Tag: education

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When and how people receive puberty education varies greatly. Some are taught according to thorough curricula; others spend hours searching for answers to their questions online.

Short Wave co-host Emily Kwong is in the first category. When 10-year-old Emily first learned about periods, she asked her mom for diagrams and procedures — because information is comforting. On the other hand, when 10-year old Short Wave producer Margaret Cirino first learned about periods, she was confused and a little scared.

Fast forward a decade or so … and there is a lot that adult Emily and adult Marge still don’t know about their periods!

That’s why today Emily and Marge team up to provide a new and improved period talk. They chat with Kristyn Brandi, an OB/GYN and family planning doctor, and Mandi Tembo, a

All the conversations happening about literacy learning and the science of reading definitely encourage teachers and schools to look carefully at their instructional practices—and, often, to explore new ones that help kids. One of these is the sound wall. Check out these fantastic resources to get you started using one in your classroom.

What is a sound wall?

This student resource shows the 44 phonemes (sounds) in the English language. It includes consonant sounds and vowel sounds and the various ways to spell each sound.

How is a sound wall different from a word wall?

A sound wall is not a word wall. These two resources are different because:

• To use a word wall, one must be able to read the words, so kids often need teacher help. A sound wall encourages independent use. It helps kids progress from what they can do—say sounds—to what they are learning to do—spell

by Drew Perkins, Director of TeachThought PD

Inquiry is one of my passions. In fact, I view it as a sort of superpower that enables us to navigate the kinds of diverse set of scenarios and problems that our modern world continually throws our way. That’s why all of our work with schools and teachers is through the lens of inquiry. To take it a step further, that’s why the TeachThought PD project-based learning model starts with and emphasizes what we call, ‘Rich Inquiry‘ as a lever to unlock deeper learning and critical thinking.

Because inquiry is such an important feature in our project-based learning workshops and support, participating teachers engage in multiple inquiry exercises and activities that we believe are impactful tools both in and outside of PBL. We want to model best practice so we invite workshop participants to enter into the learning process at