Educators face the challenge of addressing uneven academic recovery post-COVID-19, according to Karyn Lewis of NWEA, who highlights that while math shows slow progress, English language arts recovery has stagnated, particularly among middle-school students who missed critical reading instruction during the pandemic. Lewis recommends prioritizing high-dosage tutoring and other targeted academic supports, leveraging state resources and focusing on students facing systemic challenges to ensure all students thrive in the post-pandemic era.

Kristen Day advocates for "hummingbird teaching," where educators subtly guide and observe rather than dominate the classroom -- encouraging children to solve problems independently. Day contrasts this with "helicopter teaching," which can hinder development, and cites studies showing that child-led learning boosts confidence and motivation more than traditional, teacher-directed methods.

Many school districts have yet to provide professional development on AI, but experts say any guidance is beneficial. During a recent Education Week forum, Dyane Smokorowski of Wichita Public Schools and Mary Catherine Reljac of Fox Chapel Area School District shared strategies for integrating AI training, including identifying teachers' concerns, offering concrete examples of AI use, encouraging hands-on experimentation and involving teachers in policy creation.

So far, the current spate of wildfires in California has burned through more than 40,000 acres. Just how big is that? Start with learning how big a square acre is and how many acres your school is on. Then start building with that until you use a map of the city to figure out what 40,000 acres would look like where you live. That helps make the news real for students who don't live in wildfire areas.

It's scary to see how many acres other California fire have burned. Use more map skills to see how much of that acreage is forest and how much is where people live.

The picture to the left shows a car that got hot enough for the aluminum rims of the tires to liquify. How hot does that mean the fire was here? How hot do other everyday things get for a comparison?

Let your gifted high-school students investigate the high-level math used in modeling forest fires -- which is really important job to have right now.

Wildfires in Southern California have forced the closure of 335 schools, affecting more than 211,000 students, as educators step up to provide support and shelter. Educators are working to support displaced students and families, even as some have lost their own homes, and are providing emotional support to students affected by the wildfires, recognizing the trauma and uncertainty they face.

Developing AI literacy in K-12 students is crucial for equipping them with the skills needed to thrive in a tech-driven economy, writes Arman Jaffer, founder and CEO of Brisk Teaching. He highlights the importance of initiatives like California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s bill mandating AI and media literacy in the state’s K-12 curriculum and calls for expanding these efforts to include more robust, real-world AI applications across subjects like math, science and English