kind of Americanized way of saying things. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> And as many things are in my elementary classroom and in many, it’s tied into a lot of literature. So there’s several different books that we read throughout the course of the unit and really talk through things through the lens of the books as a way to kind of open the door to the conversation and then make it much more personal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr: \u003c/strong> It was always designed around discussing kids first names. Where does your name come from? What does your name mean? Knowing that some families may not want to have that conversation. Keeping it open ended for kids they could choose to share or not share. The conversation then grew into last names as well as kids started to notice things about each other’s last names, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> noticing kind of beginning to really build an understanding of why people are names and what those what weight is carried in names and where that can carry history as well as for your own self. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong> Talking about names can get vulnerable because it can bring up stuff about race and identity. What are some strategies that can teachers use to ensure students feel valued in conversations like these and respected by not only you as the teacher, but also the other kids in the room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> That’s a huge question because none of this works if we don’t start from that point. A\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">t the start of each school year. It’s not only important that we build that community within our classroom, which is huge and crucial, and we talk about some different ways to do that in the book, but also to build that community with our colleagues and with the families of our students because we’re all going to be involved in this. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> Even the conversation around names, in my classroom, it doesn’t happen in the first week of school because we haven’t had a chance yet to build that community. I don’t want kids to end up feeling raw or vulnerable because we haven’t built that space for that kind of a conversation before we have it. So we have to be careful that we’re not jumping into it too soon. T\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">hat may or may not be true for Matt…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> To be honest, it’s the same in in secondary. I\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">n one of my PD sessions to talk about myths about safe spaces and one of them is that it’s permanent. Ou\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">r metaphors that we use for safe spaces like building and stuff like that probably need a little bit of work because it like leads to the assumption that you build it and then it’s built right. But it’s really it’s more about building and maintaining and maintaining and maintaining. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> You can you can’t spend last year’s currency like the kids I’m about to meet in a month, it’s best for me to assume that they don’t know me from a can of paint , even if I work with them last year. Because who knows what happened this summer. They could be a different kid. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir\u003c/strong>: So what I’m hearing is that it takes intentional time and you actually keep spending that time. You don’t get to just bank it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> I think that’s true of almost anything in a classroom. You spend the start of the school year setting all of these things up and making sure they’re established but that doesn’t mean you’re done with it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Jen, you mentioned that this unit takes a lot more time at the elementary school level because you’re working with little ones who – let’s be honest, can have a really short attention span. I love the idea of using books to initiate that broad conversation and then slowly getting more and more focused. Can you tell me some of the picture books that you read during this unit?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr: \u003c/strong> \u003cem>My Name Is a Song\u003c/em>, which is a beautiful one of a young girl who is complaining about how no one pronounces her name correctly. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And her mom really sort of reassuring her about the way that that names are songs and how beautiful that is. And by the end of the book, I’m not sure if she’s fully convinced of the beauty of it and the fact that she knows her name is still going to be mispronounced, but she definitely has some reassurance\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> Another one is Juana Martinez Neal’s book, \u003cem>Alma and How She Got Her Name\u003c/em>. And Alma has I can’t remember it now, you know, maybe six or seven names in her name. And the book is her father explaining to her where each of those names came from, which is our great introduction into then talking about where did your name come from and inviting children and their families into that conversation through that book.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Something I’ve heard you say is that nothing happens at the elementary school level without getting families involved. How do you involve parents and caregivers in this unit?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> At the end of that first day of digging into the book, I will reach out to families and say, We read this book. We had this conversation. Kids may be asking you where their name came from and if you’re willing to share with them and if they want to share with the class we’ll be talking about that in the coming weeks.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> There’s a lot going on with names. There are all these situations that I don’t want kids to feel uncomfortable with. And then sometimes it’s a single parent and it may also come down to this child is living with someone who is not their parent who may not even know their name story. A bit part of it is to make sure that families that this is an option and we’re really interested and that we’re not trying to put anyone on the spot and that kids have that same sense.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> What is really cool about this unit is that it gives students the opportunity to learn more about their teachers because it sounds like you two also talk about your names with your students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> I just really love the self-exploration and the showing kids the power and also like opening up a window to their parents decisions, I think, which is something that’s really cool. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay: \u003c/strong> I get to open up about myself, you know, like I’m Matt is boring. Oh, there’s no meaning behind it, all that kind of stuff. But that’s because my parents both had unique names and they didn’t like everybody always jacking their name up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> Matt could be a white dude and I until you meet me. So they didn’t want me to have any kind of disadvantages on resumes and stuff. So they were really intentional about Matt. And then I went and turned around, gave my daughters two very unique names that they will always have to correct people. And so it’s just weird about it how that cycle keeps going. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Unique names are very character building. I’m saying that as some one with a unique name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> You always have to spell it out\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Yeah, yeah my name has an ‘H’ at the end, so I had to learn how to correct people as they were spelling it. How about you, Jen?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> I was one of those kids I probably wouldn’t have wanted had this conversation because I have no story behind my name. Something I still hold against my parents. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And like Matt I, my children have names that have stories behind them because I always hated that my parents were like “I don’t know. It was pretty.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In this name activity were there any surprising moments or stories that emerged during this name unit that stood out to you that were meaningful or impactful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> There’s a lot of good stories in that chapter. J\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">elly was one of them. S\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ome early teacher couldn’t pronounce her name, and so she they gave her the nickname and then she went with it. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We recognize a teacher probably overstepped their bounds. We recognize all those things. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I didn’t force her to not go by this nickname. Unfortunately, a lot of well-intentioned teachers can push so hard, and the kid’s like, really fine with the nickname. W\u003c/span>e just examined what happened. I’m not moralizing.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> My job is to help you understand things, right? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> Every year there are things that come as a surprise to me. Even when I have spent weeks with these kids or have had conversations with families. The piece that really stands out to me is that I had a couple of students over the years, several students, but with LatinX names who who had regularly had teachers Americanize them. So instead of David, who was David. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These young ones just accept that their name is being mispronounced until we have this conversation often. And then they will say “But that’s not how we say my name at home. That’s not my name.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> But even when they realize this isn’t okay, they often would not at first grade or kindergarten advocate for themselves, but they advocate for each other. And so I would notice, you know, they would be a substitute teacher who hadn’t yet gotten this, who’s going through the role in P.E. or something, and says David David would just be like, “Yeah,” but others are like “It’s David.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Jennifer Orr:\u003c/strong> It was really interesting to see that they felt strongly about their names but that power between adults and kids is still so strong and yet on behalf of someone else they’ll stand up to that power\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And I feel like this unit tells students Oh no, you can advocate for how it is pronounced and what other people call you. And that’s an important lesson, I think at a young age, at the elementary school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Matthew R. Kay:\u003c/strong> It’s similar at the high school level too. O\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ften it’ll be someone else who tells me something about a name or pronoun. It’ll be a classmate. If they’re speaking up to me, that means that teachers before them have made it okay to speak to them in a critical way. \u003c/span>In ninth grade, I’m like a gateway teacher to high school. It’s kind of like, hey, look, you’re going to have to if you don’t advocate for yourself, that’s going to be a problem. Like, it’s going to be a problem in a way that it might not have been a problem before. It’s going to definitely be a problem now because like things are coming at you a little fast. Things are like you got to be able to say, I need more time, I need an extension, I need this, I need that. I need you to call me by his name, like those things. And so I love it when that work has been done early so that they come in and that’s one less kid you have that initial conversation with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Matthew R. Kay is going into his 18th year teaching in Philadelphia. His other book is called \u003cem>Not Light But Fire.\u003c/em> Jennifer Orr has been teaching elementary school for 25 years. The book she wrote with Matthew is called \u003cem>We’re Gonna Keep on Talking\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> MindShift will have more minisodes coming down the pipeline to bring you ideas and innovations from experts in education and beyond. Don’t forget to hit follow on your favorite podcast app so you don’t miss a thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The MindShift team includes me, Nimah Gobir, Ki Sung, , Kara Newhouse, and Marlena Jackson-Retondo. Our editor is Chris Hambrick. Seth Samuel is our sound designer. We receive additional support from Jen Chien , Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldaña and Holly Kernan. MindShift is supported, in part, by the generosity of the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and members of KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>"
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"title": "4 Parenting Priorities to Prevent Mental Health 'Summer Slide'",
"headTitle": "4 Parenting Priorities to Prevent Mental Health ‘Summer Slide’ | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With school on break, along with all the homework, tests and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59625/three-reasons-teens-need-later-school-start-times\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">early start times\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that come with it, parents often assume that young people’s stress and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/61186/what-parents-need-to-know-about-their-teens-mental-health\">anxiety\u003c/a> will take a pause as well. However, that’s not always the case, especially as the novelty of summer dwindles. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Without the daily structure of school and extracurricular activities, kids may struggle with boredom or restlessness. “Summer for many of us can feel like this nebulous thing because it is just this endless free time. Additionally, the pressure to make the most of the summer break and fear of missing out on experiences can contribute to feelings of anxiety. That ambiguity spikes a lot of fear and concern,” said Miriam Stevenson, who is an executive director at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.caresolace.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Care Solace\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a company that helps schools connect families with mental health services. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Previously she worked as the director of student services for health and wellness in the Palo Alto Unified School District.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stevenson said that while Care Solace receives fewer summertime referrals, it’s not because there is less need. It’s because students aren’t at school with extra adult eyes and ears to check in on them. “There’s one less node in our safety net,” she said. When schools succeed at creating \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/61775/how-important-was-your-favorite-teacher-to-your-success-researchers-have-done-the-math\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a sense of belonging\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, they can be a comforting routine for students or a safe place where they feel socially connected. Stevenson offered advice for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/61186/what-parents-need-to-know-about-their-teens-mental-health\">parents looking to support their kids’ mental health\u003c/a> over the summer and equip them with the tools to embrace joy, conquer challenges and flourish.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>More free time doesn’t have to mean more screen time\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With more free time on their hands, it’s easy for kids to get sucked into endless hours of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59094/does-my-kid-have-a-tech-addiction\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">screen usage\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, especially because kids are also using their devices to connect with friends that they’re no longer seeing at school everyday. An advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General \u003ca href=\"https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/news/juvjust/us-surgeon-general-issues-advisory-social-media-and-youth-mental-health\">recently warned\u003c/a> that “frequent social media use can contribute to poor mental health.” One study cited in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-youth-mental-health-social-media-advisory.pdf\">advisory \u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">found that adolescents who spent over three hours per day on social media were twice as likely to have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/60788/3-reasons-why-seattle-schools-are-suing-big-tech-over-a-youth-mental-health-crisis\">negative mental health outcomes\u003c/a>, such as depression and anxiety symptoms. “Not all young people are good at setting their own boundaries and they might need you to be the bad guy,” said Stevenson.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The first thing parents can do to limit screen time is to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/60436/when-parents-practice-good-screen-habits-it-rubs-off-on-the-whole-family\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">lead by example with their own devices\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “They’re going to do what we do, not what we tell them to do,” added Stevenson. By modeling moderation and offering alternatives that get kids moving and exploring, parents can make a well-rounded summer seem more attainable. Summer is an opportunity to be present with one another as a family, said Stevenson. “Have technology-free times together or meals together — moments where there isn’t a screen that’s interfering with your ability to connect,” she suggested. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Additionally, parents can give their children a screen time budget. “They get to decide how they want to use the amount of screen time that they have,” said Stevenson. “That gives them some autonomy and choice.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>The power of a summer schedule\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maintaining a routine during the summer can be a powerful tool for supporting children’s mental health, and parents can play a crucial role in establishing and reinforcing this structure. Stevenson encouraged parents to proactively determine a schedule with kids, including \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/60543/what-parents-need-to-monitor-about-teens-sleep-beyond-the-hour-count\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">bedtimes and wake-up times\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “There’s great freedom in the summer to allow us to go to our natural circadian rhythms. And unfortunately, as lovely as that might be, it’s going to make waking up early harder when they come back [to school],” said Stevenson. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/sleep_hygiene.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Consistent sleep patterns\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> can improve sleep health, which is closely \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/13792?autologincheck=redirected\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">linked to children’s mental health and wellbeing\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “If you don’t have morning routines or evening routines as a family, the summer is a good time to experiment,” Stevenson said. Creating a daily schedule that includes dedicated time for physical activity, reading, hobbies and socializing can provide a sense of stability and purpose.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Just because school’s out doesn’t mean learning stops. In fact, it’s the best time to learn because you have the sole choice over what you get to be curious, pursue or inquire about,” she added. Outside of the hustle and bustle of the school year, parents can encourage kids to think about how they’re contributing to their community, which can look like setting the table each night, visiting older relatives or volunteering locally. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Open communication can help parents recognize warning signs\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It can be difficult to identify signs that a kid is struggling with mental health, especially if they are older. Although resources with lists of warning signs exist, they can often read like teenagers being teenagers, Stevenson said. “They’re emotional. They’re volatile. They’re withdrawn. They like to sleep all day.” Instead of scrutinizing every potential symptom, Stevenson suggested parents keep an eye on significant changes in behavior, mood, eating and sleep habits. “Trust that you know your kid,” she said. “You know what their baseline is.” Additionally, parents can establish a daily check-in with their child, such as a text asking how they’re doing or a designated time in the evening to share highs and lows from the day.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If parents notice warning signs of poor mental health, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/61186/what-parents-need-to-know-about-their-teens-mental-health\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">open and honest communication\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is vital. Engaging in supportive conversations with their child, expressing concern and actively listening without judgment can create a safe space for them to share their feelings. “Listen and stay in that moment and just let them express themselves. Show them that you can hold very difficult feelings,” said Stevenson. If parents feel out of their depth, they can seek professional help from a pediatrician, therapist or counselor. “Summer can present a lot of great opportunities for intensive mental health support or starting with a therapist,” she added.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Knowledge is power when it comes to school-year fear\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the beginning of the summer, going back to school may be the farthest thing from kids’ minds. But as the school start date gets closer, parents might start to see anxiety levels rise, said Stevenson. “Anytime you’re going to have \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/58462/how-to-help-anxious-students-re-adjust-to-social-settings\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a transition or there’s an unknown\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, there’s going to be an increase in worry. And if you’re already predisposed or struggling with anxiety, it’s going to exacerbate the challenges that you’re facing,” she said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Parents can work with kids to find out as much information about the next school year as possible in order to dispel any fear of the future. This is especially helpful when kids are starting at a new school either because of a grade change or a recent move. Parents may encourage students to visit school and see where their classes will be or talk to their friends to see if they will be in the same classes. “As much information as they can have about what their day is going to look like and who they’re going to be with is really helpful,” said Stevenson. Additionally, parents can identify any orientation programs that the school may provide.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kids’ mental health needs persist past the end of the school year and through the summer. Embracing this opportunity to reset and focus on mental well-being can set the stage for a fulfilling summer experience and confident start to the new school year.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "While many kids look forward to summer break, it can also be a time when signs of anxiety and depression go unnoticed. Screen time limits and open communication can help.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With school on break, along with all the homework, tests and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59625/three-reasons-teens-need-later-school-start-times\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">early start times\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that come with it, parents often assume that young people’s stress and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/61186/what-parents-need-to-know-about-their-teens-mental-health\">anxiety\u003c/a> will take a pause as well. However, that’s not always the case, especially as the novelty of summer dwindles. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Without the daily structure of school and extracurricular activities, kids may struggle with boredom or restlessness. “Summer for many of us can feel like this nebulous thing because it is just this endless free time. Additionally, the pressure to make the most of the summer break and fear of missing out on experiences can contribute to feelings of anxiety. That ambiguity spikes a lot of fear and concern,” said Miriam Stevenson, who is an executive director at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.caresolace.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Care Solace\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a company that helps schools connect families with mental health services. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Previously she worked as the director of student services for health and wellness in the Palo Alto Unified School District.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stevenson said that while Care Solace receives fewer summertime referrals, it’s not because there is less need. It’s because students aren’t at school with extra adult eyes and ears to check in on them. “There’s one less node in our safety net,” she said. When schools succeed at creating \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/61775/how-important-was-your-favorite-teacher-to-your-success-researchers-have-done-the-math\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a sense of belonging\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, they can be a comforting routine for students or a safe place where they feel socially connected. Stevenson offered advice for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/61186/what-parents-need-to-know-about-their-teens-mental-health\">parents looking to support their kids’ mental health\u003c/a> over the summer and equip them with the tools to embrace joy, conquer challenges and flourish.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>More free time doesn’t have to mean more screen time\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With more free time on their hands, it’s easy for kids to get sucked into endless hours of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59094/does-my-kid-have-a-tech-addiction\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">screen usage\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, especially because kids are also using their devices to connect with friends that they’re no longer seeing at school everyday. An advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General \u003ca href=\"https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/news/juvjust/us-surgeon-general-issues-advisory-social-media-and-youth-mental-health\">recently warned\u003c/a> that “frequent social media use can contribute to poor mental health.” One study cited in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-youth-mental-health-social-media-advisory.pdf\">advisory \u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">found that adolescents who spent over three hours per day on social media were twice as likely to have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/60788/3-reasons-why-seattle-schools-are-suing-big-tech-over-a-youth-mental-health-crisis\">negative mental health outcomes\u003c/a>, such as depression and anxiety symptoms. “Not all young people are good at setting their own boundaries and they might need you to be the bad guy,” said Stevenson.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The first thing parents can do to limit screen time is to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/60436/when-parents-practice-good-screen-habits-it-rubs-off-on-the-whole-family\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">lead by example with their own devices\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “They’re going to do what we do, not what we tell them to do,” added Stevenson. By modeling moderation and offering alternatives that get kids moving and exploring, parents can make a well-rounded summer seem more attainable. Summer is an opportunity to be present with one another as a family, said Stevenson. “Have technology-free times together or meals together — moments where there isn’t a screen that’s interfering with your ability to connect,” she suggested. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Additionally, parents can give their children a screen time budget. “They get to decide how they want to use the amount of screen time that they have,” said Stevenson. “That gives them some autonomy and choice.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>The power of a summer schedule\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maintaining a routine during the summer can be a powerful tool for supporting children’s mental health, and parents can play a crucial role in establishing and reinforcing this structure. Stevenson encouraged parents to proactively determine a schedule with kids, including \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/60543/what-parents-need-to-monitor-about-teens-sleep-beyond-the-hour-count\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">bedtimes and wake-up times\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “There’s great freedom in the summer to allow us to go to our natural circadian rhythms. And unfortunately, as lovely as that might be, it’s going to make waking up early harder when they come back [to school],” said Stevenson. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/sleep_hygiene.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Consistent sleep patterns\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> can improve sleep health, which is closely \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/13792?autologincheck=redirected\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">linked to children’s mental health and wellbeing\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “If you don’t have morning routines or evening routines as a family, the summer is a good time to experiment,” Stevenson said. Creating a daily schedule that includes dedicated time for physical activity, reading, hobbies and socializing can provide a sense of stability and purpose.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Just because school’s out doesn’t mean learning stops. In fact, it’s the best time to learn because you have the sole choice over what you get to be curious, pursue or inquire about,” she added. Outside of the hustle and bustle of the school year, parents can encourage kids to think about how they’re contributing to their community, which can look like setting the table each night, visiting older relatives or volunteering locally. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Open communication can help parents recognize warning signs\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It can be difficult to identify signs that a kid is struggling with mental health, especially if they are older. Although resources with lists of warning signs exist, they can often read like teenagers being teenagers, Stevenson said. “They’re emotional. They’re volatile. They’re withdrawn. They like to sleep all day.” Instead of scrutinizing every potential symptom, Stevenson suggested parents keep an eye on significant changes in behavior, mood, eating and sleep habits. “Trust that you know your kid,” she said. “You know what their baseline is.” Additionally, parents can establish a daily check-in with their child, such as a text asking how they’re doing or a designated time in the evening to share highs and lows from the day.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If parents notice warning signs of poor mental health, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/61186/what-parents-need-to-know-about-their-teens-mental-health\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">open and honest communication\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is vital. Engaging in supportive conversations with their child, expressing concern and actively listening without judgment can create a safe space for them to share their feelings. “Listen and stay in that moment and just let them express themselves. Show them that you can hold very difficult feelings,” said Stevenson. If parents feel out of their depth, they can seek professional help from a pediatrician, therapist or counselor. “Summer can present a lot of great opportunities for intensive mental health support or starting with a therapist,” she added.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Knowledge is power when it comes to school-year fear\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the beginning of the summer, going back to school may be the farthest thing from kids’ minds. But as the school start date gets closer, parents might start to see anxiety levels rise, said Stevenson. “Anytime you’re going to have \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/58462/how-to-help-anxious-students-re-adjust-to-social-settings\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a transition or there’s an unknown\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, there’s going to be an increase in worry. And if you’re already predisposed or struggling with anxiety, it’s going to exacerbate the challenges that you’re facing,” she said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Parents can work with kids to find out as much information about the next school year as possible in order to dispel any fear of the future. This is especially helpful when kids are starting at a new school either because of a grade change or a recent move. Parents may encourage students to visit school and see where their classes will be or talk to their friends to see if they will be in the same classes. “As much information as they can have about what their day is going to look like and who they’re going to be with is really helpful,” said Stevenson. Additionally, parents can identify any orientation programs that the school may provide.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kids’ mental health needs persist past the end of the school year and through the summer. Embracing this opportunity to reset and focus on mental well-being can set the stage for a fulfilling summer experience and confident start to the new school year.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "How grown-ups can help kids transition to 'post-pandemic' school life",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>School counselor Meredith Draughn starts every day by greeting the students who fill her campus hallways, cup of coffee in hand. There are about 350 of them, and she knows all their names.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Kids want to feel known and want to feel loved. And greeting them by name is one way we can do that...\u003ca href=\"https://www.panoramaed.com/blog/student-sense-of-belonging\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Research\u003c/a> shows that that helps us build a positive culture and a welcoming culture.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Draughn works at B. Everett Jordan Elementary School in the rural town of Graham, N.C., and she was recently named 2023's School Counselor of the Year by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA). The selection committee praised Draughn's data-driven approach and passion for her students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The award comes at a pivotal time for Draughn: in the middle of the most \"normal\" school year since the pandemic began. Masking is \u003ca href=\"https://about.burbio.com/school-mask-policy-tracker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">optional in most schools\u003c/a>; quarantine regulations have been loosened; and in May, the Biden administration plans to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/01/30/1152702709/covid-emergency-declarations-end-white-house\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">declare an end\u003c/a> to the COVID-19 public health emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But children are still reeling from what they experienced during the pandemic. Many students have struggled with mental health, academics and a general lack of connection to their classroom. All things Draughn has seen in her school, too. But she says there is an upside to all those challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I think a lot of people focus on trauma changing the brain...but what they miss is that\u003ca href=\"https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00085/full__;!!Iwwt!XObgxpw0S5sOzGGGs5wkqiSEwWsiUu_-7PdESFAefr1O4Q6ruw0KpnK-XVt1kKJRWHyDHwO7bH_FCCMbOg%24\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> healing changes it \u003c/a>as well.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Draughn has this advice for how educators and families can support their students as they navigate the transition to \"post-pandemic\" life:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Establish regular routines and a sense of control\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The pandemic disrupted everybody's daily routines, and that lack of structure was especially difficult for children. Draughn says rebuilding routine takes time and consistency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way she likes to build consistent habits for students is by setting goals, big or small, like being respectful or following directions. She begins the day with a \"check-in,\" where students share what they'd like to accomplish, and ends it with a \"check-out\" to see if they met their goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Those successes in small ways can lead to big impacts,\" she explains. \"You're creating a habit, ultimately.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And habits can help give students a sense of control. Pandemic or not, Draughn says, a lack of control is something young people often struggle with,, and it can lead to some \u003cem>big \u003c/em>feelings, even outbursts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"So it's just reteaching what we can do when we don't have control over something and how we regain control and regulation over our own feelings and emotions.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She uses exercises like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hirlvRC3Dxc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">circles of control\u003c/a>, which asks students to distinguish between things that are outside their control, and things they have the power to change. If the source of frustration is outside a child's control, she redirects their focus to something else that \u003cem>is \u003c/em>in their control to help them feel empowered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Draughn says reestablishing structure, and giving students a sense of control, can lead to better self-regulation and a host of other benefits, including the motivation to show up to school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like a number of districts across the country, Draughn says hers is continuing to combat elevated levels of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/12/07/456208805/how-a-schools-attendance-number-hides-big-problems\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">chronic absenteeism\u003c/a>, which is when students miss 10% or more of the school year. She says reintroducing school as a part of the daily routine can help students feel more connected to the classroom. That, in turn, gives children a sense of belonging that can improve attendance and set them up for success in later grades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Successful habits build a successful life,\" Draughn says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Every behavior communicates a need\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Children express themselves through behavior—that's nothing new. But Draughn says if educators or parents are dealing with particularly challenging behaviors, it's essential to pay attention to the story those actions might be telling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"All behaviors, at least in children, are communication.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Draughn points to an example of a child caught stealing food from another student. Rather than place blame, Draughn looks to what that behavior might tell her about the child's life outside of school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"What is that behavior indicating? Sometimes that is an indication that basic needs are not being met. That is our first question. Not, 'Why did you steal?' \"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Children often behave in attention-seeking ways, and that's also true when they're acting out. One way to encourage \u003cem>positive\u003c/em> behaviors is to consistently celebrate things like following directions or standing patiently in line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"If [attention] is really what they're craving, then they're probably going to do it again,\" Draughn says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recognizing and meeting a child's unique sensory needs is another way to reward them. Maybe they can't focus when a classmate taps a pencil against a desk, or when they're wearing an uncomfortable piece of clothing. Draughn once had a student who regularly acted out in P.E. – it turned out the seam at the toe-line of his socks was an uncomfortable sensory experience for him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Your brain is gaining information from [all five] senses,\" she says. \"And when you're in sensory overload, your brain cannot gain new information.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To identify sensory-avoidant or sensory-seeking behavior, Draughn simply asks students about their preferences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"So you either tone down or give them that sensory input [they're looking for].\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How did she help that P.E. student? \"We finally settled on Toms and a very sheer sock that he could take off right after P.E.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Tools for helping kids cope with anxiety\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In October, a coalition of organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association, \u003ca href=\"https://downloads.aap.org/DOFA/NED%20Anniversary%20Sign-on%20Letter%20to%20President%20Biden%20Final%2010-13-22.pdf\">called on\u003c/a> President Biden to declare \"a federal National Emergency in children's mental health.\" Their letter cites a \"troubling\" growth in the number of young children diagnosed with anxiety and other disorders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Draughn says she's also seen a higher number of anxiety-related referrals since the pandemic began. But she thinks that's in part due to a heightened sense of awareness around mental health in her community. \"Students have always been anxious, now they just have a word to name it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says helping children understand what anxiety is, and how their body responds to it, is a good first step to addressing it. She tells them about physical symptoms like sweating, fidgeting and nervousness. Another tell-tale sign is a stomach-ache.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Anxiety is a natural body response to tell us something's wrong. ... When we recognize it early on, we can put strategies in place to deal with it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she's intervening with an anxious child, Draughn uses kid-friendly words to describe what they're experiencing, like \"extra energy.\" Then, she finds ways for her students to expend or redirect that energy, like through exercise or simply allowing them to fidget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If children feel too anxious or uncomfortable to get up and move, she suggests slowing things down with breathing exercises. You can ask a child to breathe in as though they're smelling a flower, and breathe out as though they're blowing out a candle. Draughn also likes to use a method called \"\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoGTlBkP3IU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">4 x 4 breathing.\u003c/a>\" She asks students to envision a square and breathe along each of its lines: \"You're going to breathe for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, breathe out through your mouth for 4 seconds, hold for four seconds. And you do that four times.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another strategy for when life feels overwhelming to children is to make it feel more bite-sized. \"When we look at it as a whole day, or hour or a whole class, it can get really daunting,\" Draughn says. So instead, she asks students to choose an activity or task that feels achievable within a few minutes, like journaling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when all else fails, distractions, like playing games or drawing, can be a simple but powerful tool to redirect anxiety—for both kids and adults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Edited by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348780034/nicole-cohen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Nicole Cohen\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\nVisual design and development by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348775569/la-johnson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>LA Johnson\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=How+grown-ups+can+help+kids+transition+to+%27post-pandemic%27+school+life&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>School counselor Meredith Draughn starts every day by greeting the students who fill her campus hallways, cup of coffee in hand. There are about 350 of them, and she knows all their names.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Kids want to feel known and want to feel loved. And greeting them by name is one way we can do that...\u003ca href=\"https://www.panoramaed.com/blog/student-sense-of-belonging\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Research\u003c/a> shows that that helps us build a positive culture and a welcoming culture.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Draughn works at B. Everett Jordan Elementary School in the rural town of Graham, N.C., and she was recently named 2023's School Counselor of the Year by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA). The selection committee praised Draughn's data-driven approach and passion for her students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The award comes at a pivotal time for Draughn: in the middle of the most \"normal\" school year since the pandemic began. Masking is \u003ca href=\"https://about.burbio.com/school-mask-policy-tracker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">optional in most schools\u003c/a>; quarantine regulations have been loosened; and in May, the Biden administration plans to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/01/30/1152702709/covid-emergency-declarations-end-white-house\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">declare an end\u003c/a> to the COVID-19 public health emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But children are still reeling from what they experienced during the pandemic. Many students have struggled with mental health, academics and a general lack of connection to their classroom. All things Draughn has seen in her school, too. But she says there is an upside to all those challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I think a lot of people focus on trauma changing the brain...but what they miss is that\u003ca href=\"https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00085/full__;!!Iwwt!XObgxpw0S5sOzGGGs5wkqiSEwWsiUu_-7PdESFAefr1O4Q6ruw0KpnK-XVt1kKJRWHyDHwO7bH_FCCMbOg%24\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> healing changes it \u003c/a>as well.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Draughn has this advice for how educators and families can support their students as they navigate the transition to \"post-pandemic\" life:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Establish regular routines and a sense of control\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The pandemic disrupted everybody's daily routines, and that lack of structure was especially difficult for children. Draughn says rebuilding routine takes time and consistency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way she likes to build consistent habits for students is by setting goals, big or small, like being respectful or following directions. She begins the day with a \"check-in,\" where students share what they'd like to accomplish, and ends it with a \"check-out\" to see if they met their goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Those successes in small ways can lead to big impacts,\" she explains. \"You're creating a habit, ultimately.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And habits can help give students a sense of control. Pandemic or not, Draughn says, a lack of control is something young people often struggle with,, and it can lead to some \u003cem>big \u003c/em>feelings, even outbursts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"So it's just reteaching what we can do when we don't have control over something and how we regain control and regulation over our own feelings and emotions.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She uses exercises like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hirlvRC3Dxc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">circles of control\u003c/a>, which asks students to distinguish between things that are outside their control, and things they have the power to change. If the source of frustration is outside a child's control, she redirects their focus to something else that \u003cem>is \u003c/em>in their control to help them feel empowered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Draughn says reestablishing structure, and giving students a sense of control, can lead to better self-regulation and a host of other benefits, including the motivation to show up to school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like a number of districts across the country, Draughn says hers is continuing to combat elevated levels of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/12/07/456208805/how-a-schools-attendance-number-hides-big-problems\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">chronic absenteeism\u003c/a>, which is when students miss 10% or more of the school year. She says reintroducing school as a part of the daily routine can help students feel more connected to the classroom. That, in turn, gives children a sense of belonging that can improve attendance and set them up for success in later grades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Successful habits build a successful life,\" Draughn says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Every behavior communicates a need\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Children express themselves through behavior—that's nothing new. But Draughn says if educators or parents are dealing with particularly challenging behaviors, it's essential to pay attention to the story those actions might be telling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"All behaviors, at least in children, are communication.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Draughn points to an example of a child caught stealing food from another student. Rather than place blame, Draughn looks to what that behavior might tell her about the child's life outside of school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"What is that behavior indicating? Sometimes that is an indication that basic needs are not being met. That is our first question. Not, 'Why did you steal?' \"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Children often behave in attention-seeking ways, and that's also true when they're acting out. One way to encourage \u003cem>positive\u003c/em> behaviors is to consistently celebrate things like following directions or standing patiently in line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"If [attention] is really what they're craving, then they're probably going to do it again,\" Draughn says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recognizing and meeting a child's unique sensory needs is another way to reward them. Maybe they can't focus when a classmate taps a pencil against a desk, or when they're wearing an uncomfortable piece of clothing. Draughn once had a student who regularly acted out in P.E. – it turned out the seam at the toe-line of his socks was an uncomfortable sensory experience for him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Your brain is gaining information from [all five] senses,\" she says. \"And when you're in sensory overload, your brain cannot gain new information.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To identify sensory-avoidant or sensory-seeking behavior, Draughn simply asks students about their preferences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"So you either tone down or give them that sensory input [they're looking for].\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How did she help that P.E. student? \"We finally settled on Toms and a very sheer sock that he could take off right after P.E.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Tools for helping kids cope with anxiety\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In October, a coalition of organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association, \u003ca href=\"https://downloads.aap.org/DOFA/NED%20Anniversary%20Sign-on%20Letter%20to%20President%20Biden%20Final%2010-13-22.pdf\">called on\u003c/a> President Biden to declare \"a federal National Emergency in children's mental health.\" Their letter cites a \"troubling\" growth in the number of young children diagnosed with anxiety and other disorders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Draughn says she's also seen a higher number of anxiety-related referrals since the pandemic began. But she thinks that's in part due to a heightened sense of awareness around mental health in her community. \"Students have always been anxious, now they just have a word to name it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says helping children understand what anxiety is, and how their body responds to it, is a good first step to addressing it. She tells them about physical symptoms like sweating, fidgeting and nervousness. Another tell-tale sign is a stomach-ache.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Anxiety is a natural body response to tell us something's wrong. ... When we recognize it early on, we can put strategies in place to deal with it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she's intervening with an anxious child, Draughn uses kid-friendly words to describe what they're experiencing, like \"extra energy.\" Then, she finds ways for her students to expend or redirect that energy, like through exercise or simply allowing them to fidget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If children feel too anxious or uncomfortable to get up and move, she suggests slowing things down with breathing exercises. You can ask a child to breathe in as though they're smelling a flower, and breathe out as though they're blowing out a candle. Draughn also likes to use a method called \"\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoGTlBkP3IU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">4 x 4 breathing.\u003c/a>\" She asks students to envision a square and breathe along each of its lines: \"You're going to breathe for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, breathe out through your mouth for 4 seconds, hold for four seconds. And you do that four times.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another strategy for when life feels overwhelming to children is to make it feel more bite-sized. \"When we look at it as a whole day, or hour or a whole class, it can get really daunting,\" Draughn says. So instead, she asks students to choose an activity or task that feels achievable within a few minutes, like journaling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when all else fails, distractions, like playing games or drawing, can be a simple but powerful tool to redirect anxiety—for both kids and adults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Edited by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348780034/nicole-cohen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Nicole Cohen\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\nVisual design and development by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348775569/la-johnson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>LA Johnson\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=How+grown-ups+can+help+kids+transition+to+%27post-pandemic%27+school+life&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "want-more-meaningful-classroom-management-here-are-8-questions-teachers-can-ask-themselves",
"title": "Want more meaningful classroom management? Here are 8 questions teachers can ask themselves.",
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"headTitle": "Want more meaningful classroom management? Here are 8 questions teachers can ask themselves. | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The first days of school usually include going over ground rules for the classroom as students return from nearly three months of summer break. All teachers approach this process differently, from posting rules on the board to co-creating norms as a class. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s nothing inherently wrong with coming up with all the rules by yourself or deciding all the rules as a class, said Detroit-based educator Carla Shalaby, author of the book \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://thenewpress.com/books/troublemakers\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom.”\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But she also encourages teachers to consider how norms are carried out and what they communicate to students. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Classroom management in itself is a curriculum,” said Shalaby about how teachers – often without knowing – are teaching young people through rules. “We think we’re teaching math; they’re paying attention to how we’re teaching power, authority, use of control, definitions of safety, who gets to belong and who’s good or bad.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A former public school teacher, Shalaby now trains educators at the University of Michigan’s School of Education. She helped open a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://soe.umich.edu/p20\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">partnership school\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> with the Detroit Public Schools Community District where she’ll be working with novice teachers who work with kids from infancy to graduation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When she trains teachers, Shalaby provides a list of eight questions they can ask themselves to guide how they think about classroom management.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>1. Do I use power to manage people in a space or do I use it to hold and make space?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Children are not born knowing how to talk through what to do when someone breaks a rule or causes harm. So they’re looking to teachers as models for how power is used. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“[These skills] are hard to teach and learn at home because home is not a democratic community. It’s a private space,” said Shalaby. “School is kids’ first exposure to the problems of the community.” \u003c/span>\u003cbr>\n[aside postID=’mindshift_58616′]\u003cbr>\n\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shalaby encourages teachers to try out new models of power that feel fair and democratic. For example, teachers can opt to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/49558/a-deeper-look-at-the-whole-school-approach-to-behavior\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">not kick kids out\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of class when they misbehave.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Give kids practice in the problems that come up when you really try to take care of every single person without removing people from your space,” said Shalaby. Kids who violate rules will also develop the skills needed to take accountability. “We’re all human beings in this project together and in this space together, and we’ve got to figure out how to do it for 180 days.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>2. Am I serving kids by having a comprehensive set of rules that eliminates all potential conflict, harm and drama?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sometimes rules are used to get ahead of any possible issue that might come up in the classroom. But disagreement and conflict can be generative for children and in the future when they’re adults.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Solving all problems takes away kids’ opportunities to practice how to solve problems,” said Shalaby. When teachers eliminate the possibility of conflict, kids don’t learn essential basics, she said. For example, students might have a hard time working well in small groups without an adult because they don’t have the skills to find solutions on their own. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Kids grow to understand that the person in power gets to do that,” said Shalaby.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While it may seem like more work to deal with problems collaboratively than it is to decide and enforce rules, Shalaby said it takes more time in the long run to constantly redirect kids when they fail to comply.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>3. If a student asks ‘Why?,’ will your reason for having the policy stand up to the uniquely smart and relentless scrutiny of 30+ young people collectively seeking freedom? \u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saying “because I said so” can lead to the “nightmare of an un-winnable power struggle” against students, said Shalaby. And it’s not worth it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The main way that time gets wasted in classrooms is power struggle,” she said. “It’s exhausting. It’s driving teachers out of our profession. It’s pushing kids out of school.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC9096356573&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>4. Does this classroom rule exist only because I happen to have a personal pet peeve?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teachers can tell students that a rule is based on a personal pet peeve, but they have to be prepared to accommodate everyone’s pet peeves because teachers are just another member of the classroom community, said Shalaby. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s difficult for students and teachers alike to make space for each person’s unique quirks when everyone is used to deferring to a teacher. Students discover how to deal with the tensions and questions that come up when they are trying to make everyone feel like they belong.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s the space and the time to skill build around harm, how we treat each other, how and whether we take care of each other and what the real challenges are in balancing what I need against what a group needs,” said Shalaby. “Those are really hard democratic problems that kids need many years of practice with.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>5. Are my actions grounded in cultivating safety or control?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A common misunderstanding is that more rules make classrooms safer, according to Shalaby. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Those are efforts to try to avoid bad things happening by exerting more control over human beings, constraining their rights more and more so that they can be trustworthy,” she said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shalaby admits that safety and control are tricky subjects these days in light of recent school shootings. In response, schools \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://theintercept.com/2018/05/30/face-recognition-schools-school-shootings/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">monitor students’ movements\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> around campus, limit \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/07/19/1112211589/dallas-schools-clear-backpacks\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">what they are allowed to bring into school\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and even restrict \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/04/dress-codes-after-columbine/624407/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">what they’re allowed to wear\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As an alternative to counting on increased security to keep students safe, Shalaby points to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://jyd.pitt.edu/ojs/jyd/article/view/19-14-04-PA-3\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">research\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> saying that young people are less likely to commit community violence when they join pro-social activities such as mentorships, arts programs and after school sports. Providing access to practices and activities that foster belonging increases safety without relying on rules to control students’ bodies and behavior.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The first question comes from this artwork by Molly Costello, recently reprinted in Lessons in Liberation: An Abolitionist Toolkit for Educators (AK Press, 2021). “Are my actions grounded in cultivating safety or control?” \u003ca href=\"https://t.co/vSEDtZJP2h\">pic.twitter.com/vSEDtZJP2h\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>— Carla Shalaby (@CarlaShalaby) \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/CarlaShalaby/status/1556306636934979588?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 7, 2022\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>6. Am I defining safety in a way that requires control or freedom?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When schools use restrictive regulations, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59560/how-do-you-stop-cheating-students-hint-tech-isnt-the-only-answer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">security and surveillance\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to make schools safer, they operate on the idea that taking away students’ autonomy will lead to safety. According to Shalaby, freedom is an essential part of safety.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Safety is the practice of freedom responsibly,” she said. “In order to learn how to do that, students need to practice being accountable to others.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If rules are too constraining, students don’t have the opportunity to make decisions to keep each other safe. Instead of relying on restrictions as a means to safety, Shalaby recommends a “We keep us safe” mentality. “We mind our actions in terms of how they affect and impact other people. We learn to take accountability for the harm that we cause and set things right. Those are the things that increase our safety.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>7. Does enforcing this rule require me to behave like a police officer or an educator?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If a student is on their phone during class, a teacher might tell the student to put the phone away or even confiscate the phone. And they’ll likely have to do this several times a week. “It’s the one policy that no matter how hard they enforce it, kids break the rule,” said Shalaby\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Recent studies show that the temptation to look at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59094/does-my-kid-have-a-tech-addiction\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">cell phone screens is powerful for young people\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, who can get \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/teacher-records-800-phone-alerts-her-students-course-day/BHHOS5SFVNH5PNU2QNOCZ4S4ZI/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">hundreds of notifications during the course of a school day\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Instead of getting mixed up in a power struggle with her students over policing their phone use, she turns it into a conversation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Nobody tells me when or how I’m allowed to use my phone,” said Shalaby about the complex decisions she has to make around using her phone as an adult outside of school. “What’s the real and genuine and authentic opportunity to teach and learn something about freedom?’” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She shifts away from trying to get rid of phones completely to helping students make safe and healthy decisions about screen time and responsible phone use. They can discuss how to change settings to receive less notifications, understand the addictive nature of phones and how their phone use may impact other learners.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>8. Why do I teach?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teachers make decisions that align with why they teach. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“If the reason I teach is to deliver instruction in a content area, then nothing else is going to matter,” said Shalaby. “If the reason I teach is because I want a safer, freer and more beautiful world than the one that we have now and I believe in young people as stewards of that possible future, then I’m going to make different moves in my every day as a teacher.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Historically, educators have played an important role in freedom movements and at the forefront of struggles. They registered people to vote, promoted literacy campaigns and organized students to \u003ca href=\"https://news.yahoo.com/oral-histories-nearly-300-civil-135332641.html?guccounter=1\">advocate for civil rights\u003c/a>. Teachers today can continue the work of teachers who came before and give students the opportunities and skills to practice and build a better world, said Shalaby.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the same time, it’s hard to be a teacher right now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Teachers are abused, mistreated, disrespected and disinvested in, so asking people why they teach now is such a hard and painful question,” said Shalaby.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Envisioning a new world with students keeps her from feeling demoralized because she’s actively working towards a future where everyone, including teachers, are valued. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Teaching is not for everyone and I think anybody who has the privilege of doing it ought to ask themselves every day, ‘Why do I do this?’ And, ‘Are my actions aligning with my purpose?’”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Classroom management styles run the gamut, from controlling to free. Educator Carla Shalaby provides back-to-school strategies for teachers who want to manage their classrooms more effectively.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The first days of school usually include going over ground rules for the classroom as students return from nearly three months of summer break. All teachers approach this process differently, from posting rules on the board to co-creating norms as a class. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s nothing inherently wrong with coming up with all the rules by yourself or deciding all the rules as a class, said Detroit-based educator Carla Shalaby, author of the book \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://thenewpress.com/books/troublemakers\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom.”\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But she also encourages teachers to consider how norms are carried out and what they communicate to students. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Classroom management in itself is a curriculum,” said Shalaby about how teachers – often without knowing – are teaching young people through rules. “We think we’re teaching math; they’re paying attention to how we’re teaching power, authority, use of control, definitions of safety, who gets to belong and who’s good or bad.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A former public school teacher, Shalaby now trains educators at the University of Michigan’s School of Education. She helped open a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://soe.umich.edu/p20\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">partnership school\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> with the Detroit Public Schools Community District where she’ll be working with novice teachers who work with kids from infancy to graduation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When she trains teachers, Shalaby provides a list of eight questions they can ask themselves to guide how they think about classroom management.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>1. Do I use power to manage people in a space or do I use it to hold and make space?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Children are not born knowing how to talk through what to do when someone breaks a rule or causes harm. So they’re looking to teachers as models for how power is used. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“[These skills] are hard to teach and learn at home because home is not a democratic community. It’s a private space,” said Shalaby. “School is kids’ first exposure to the problems of the community.” \u003c/span>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cbr>\n\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shalaby encourages teachers to try out new models of power that feel fair and democratic. For example, teachers can opt to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/49558/a-deeper-look-at-the-whole-school-approach-to-behavior\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">not kick kids out\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of class when they misbehave.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Give kids practice in the problems that come up when you really try to take care of every single person without removing people from your space,” said Shalaby. Kids who violate rules will also develop the skills needed to take accountability. “We’re all human beings in this project together and in this space together, and we’ve got to figure out how to do it for 180 days.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>2. Am I serving kids by having a comprehensive set of rules that eliminates all potential conflict, harm and drama?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sometimes rules are used to get ahead of any possible issue that might come up in the classroom. But disagreement and conflict can be generative for children and in the future when they’re adults.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Solving all problems takes away kids’ opportunities to practice how to solve problems,” said Shalaby. When teachers eliminate the possibility of conflict, kids don’t learn essential basics, she said. For example, students might have a hard time working well in small groups without an adult because they don’t have the skills to find solutions on their own. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Kids grow to understand that the person in power gets to do that,” said Shalaby.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While it may seem like more work to deal with problems collaboratively than it is to decide and enforce rules, Shalaby said it takes more time in the long run to constantly redirect kids when they fail to comply.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>3. If a student asks ‘Why?,’ will your reason for having the policy stand up to the uniquely smart and relentless scrutiny of 30+ young people collectively seeking freedom? \u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saying “because I said so” can lead to the “nightmare of an un-winnable power struggle” against students, said Shalaby. And it’s not worth it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The main way that time gets wasted in classrooms is power struggle,” she said. “It’s exhausting. It’s driving teachers out of our profession. It’s pushing kids out of school.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC9096356573&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>4. Does this classroom rule exist only because I happen to have a personal pet peeve?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teachers can tell students that a rule is based on a personal pet peeve, but they have to be prepared to accommodate everyone’s pet peeves because teachers are just another member of the classroom community, said Shalaby. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s difficult for students and teachers alike to make space for each person’s unique quirks when everyone is used to deferring to a teacher. Students discover how to deal with the tensions and questions that come up when they are trying to make everyone feel like they belong.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s the space and the time to skill build around harm, how we treat each other, how and whether we take care of each other and what the real challenges are in balancing what I need against what a group needs,” said Shalaby. “Those are really hard democratic problems that kids need many years of practice with.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>5. Are my actions grounded in cultivating safety or control?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A common misunderstanding is that more rules make classrooms safer, according to Shalaby. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Those are efforts to try to avoid bad things happening by exerting more control over human beings, constraining their rights more and more so that they can be trustworthy,” she said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shalaby admits that safety and control are tricky subjects these days in light of recent school shootings. In response, schools \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://theintercept.com/2018/05/30/face-recognition-schools-school-shootings/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">monitor students’ movements\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> around campus, limit \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/07/19/1112211589/dallas-schools-clear-backpacks\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">what they are allowed to bring into school\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and even restrict \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/04/dress-codes-after-columbine/624407/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">what they’re allowed to wear\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As an alternative to counting on increased security to keep students safe, Shalaby points to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://jyd.pitt.edu/ojs/jyd/article/view/19-14-04-PA-3\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">research\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> saying that young people are less likely to commit community violence when they join pro-social activities such as mentorships, arts programs and after school sports. Providing access to practices and activities that foster belonging increases safety without relying on rules to control students’ bodies and behavior.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The first question comes from this artwork by Molly Costello, recently reprinted in Lessons in Liberation: An Abolitionist Toolkit for Educators (AK Press, 2021). “Are my actions grounded in cultivating safety or control?” \u003ca href=\"https://t.co/vSEDtZJP2h\">pic.twitter.com/vSEDtZJP2h\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>— Carla Shalaby (@CarlaShalaby) \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/CarlaShalaby/status/1556306636934979588?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 7, 2022\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>6. Am I defining safety in a way that requires control or freedom?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When schools use restrictive regulations, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59560/how-do-you-stop-cheating-students-hint-tech-isnt-the-only-answer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">security and surveillance\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to make schools safer, they operate on the idea that taking away students’ autonomy will lead to safety. According to Shalaby, freedom is an essential part of safety.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Safety is the practice of freedom responsibly,” she said. “In order to learn how to do that, students need to practice being accountable to others.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If rules are too constraining, students don’t have the opportunity to make decisions to keep each other safe. Instead of relying on restrictions as a means to safety, Shalaby recommends a “We keep us safe” mentality. “We mind our actions in terms of how they affect and impact other people. We learn to take accountability for the harm that we cause and set things right. Those are the things that increase our safety.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>7. Does enforcing this rule require me to behave like a police officer or an educator?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If a student is on their phone during class, a teacher might tell the student to put the phone away or even confiscate the phone. And they’ll likely have to do this several times a week. “It’s the one policy that no matter how hard they enforce it, kids break the rule,” said Shalaby\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Recent studies show that the temptation to look at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59094/does-my-kid-have-a-tech-addiction\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">cell phone screens is powerful for young people\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, who can get \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/teacher-records-800-phone-alerts-her-students-course-day/BHHOS5SFVNH5PNU2QNOCZ4S4ZI/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">hundreds of notifications during the course of a school day\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Instead of getting mixed up in a power struggle with her students over policing their phone use, she turns it into a conversation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Nobody tells me when or how I’m allowed to use my phone,” said Shalaby about the complex decisions she has to make around using her phone as an adult outside of school. “What’s the real and genuine and authentic opportunity to teach and learn something about freedom?’” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She shifts away from trying to get rid of phones completely to helping students make safe and healthy decisions about screen time and responsible phone use. They can discuss how to change settings to receive less notifications, understand the addictive nature of phones and how their phone use may impact other learners.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>8. Why do I teach?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teachers make decisions that align with why they teach. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“If the reason I teach is to deliver instruction in a content area, then nothing else is going to matter,” said Shalaby. “If the reason I teach is because I want a safer, freer and more beautiful world than the one that we have now and I believe in young people as stewards of that possible future, then I’m going to make different moves in my every day as a teacher.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Historically, educators have played an important role in freedom movements and at the forefront of struggles. They registered people to vote, promoted literacy campaigns and organized students to \u003ca href=\"https://news.yahoo.com/oral-histories-nearly-300-civil-135332641.html?guccounter=1\">advocate for civil rights\u003c/a>. Teachers today can continue the work of teachers who came before and give students the opportunities and skills to practice and build a better world, said Shalaby.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the same time, it’s hard to be a teacher right now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Teachers are abused, mistreated, disrespected and disinvested in, so asking people why they teach now is such a hard and painful question,” said Shalaby.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Envisioning a new world with students keeps her from feeling demoralized because she’s actively working towards a future where everyone, including teachers, are valued. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"disqusTitle": "As a new year starts, schools prepare for fewer masks, more learning and joy",
"title": "As a new year starts, schools prepare for fewer masks, more learning and joy",
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"content": "\u003cp>More than 50 million children are slowly returning to classrooms for the new school year — the third year in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the first year was defined by widespread school closures, and the second by bitter fights over masking, what stories will define this year?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For answers, we went to one of the earliest districts to open this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Hot butter\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Jackson Public Schools serve more than twenty thousand students in Mississippi's capital city. In August, walking feels like swimming in hot butter. The grits, though, are incredible \u003cem>because\u003c/em> they're swimming in hot butter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At North Jackson Elementary, kindergarteners line up outside as teachers and staff crowd the curbs in bright orange tee-shirts, cheering families and handing out stickers to students to make clear how they'll be getting home: bus or car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_59730\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-59730\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/813dd623-747c-4cea-ab9d-a16f0ae8fcf91_wide-5ba18341d232c548e6084e5a907b656d54e7cec2-scaled-e1660916877521.jpg\" alt=\"Students wait in line to check in for the first day of school\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students wait in line to check in for the first day of school at North Jackson Elementary. As they walk in, they are greeted by their school mascot, the tiger. \u003ccite>(Jeffrey Pierre/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nearly all children arrive wearing cloth masks; Jackson was unusual last year in that it required them. This year, though, masks are optional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Jackson district's superintendent, Errick Greene, hurries across the street in a forest-green and blue plaid jacket. Bald on top with a sharp, frosted beard, Dr. Greene, as he's known to students and staff, moves like a man on fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His harried schedule for the week includes stops at 26 of the district's schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Welcome to the national labor shortage\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Inside North Jackson Elementary, Greene pops in and out of classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one first-grade room, he jokes with the children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Good morning! Is this second grade?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"No!\" the students respond, giggling. Greene is a serious man with serious things on his mind, and the kids clearly enjoy watching him play the fool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Third grade?\" he asks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"First grade!\" the children answer, savoring the chance to correct their teacher's boss' boss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At her desk, 6-year-old M'Lyah colors, gripping a blue crayon between her newly painted orange and glittery-silver fingernails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Look at that. You're better than me,\" Greene laughs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At all four of the day's stops, Greene not only meets with teachers and scholars (that's what he calls the students), but also custodians and cafeteria workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I know this is a big job,\" he tells one custodian, who shyly responds, \"It's all in a day's work.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is when the story in Jackson, and the challenges its educators and families face this year, starts to feel like the story of so many districts right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tight labor market has meant custodians, bus drivers and cafeteria workers can often find better wages elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Greene makes sure his staff feel valued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Listen, I know you got it,\" Greene tells the custodian, \"but I want you to know that \u003cem>we see you\u003c/em>.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2022/08/12/image-from-ios-18-_custom-0ff52e6b5904b138b8d23bf44bcae8bc894d8076-s1100-c50.jpg\" alt=\"Superintendent Dr. Errick Greene in front of school\" width=\"1100\" height=\"1651\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Superintendent Greene was appointed in 2018, shortly after a proposed state takeover, which the district eventually avoided. Today, Jackson is in the fourth year of a five-year turnaround plan. (Jeffrey Pierre/NPR)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>'Not today, Satan'\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Jackson, like many big-city districts, \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/Programs/Edge/ACSDashboard/2802190\">struggles with poverty\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One in three families here with a student in the public schools lives below the poverty line, and most students qualify for food assistance at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the district attempted to desegregate, around 1970, white families left in droves, for private schools or the suburbs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's face still adorns the school district's central office building, even as 95% of Jackson students are Black.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city's aging water system is a slow-motion disaster and already complicating Greene's urgent plans. Many school water fountains are taped off, the water regularly under a boil warning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the first week of classes, every school is given bottled water, and several schools barely have enough water pressure to flush their toilets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jackson's school buildings also need constant repair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I had to do something,\" says science teacher Tanya Fortenberry who, when her classroom air conditioner broke, built her own out of styrofoam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I put, like, 10 to 12 bottles of water in the freezer, put 'em in there. This little fan here blows the air out,\" she says. \"Right now it's not working 'cause the ice has melted, but in the morning it's pretty cool!\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_59733\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-59733\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/img_7953-2_custom-b9fe3de4d89210a38799c27464582c00ca59319d-scaled-e1660917139946.jpg\" alt=\"Students in class\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1279\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">As in many big-city school districts, most Jackson students spent the entire 2020-'21 school year learning online — or trying to. When students returned to buildings in fall of '21, test scores showed proficiency levels had plummeted. Recent data, though, suggest an academic rebound in Jackson. \u003ccite>(Jeffrey Pierre/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fortenberry wears a lanyard with a pin that captures the mood of so many educators and families in Jackson right now. It says, \"Not Today Satan.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We're gonna get it done,\" Fortenberry explains. \"Throw all your wrenches at us if you want to, you know? No air conditioner? That's alright, we're gonna work through it, you know? Not today Satan.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The good news is, Jackson is getting help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A bond measure allowed the district to renovate all of its high school libraries in the past two years, adding comfortable, welcoming furniture and coffee stations for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congress also sent the district more than $200 million dollars in pandemic aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superintendent Greene says he'll spend nearly a third of that on building upgrades, including new H-VAC in six of his seven high schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"You know, a sizeable chunk. [I'm] thankful that we've got it. Unfortunate that we've got to spend it on [facilities].\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greene would rather spend those federal dollars on learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The pandemic's academic fallout\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As in many big-city school districts, most Jackson students spent the entire 2020-'21 school year learning online — or trying to. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/06/22/1105970186/pandemic-learning-loss-findings\">When students returned to buildings in fall of '21, test scores showed proficiency levels had plummeted.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, before the pandemic, roughly 27% of Jackson students were at or above grade level in English Language Arts. After a year of online learning, that dropped to just 18%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LaTosha Bew-Cancer saw the backsliding firsthand as a second-grade teacher last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\"\u003c/strong>I had children in second grade [reading] on a kindergarten level, and it was difficult,\" says Bew-Cancer. \"Although they may not have made it to be second-grade probable readers, they did grow. And that was the goal.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The story in math was even worse. In 2019, nearly 24% of Jackson students were at or above grade level. After a year of online learning, just 9% were.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So last year, Greene and his team did what many schools across the U.S. were doing: Everything they could. Most importantly, they carved dedicated blocks of time into students' daily schedules for academic intervention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students who needed help catching up in math or reading got it, either from classroom teachers or dedicated interventionists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Preliminary data from last spring suggest the push made a big difference: Proficiency levels are nearly back to where they were before the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, those levels are still low, and Superintendent Greene knows he needs to keep pushing if the district is to make its\u003ca href=\"https://www.jackson.k12.ms.us/cms/lib/MS01910533/Centricity/Domain/4497/ExcellenceForAll%20Update%2006-21-22.pdf\"> turnaround goals\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2022/08/17/d10d74b4-4e75-47af-963f-b9ef6b425b72_custom-3f1f32f154c877e790e26e92f0b15b86176ae7a0-s1100-c50.jpg\" alt=\"School counselor Tiffany Johnson\" width=\"1100\" height=\"1694\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elementary school counselor Tiffany Johnson set up a grief group for students last year. The district also has a relatively new social-emotional learning program, with teachers starting every day checking in with kids and working with them to name and manage their fears and frustrations. (Jeffrey Pierre/NPR)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>'We're hopeful'\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Greene arrived in Jackson five years ago, after helping manage the schools in Tulsa. He agreed to lead the city's troubled district out of academic and administrative crisis, after Mississippi leaders threatened a state takeover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Jackson is in the fourth year of a five-year turnaround plan; Greene's success or failure to meet the plan's lofty goals will be his legacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, no one imagined a pandemic when those goals were set.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We've got a ways to go. But we're hopeful we'll continue to make some pretty big leaps,\" Greene says from a conference room in the district's central office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Making those leaps will mean asking even more of Jackson's teachers. And some are still exhausted from the past few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I'm constantly encouraging [teachers], 'Please don't leave. I'm begging you not to leave,' \" says Akemi Stout, president of the Jackson chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. \"The extra hours. Oh, my gosh. I've had so many phone calls about that just since [the school year started].\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state's governor recently signed a big teacher pay raise, which should help the district hold onto some of the teachers it loses every year to better wages in neighboring states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bew-Cancer, who's teaching third grade this year, says she's ready for the challenges of this new year — and hopeful, like Greene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We had a writing exercise today, and it was difficult to look at. We have work to do, but I'm optimistic,\" Bew-Cancer says, because the students \u003cem>tried\u003c/em>. \"I'm ready for this year. I'm excited.\u003cem>\"\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>'COVID is still here'\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Perhaps the biggest question facing the educators and families of Jackson, and the rest of the country this school year, is emotional: How are they feeling about returning to school with COVID refusing to go away?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2022/08/17/img_8091-3_custom-7e00a4b3457b83e43ec91dbc25ce00ae527abfa9-s1100-c50.jpg\" alt=\"Classroom decorated with stuffed animals\" width=\"1100\" height=\"732\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Jackson school district, like many districts around the country, is trying to make its schools more welcoming places for kids. Counselor Tiffany Johnson, seen above, fills her office with bright colors, stuffed animals and comforting distractions like Jenga blocks. (Jeffrey Pierre/NPR)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\"I'm a good mom, but I'm not a good teacher,\" laughs Colandra Moore after walking her 10-year-old son to class. Translation: She's thrilled that school has started and that there seems little chance of the district going remote again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jackson Public Schools was unusual in that it required masks all of last year and still allowed some students to work remotely. This year, it's doing neither.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Latrenda Owens says she lost a cousin to COVID and that her son, a ninth-grader, is still going to wear his mask.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Because COVID is still here. I mean, I know some have they feelings about it, but my thing is, vaccinated or not, it's still here. So why not still have them wear masks. Why not still have them protect themselves.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jackson's schools are also focusing on other ways to protect students — not just from COVID but from the emotional toll it's taken.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>'I felt like she was an angel on earth'\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The district has a relatively new social-emotional learning program, with teachers starting every day checking in with kids and working with them to name and manage their fears and frustrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And staff are paying special attention to students who've lost a loved one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Maybe my younger kids would draw pictures about that loved one and tell me some special things about them,\" says elementary school counselor Tiffany Johnson, who set up a grief group for students last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One little girl, who lost her mother to COVID, liked to visit Johnson's office and play with a tower of brightly-painted Jenga blocks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I told her, that's kinda like your emotions sometimes: Everything could be perfect and the Jenga looks perfect now, but once we start to pull and move things, then, you know, something happens. Everything's gonna fall. But guess what, we can build it back up again.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fifteen-year-old Makalin Odie and her 17-year-old sister, Alana, lost their mother to COVID early in the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"To me, can't nobody compare to my mom. Can't nobody come close to her,\" Makalin says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I would sneak in her bed at night, lay up under her,\" Alana remembers. \"I was just very, very attached to her. She'll do anything for the people that she love. Even the people that she don't know, she'll do anything for them. I felt like she was an angel on earth.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Makalin says she got help last year with her grief from a counselor at school, and this year, she says, she feels ready to put herself out there in a way she didn't feel comfortable last year, trying out for track and maybe even soccer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I mean, sometimes I'd just get a burst of anger, and I'd have to let it out. Or I'd just cry,\" Makalin says. \"Or sometimes I just don't even wanna get up, I just wanna sleep all day. But then I have to get up and go. I just gotta. I gotta do it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No one thinks this new school year will be easy, but resilience, like Makalin's, abounds in Jackson, along with a hopefulness for what the year could be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=As+a+new+year+starts%2C+schools+prepare+for+fewer+masks%2C+more+learning+and+joy&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>More than 50 million children are slowly returning to classrooms for the new school year — the third year in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the first year was defined by widespread school closures, and the second by bitter fights over masking, what stories will define this year?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For answers, we went to one of the earliest districts to open this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Hot butter\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Jackson Public Schools serve more than twenty thousand students in Mississippi's capital city. In August, walking feels like swimming in hot butter. The grits, though, are incredible \u003cem>because\u003c/em> they're swimming in hot butter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At North Jackson Elementary, kindergarteners line up outside as teachers and staff crowd the curbs in bright orange tee-shirts, cheering families and handing out stickers to students to make clear how they'll be getting home: bus or car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_59730\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-59730\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/813dd623-747c-4cea-ab9d-a16f0ae8fcf91_wide-5ba18341d232c548e6084e5a907b656d54e7cec2-scaled-e1660916877521.jpg\" alt=\"Students wait in line to check in for the first day of school\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students wait in line to check in for the first day of school at North Jackson Elementary. As they walk in, they are greeted by their school mascot, the tiger. \u003ccite>(Jeffrey Pierre/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nearly all children arrive wearing cloth masks; Jackson was unusual last year in that it required them. This year, though, masks are optional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Jackson district's superintendent, Errick Greene, hurries across the street in a forest-green and blue plaid jacket. Bald on top with a sharp, frosted beard, Dr. Greene, as he's known to students and staff, moves like a man on fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His harried schedule for the week includes stops at 26 of the district's schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Welcome to the national labor shortage\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Inside North Jackson Elementary, Greene pops in and out of classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one first-grade room, he jokes with the children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Good morning! Is this second grade?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"No!\" the students respond, giggling. Greene is a serious man with serious things on his mind, and the kids clearly enjoy watching him play the fool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Third grade?\" he asks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"First grade!\" the children answer, savoring the chance to correct their teacher's boss' boss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At her desk, 6-year-old M'Lyah colors, gripping a blue crayon between her newly painted orange and glittery-silver fingernails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Look at that. You're better than me,\" Greene laughs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At all four of the day's stops, Greene not only meets with teachers and scholars (that's what he calls the students), but also custodians and cafeteria workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I know this is a big job,\" he tells one custodian, who shyly responds, \"It's all in a day's work.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is when the story in Jackson, and the challenges its educators and families face this year, starts to feel like the story of so many districts right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tight labor market has meant custodians, bus drivers and cafeteria workers can often find better wages elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Greene makes sure his staff feel valued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Listen, I know you got it,\" Greene tells the custodian, \"but I want you to know that \u003cem>we see you\u003c/em>.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2022/08/12/image-from-ios-18-_custom-0ff52e6b5904b138b8d23bf44bcae8bc894d8076-s1100-c50.jpg\" alt=\"Superintendent Dr. Errick Greene in front of school\" width=\"1100\" height=\"1651\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Superintendent Greene was appointed in 2018, shortly after a proposed state takeover, which the district eventually avoided. Today, Jackson is in the fourth year of a five-year turnaround plan. (Jeffrey Pierre/NPR)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>'Not today, Satan'\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Jackson, like many big-city districts, \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/Programs/Edge/ACSDashboard/2802190\">struggles with poverty\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One in three families here with a student in the public schools lives below the poverty line, and most students qualify for food assistance at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the district attempted to desegregate, around 1970, white families left in droves, for private schools or the suburbs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's face still adorns the school district's central office building, even as 95% of Jackson students are Black.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city's aging water system is a slow-motion disaster and already complicating Greene's urgent plans. Many school water fountains are taped off, the water regularly under a boil warning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the first week of classes, every school is given bottled water, and several schools barely have enough water pressure to flush their toilets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jackson's school buildings also need constant repair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I had to do something,\" says science teacher Tanya Fortenberry who, when her classroom air conditioner broke, built her own out of styrofoam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I put, like, 10 to 12 bottles of water in the freezer, put 'em in there. This little fan here blows the air out,\" she says. \"Right now it's not working 'cause the ice has melted, but in the morning it's pretty cool!\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_59733\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-59733\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/img_7953-2_custom-b9fe3de4d89210a38799c27464582c00ca59319d-scaled-e1660917139946.jpg\" alt=\"Students in class\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1279\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">As in many big-city school districts, most Jackson students spent the entire 2020-'21 school year learning online — or trying to. When students returned to buildings in fall of '21, test scores showed proficiency levels had plummeted. Recent data, though, suggest an academic rebound in Jackson. \u003ccite>(Jeffrey Pierre/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fortenberry wears a lanyard with a pin that captures the mood of so many educators and families in Jackson right now. It says, \"Not Today Satan.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We're gonna get it done,\" Fortenberry explains. \"Throw all your wrenches at us if you want to, you know? No air conditioner? That's alright, we're gonna work through it, you know? Not today Satan.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The good news is, Jackson is getting help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A bond measure allowed the district to renovate all of its high school libraries in the past two years, adding comfortable, welcoming furniture and coffee stations for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congress also sent the district more than $200 million dollars in pandemic aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superintendent Greene says he'll spend nearly a third of that on building upgrades, including new H-VAC in six of his seven high schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"You know, a sizeable chunk. [I'm] thankful that we've got it. Unfortunate that we've got to spend it on [facilities].\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greene would rather spend those federal dollars on learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The pandemic's academic fallout\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As in many big-city school districts, most Jackson students spent the entire 2020-'21 school year learning online — or trying to. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/06/22/1105970186/pandemic-learning-loss-findings\">When students returned to buildings in fall of '21, test scores showed proficiency levels had plummeted.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, before the pandemic, roughly 27% of Jackson students were at or above grade level in English Language Arts. After a year of online learning, that dropped to just 18%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LaTosha Bew-Cancer saw the backsliding firsthand as a second-grade teacher last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\"\u003c/strong>I had children in second grade [reading] on a kindergarten level, and it was difficult,\" says Bew-Cancer. \"Although they may not have made it to be second-grade probable readers, they did grow. And that was the goal.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The story in math was even worse. In 2019, nearly 24% of Jackson students were at or above grade level. After a year of online learning, just 9% were.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So last year, Greene and his team did what many schools across the U.S. were doing: Everything they could. Most importantly, they carved dedicated blocks of time into students' daily schedules for academic intervention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students who needed help catching up in math or reading got it, either from classroom teachers or dedicated interventionists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Preliminary data from last spring suggest the push made a big difference: Proficiency levels are nearly back to where they were before the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, those levels are still low, and Superintendent Greene knows he needs to keep pushing if the district is to make its\u003ca href=\"https://www.jackson.k12.ms.us/cms/lib/MS01910533/Centricity/Domain/4497/ExcellenceForAll%20Update%2006-21-22.pdf\"> turnaround goals\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2022/08/17/d10d74b4-4e75-47af-963f-b9ef6b425b72_custom-3f1f32f154c877e790e26e92f0b15b86176ae7a0-s1100-c50.jpg\" alt=\"School counselor Tiffany Johnson\" width=\"1100\" height=\"1694\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elementary school counselor Tiffany Johnson set up a grief group for students last year. The district also has a relatively new social-emotional learning program, with teachers starting every day checking in with kids and working with them to name and manage their fears and frustrations. (Jeffrey Pierre/NPR)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>'We're hopeful'\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Greene arrived in Jackson five years ago, after helping manage the schools in Tulsa. He agreed to lead the city's troubled district out of academic and administrative crisis, after Mississippi leaders threatened a state takeover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Jackson is in the fourth year of a five-year turnaround plan; Greene's success or failure to meet the plan's lofty goals will be his legacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, no one imagined a pandemic when those goals were set.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We've got a ways to go. But we're hopeful we'll continue to make some pretty big leaps,\" Greene says from a conference room in the district's central office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Making those leaps will mean asking even more of Jackson's teachers. And some are still exhausted from the past few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I'm constantly encouraging [teachers], 'Please don't leave. I'm begging you not to leave,' \" says Akemi Stout, president of the Jackson chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. \"The extra hours. Oh, my gosh. I've had so many phone calls about that just since [the school year started].\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state's governor recently signed a big teacher pay raise, which should help the district hold onto some of the teachers it loses every year to better wages in neighboring states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bew-Cancer, who's teaching third grade this year, says she's ready for the challenges of this new year — and hopeful, like Greene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We had a writing exercise today, and it was difficult to look at. We have work to do, but I'm optimistic,\" Bew-Cancer says, because the students \u003cem>tried\u003c/em>. \"I'm ready for this year. I'm excited.\u003cem>\"\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>'COVID is still here'\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Perhaps the biggest question facing the educators and families of Jackson, and the rest of the country this school year, is emotional: How are they feeling about returning to school with COVID refusing to go away?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2022/08/17/img_8091-3_custom-7e00a4b3457b83e43ec91dbc25ce00ae527abfa9-s1100-c50.jpg\" alt=\"Classroom decorated with stuffed animals\" width=\"1100\" height=\"732\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Jackson school district, like many districts around the country, is trying to make its schools more welcoming places for kids. Counselor Tiffany Johnson, seen above, fills her office with bright colors, stuffed animals and comforting distractions like Jenga blocks. (Jeffrey Pierre/NPR)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\"I'm a good mom, but I'm not a good teacher,\" laughs Colandra Moore after walking her 10-year-old son to class. Translation: She's thrilled that school has started and that there seems little chance of the district going remote again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jackson Public Schools was unusual in that it required masks all of last year and still allowed some students to work remotely. This year, it's doing neither.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Latrenda Owens says she lost a cousin to COVID and that her son, a ninth-grader, is still going to wear his mask.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Because COVID is still here. I mean, I know some have they feelings about it, but my thing is, vaccinated or not, it's still here. So why not still have them wear masks. Why not still have them protect themselves.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jackson's schools are also focusing on other ways to protect students — not just from COVID but from the emotional toll it's taken.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>'I felt like she was an angel on earth'\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The district has a relatively new social-emotional learning program, with teachers starting every day checking in with kids and working with them to name and manage their fears and frustrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And staff are paying special attention to students who've lost a loved one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Maybe my younger kids would draw pictures about that loved one and tell me some special things about them,\" says elementary school counselor Tiffany Johnson, who set up a grief group for students last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One little girl, who lost her mother to COVID, liked to visit Johnson's office and play with a tower of brightly-painted Jenga blocks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I told her, that's kinda like your emotions sometimes: Everything could be perfect and the Jenga looks perfect now, but once we start to pull and move things, then, you know, something happens. Everything's gonna fall. But guess what, we can build it back up again.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fifteen-year-old Makalin Odie and her 17-year-old sister, Alana, lost their mother to COVID early in the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"To me, can't nobody compare to my mom. Can't nobody come close to her,\" Makalin says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I would sneak in her bed at night, lay up under her,\" Alana remembers. \"I was just very, very attached to her. She'll do anything for the people that she love. Even the people that she don't know, she'll do anything for them. I felt like she was an angel on earth.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Makalin says she got help last year with her grief from a counselor at school, and this year, she says, she feels ready to put herself out there in a way she didn't feel comfortable last year, trying out for track and maybe even soccer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I mean, sometimes I'd just get a burst of anger, and I'd have to let it out. Or I'd just cry,\" Makalin says. \"Or sometimes I just don't even wanna get up, I just wanna sleep all day. But then I have to get up and go. I just gotta. I gotta do it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No one thinks this new school year will be easy, but resilience, like Makalin's, abounds in Jackson, along with a hopefulness for what the year could be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=As+a+new+year+starts%2C+schools+prepare+for+fewer+masks%2C+more+learning+and+joy&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>For the first time in 20 years, the Internal Revenue Service is increasing the deduction limit for the amount of money teachers spend on school supplies, the agency has \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/new-school-year-reminder-to-educators-maximum-educator-expense-deduction-rises-to-300-in-2022\">announced\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers will now be able to deduct up to $300 of out-of-pocket classroom expenses in 2022, up from the $250 that has been set since the incentive first started in 2002.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The limit will rise in $50 increments in future years based on inflation adjustments,\" the IRS said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eligible educators include K-12 teachers, principals, teachers' aides or counselors who spend more than 900 hours at the school during the academic year. Public and private school educators can benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eligible educators who are married to another eligible educator and file a joint tax return can deduct up to $600 in qualifying expenses, but still no more than $300 per spouse. Educators who do standard deductions also qualify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The limit is still $250 for those who are filing their 2021 taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=For+the+first+time+in+20+years%2C+teachers+can+deduct+more+for+school+supplies+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For the first time in 20 years, the Internal Revenue Service is increasing the deduction limit for the amount of money teachers spend on school supplies, the agency has \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/new-school-year-reminder-to-educators-maximum-educator-expense-deduction-rises-to-300-in-2022\">announced\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers will now be able to deduct up to $300 of out-of-pocket classroom expenses in 2022, up from the $250 that has been set since the incentive first started in 2002.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The limit will rise in $50 increments in future years based on inflation adjustments,\" the IRS said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eligible educators include K-12 teachers, principals, teachers' aides or counselors who spend more than 900 hours at the school during the academic year. Public and private school educators can benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eligible educators who are married to another eligible educator and file a joint tax return can deduct up to $600 in qualifying expenses, but still no more than $300 per spouse. Educators who do standard deductions also qualify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The stories are scary. The teaching profession, according to CNN in early 2022, was “in crisis.” The Wall Street Journal reported in February 2022 that burned out teachers were exiting for jobs in the private sector. House lawmakers in Washington devoted an entire hearing to “Tackling Teacher Shortages” in May 2022. And on Aug. 3, 2022, the Washington Post printed this headline: “‘Never seen it this bad’: America faces catastrophic teacher shortage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But education researchers who study the teaching profession say the threat is exaggerated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Attrition is definitely up, but it’s not a mass exodus of teachers,” said Dan Goldhaber, a labor economist at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), a nonprofit research organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goldhaber says that the number of teachers leaving the field is in line with historical patterns. The rate of teachers quitting and retiring from the profession, according to Goldhaber’s calculations in one state, Washington, was about 11 percent in 2020-21 – actually a smidge lower than it was in 2006-07, another year of high turnover when a strong job market lured educators away. Most departures were filled with new hires. Goldhaber estimates that in a school with 1,000 students, there was half an unfilled vacancy, on average, in the fall of 2021 – the most recent data he has analyzed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, the U.S. Department of Education released a national survey of more than 800 schools on Aug. 4, 2022 and found that each school, on average, had about three unfilled teaching openings in June 2022. That’s a time of active hiring and those positions could still be filled before the 2022-23 school year starts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Among researchers, I think we’ve reached a consensus that there hasn’t been an exodus of teachers during the pandemic,” said Heather Schwartz, a researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization, which regularly surveys school districts around the country about their staffing. “I don’t see many district leaders saying we have a serious, severe shortage of teachers. I don’t see the crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Are we going to have such extreme shortages, that we can’t even keep the doors open for schools?” said Schwartz. “No, that’s not where policymakers need to spend their energy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, as counterintuitive as it might seem, Schwartz found that 77 percent of schools went on a hiring spree in 2021-22 as $190 billion in federal pandemic funds started flowing, according to a RAND survey released on July 19, 2022. “Yes there’s a shortage in the sense that they have unfilled open positions. But it’s sort of a misnomer to say the word ‘shortage’ because compared to pre-pandemic, there’s more people employed at the school.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Imagine that Google decided to expand its ranks of computer programmers. It might be hard to find so many software engineers and it would feel like a shortage to IT hiring managers everywhere. That’s what’s happening at schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand why teacher shortages became a dominant story line, it’s helpful to start the story before the pandemic when complaints about teacher shortages were common. But Goldhaber said there never were shortages everywhere or among all types of teachers. Shortages were concentrated in low-income schools and certain specialties. Wealthy suburban schools might have dozens of applicants for an elementary school teacher, while schools in poor urban neighborhoods and remote rural areas might struggle to find certified teachers in special education or in teaching students who are learning English.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reasons for the different shortages varied. Many teachers go into special education but soon quit the classroom. Teaching students with disabilities is a hard job. Fewer aspiring teachers opt to specialize in math or science instruction. There’s less interest at the start. Low-income schools have problems at both ends. Fewer people want to teach at low-income schools and once there, departures are high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_59664\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 977px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-59664\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-2.png\" alt=\"Graph showing percentage of vacancies by specialty over the years\" width=\"977\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-2.png 977w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-2-800x350.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-2-160x70.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-2-768x336.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 977px) 100vw, 977px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Dan Goldhaber with data from National Center for Education Statistics Schools and Staffing Surveys and National Teacher and Principal Surveys\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When the pandemic hit in March 2020, schools had their usual rate of teacher departures. But hiring shut down along with everything else. Principals found it virtually impossible to replace teachers who had left.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Imagine this big slowdown of hiring,” said RAND’s Schwartz. “And then you come into the next school year, and you have a shortage of staff — not because there’s tons of people who quit, but because you haven’t refreshed your roster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many teachers fell ill from COVID or took days off to take care of sick family members during the 2020-21 school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So we had this temporary shortage of teachers who are on campus or on the ground on a given day,” said Schwartz. “Districts didn’t have enough substitute teachers to fill those day- to-day shortages.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two problems compounded and created extreme shortages. Students sat in classrooms without teachers. Schools closed as variants surged through their communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The script suddenly flipped during the 2021-22 school year as the federal government sent pandemic recovery funds to schools. Schools not only resumed hiring to fill their vacancies, they increased their staffing levels to help kids catch up from the missed instruction. Many principals hired extra bodies to keep in reserve in anticipation of new coronavirus variants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biggest areas of staff expansion were among substitute teachers, paraprofessionals or teachers’ aides, and tutors. Ninety percent of the schools surveyed by RAND have already increased their ranks of substitute teachers or are still trying to hire more. To lure substitutes, schools increased pay from an average of $115 a day to $122 a day, inflation adjusted, which Schwartz says is a larger increase than in the retail industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwartz doesn’t yet have data on the exact number of new hires, but she is confident that schools have increased head counts. More than 40 percent of school districts surveyed also said they have already or intend to increase the number of ordinary classroom teachers in elementary, middle and high schools compared with pre-pandemic levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_59665\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 977px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-59665\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"977\" height=\"1008\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-3.png 977w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-3-800x825.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-3-160x165.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-3-768x792.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 977px) 100vw, 977px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Districts Continue to Struggle with Staffing, Political Polarization, and Unfinished Instruction, Selected Findings from the Fifth American School District Panel Survey, RAND.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This expansion of hiring is confusing if you’re like, wait, there’s huge teacher shortages,” said Schwartz. “It’s an ironic problem. So many schools were having to scramble just to stay open and staff during severe shortages. Now we have this weird other problem of overstaffing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s understandable that so many of my media colleagues are writing about shortages. States have been reporting shortages to the federal government, and education advocates, such as Dan Domenech, executive director of the School Superintendents Association, have been sounding alarm bells. Part of the confusion is how shortages are counted. Goldhaber explained to me that there’s no standardized way of defining or documenting a shortage and if even one district among hundreds reported difficulty in hiring a particular type of teacher, some states will document that as a statewide shortage in that category. Louisiana, for example, \u003ca href=\"https://www.louisianabelieves.com/resources/library/workforce-attributes\">reports that it is experiencing shortages\u003c/a> among 80 percent of its teaching force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By contrast, RAND’s analysis is more refined. “We asked schools what shortages they expect for the 22-23 school year and they did not anticipate a huge shortage,” said Schwartz. Three-quarters of the districts said they expect a shortage, but most of them, 58 percent, said it would be a small shortage. Only 17 percent of districts anticipated a large shortage of teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwartz says her biggest worry isn’t current teacher shortages, but teacher surpluses when pandemic funds run out after 2024. School budgets will be further squeezed from falling U.S. birth rates because funding is tied to student enrollment. Schools are likely to lay off many educators in the years ahead. “It’s not easy for schools to shed staff and maintain quality of instruction for students,” said Schwartz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That won’t be good for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-researchers-say-cries-of-teacher-shortages-are-overblown/\">\u003cem>teacher shortages\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>was written by Jill Barshay and produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://hechingerreport.us2.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=66c306eebb323868c3ce353c1&id=d3ee4c3e04\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletter.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Schools are going on pandemic hiring sprees and overstaffing may be the new problem.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The stories are scary. The teaching profession, according to CNN in early 2022, was “in crisis.” The Wall Street Journal reported in February 2022 that burned out teachers were exiting for jobs in the private sector. House lawmakers in Washington devoted an entire hearing to “Tackling Teacher Shortages” in May 2022. And on Aug. 3, 2022, the Washington Post printed this headline: “‘Never seen it this bad’: America faces catastrophic teacher shortage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But education researchers who study the teaching profession say the threat is exaggerated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Attrition is definitely up, but it’s not a mass exodus of teachers,” said Dan Goldhaber, a labor economist at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), a nonprofit research organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goldhaber says that the number of teachers leaving the field is in line with historical patterns. The rate of teachers quitting and retiring from the profession, according to Goldhaber’s calculations in one state, Washington, was about 11 percent in 2020-21 – actually a smidge lower than it was in 2006-07, another year of high turnover when a strong job market lured educators away. Most departures were filled with new hires. Goldhaber estimates that in a school with 1,000 students, there was half an unfilled vacancy, on average, in the fall of 2021 – the most recent data he has analyzed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, the U.S. Department of Education released a national survey of more than 800 schools on Aug. 4, 2022 and found that each school, on average, had about three unfilled teaching openings in June 2022. That’s a time of active hiring and those positions could still be filled before the 2022-23 school year starts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Among researchers, I think we’ve reached a consensus that there hasn’t been an exodus of teachers during the pandemic,” said Heather Schwartz, a researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization, which regularly surveys school districts around the country about their staffing. “I don’t see many district leaders saying we have a serious, severe shortage of teachers. I don’t see the crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Are we going to have such extreme shortages, that we can’t even keep the doors open for schools?” said Schwartz. “No, that’s not where policymakers need to spend their energy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, as counterintuitive as it might seem, Schwartz found that 77 percent of schools went on a hiring spree in 2021-22 as $190 billion in federal pandemic funds started flowing, according to a RAND survey released on July 19, 2022. “Yes there’s a shortage in the sense that they have unfilled open positions. But it’s sort of a misnomer to say the word ‘shortage’ because compared to pre-pandemic, there’s more people employed at the school.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Imagine that Google decided to expand its ranks of computer programmers. It might be hard to find so many software engineers and it would feel like a shortage to IT hiring managers everywhere. That’s what’s happening at schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand why teacher shortages became a dominant story line, it’s helpful to start the story before the pandemic when complaints about teacher shortages were common. But Goldhaber said there never were shortages everywhere or among all types of teachers. Shortages were concentrated in low-income schools and certain specialties. Wealthy suburban schools might have dozens of applicants for an elementary school teacher, while schools in poor urban neighborhoods and remote rural areas might struggle to find certified teachers in special education or in teaching students who are learning English.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reasons for the different shortages varied. Many teachers go into special education but soon quit the classroom. Teaching students with disabilities is a hard job. Fewer aspiring teachers opt to specialize in math or science instruction. There’s less interest at the start. Low-income schools have problems at both ends. Fewer people want to teach at low-income schools and once there, departures are high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_59664\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 977px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-59664\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-2.png\" alt=\"Graph showing percentage of vacancies by specialty over the years\" width=\"977\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-2.png 977w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-2-800x350.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-2-160x70.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-2-768x336.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 977px) 100vw, 977px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Dan Goldhaber with data from National Center for Education Statistics Schools and Staffing Surveys and National Teacher and Principal Surveys\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When the pandemic hit in March 2020, schools had their usual rate of teacher departures. But hiring shut down along with everything else. Principals found it virtually impossible to replace teachers who had left.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Imagine this big slowdown of hiring,” said RAND’s Schwartz. “And then you come into the next school year, and you have a shortage of staff — not because there’s tons of people who quit, but because you haven’t refreshed your roster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many teachers fell ill from COVID or took days off to take care of sick family members during the 2020-21 school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So we had this temporary shortage of teachers who are on campus or on the ground on a given day,” said Schwartz. “Districts didn’t have enough substitute teachers to fill those day- to-day shortages.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two problems compounded and created extreme shortages. Students sat in classrooms without teachers. Schools closed as variants surged through their communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The script suddenly flipped during the 2021-22 school year as the federal government sent pandemic recovery funds to schools. Schools not only resumed hiring to fill their vacancies, they increased their staffing levels to help kids catch up from the missed instruction. Many principals hired extra bodies to keep in reserve in anticipation of new coronavirus variants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biggest areas of staff expansion were among substitute teachers, paraprofessionals or teachers’ aides, and tutors. Ninety percent of the schools surveyed by RAND have already increased their ranks of substitute teachers or are still trying to hire more. To lure substitutes, schools increased pay from an average of $115 a day to $122 a day, inflation adjusted, which Schwartz says is a larger increase than in the retail industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwartz doesn’t yet have data on the exact number of new hires, but she is confident that schools have increased head counts. More than 40 percent of school districts surveyed also said they have already or intend to increase the number of ordinary classroom teachers in elementary, middle and high schools compared with pre-pandemic levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_59665\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 977px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-59665\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"977\" height=\"1008\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-3.png 977w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-3-800x825.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-3-160x165.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/08/Barshay-Hechinger-3-768x792.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 977px) 100vw, 977px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Districts Continue to Struggle with Staffing, Political Polarization, and Unfinished Instruction, Selected Findings from the Fifth American School District Panel Survey, RAND.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This expansion of hiring is confusing if you’re like, wait, there’s huge teacher shortages,” said Schwartz. “It’s an ironic problem. So many schools were having to scramble just to stay open and staff during severe shortages. Now we have this weird other problem of overstaffing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s understandable that so many of my media colleagues are writing about shortages. States have been reporting shortages to the federal government, and education advocates, such as Dan Domenech, executive director of the School Superintendents Association, have been sounding alarm bells. Part of the confusion is how shortages are counted. Goldhaber explained to me that there’s no standardized way of defining or documenting a shortage and if even one district among hundreds reported difficulty in hiring a particular type of teacher, some states will document that as a statewide shortage in that category. Louisiana, for example, \u003ca href=\"https://www.louisianabelieves.com/resources/library/workforce-attributes\">reports that it is experiencing shortages\u003c/a> among 80 percent of its teaching force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By contrast, RAND’s analysis is more refined. “We asked schools what shortages they expect for the 22-23 school year and they did not anticipate a huge shortage,” said Schwartz. Three-quarters of the districts said they expect a shortage, but most of them, 58 percent, said it would be a small shortage. Only 17 percent of districts anticipated a large shortage of teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwartz says her biggest worry isn’t current teacher shortages, but teacher surpluses when pandemic funds run out after 2024. School budgets will be further squeezed from falling U.S. birth rates because funding is tied to student enrollment. Schools are likely to lay off many educators in the years ahead. “It’s not easy for schools to shed staff and maintain quality of instruction for students,” said Schwartz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That won’t be good for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
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"id": "city-arts",
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"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
"title": "Close All Tabs",
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"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
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"order": 1
},
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"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
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},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
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"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
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