Blog
The Digital Backpack
Your resource for online learning
Your trusted source for K-12 online learning insights, teaching strategies, and success stories from Michigan’s leading virtual education provider. Join us as we explore innovative approaches to help students thrive in the digital age.
Reviewing Michigan's K-12 Virtual Learning Effectiveness Report
Joseph Freidhoff
The author of Michigan’s K-12 Virtual Learning Effectiveness Report shares a few highlights from the 2020-21 school year to encourage a deeper dive into the full report.
3 tips for building agency as a teacher
Michigan Virtual
Feeling overwhelmed and looking for strategies to take back your agency? Here are three tips for building this vital skill as an educator.
Integrating STEM in your classroom using the “Grand Challenges for Engineering”
What is STEM, and why should I be teaching it?STEM education has been gaining momentum since the turn of the millennium, largely because of the pace of technological advances and the rapidly changing
22 Tech Tools for 2022
Emily Sicilia
Do you need to spice up your lesson plans? Add a little pizzazz to your classroom? Or just find a tech tool that makes life easier?I've compiled 22 Tech Tools for 2022. Each includes a brief desc
3 tips for starting a therapy dog program at your school
Michigan Virtual
Check out this Michigan principal’s top three tips for starting a therapy dog program at your school!
3 tips for bringing mindfulness into your classroom
Michigan Virtual
This media specialist is bringing mindfulness into the classroom to help students manage their mental health.
3 strategies for using AAC to foster student authenticity and self-advocacy
Michigan Virtual
This Michigan speech-language pathologist is fighting for every child’s right — regardless of ability — to fully communicate their thoughts and feelings.
3 strategies for reinventing learning in Your school community
Michigan Virtual
This former superintendent is leading the charge toward reinventing learning in Michigan.
3 strategies for making sure every student belongs
Michigan Virtual
This assistant superintendent of DE&I is on a mission to ensure every student in her district feels like they belong.
3 tips for managing behaviors in the classroom
Michigan Virtual
This third-grade teacher went on a quest toward better classroom management. Here’s what she found.
3 ways to bring computer science concepts into your classroom
Michigan Virtual
This ex-software developer is leading the way in Michigan K-12 computer science education.
Do You Encourage Stigma?
It’s time to break through the stigma that comes with needing help to cope with mental and emotional challenges. Robust social-emotional learning programs can teach students, staff and parents how to
3 strategies for coping with & preventing educator burnout
Michigan Virtual
This therapist from Alaska is exploring the relationship between boundaries and burnout. Check out Molly Davis’s top three strategies for coping with and preventing educator burnout!
37 Black History Month resources for teachers
Did you know a teacher started Black History Month?It’s only appropriate, then, that we compile a list of unique Black History Month resources for educators.But first, let’s go back to the beginning.
How to Help Foster Self-Awareness in Students
Self-awareness is a skill that many adults, let alone kids, struggle with. Fortunately, however, this skill can be cultivated in youth with the right social-emotional support—and schools play an essen
Time for Teachers: Importance of Distinguishing Systemic from Individual Barriers and Solutions
Educators often cite a lack of time as one of their most significant stressors. How can we help teachers find the balance necessary to feel satisfied in their jobs and meet their social and emotional needs? This first post in the Time for Teachers blog series will distinguish systemic from individual barriers, which is essential to ensure that finding time for themselves is not an undue burden on individual teachers. Some challenges require state-, district-, and school-wide solutions.
3 tips for setting & tracking goals with students
Michigan Virtual
This instructional coach is pushing to make grades more meaningful to students. Check out Sam Sicilia’s top three tips for setting and tracking student goals in the classroom!
The Importance of Digital Learning: Gen Z and Gen Alpha in the Classroom
As a modern-day educator, you probably have experience working with both Millennials and Generation Z students—where Millennials are defined as those born between 1981 and 1996 and Generation Z are th
The Impact of Self-Image on Students & Ways Educators Can Help Them Create a Positive One
A student’s self-image is formed by experiences and relationships—watch any stereotypical high school film, and you’ll see the power of comparisons and social rankings in action. These identifying exp
3 tips for coding with young students
Michigan Virtual
This technology teacher is showing her K-8 students how to code. Listen to Nicole Green’s powerful story and her top three tips for coding with young students!
Subscribe to our blog!
Categories
- Accessibility (3)
- Artificial Intelligence (18)
- Blended Learning (40)
- Bright (45)
- EdTech (4)
- Esports (1)
- Homeschool (10)
- Instructional Design (12)
- Leadership (28)
- Mentoring (9)
- Online Learning (61)
- Online Teaching (9)
- Podcasts (103)
- Professional Development (16)
- Research (251)
- Restorative Practices (3)
- School Leader Insights (10)
- Social Emotional Learning (26)
- Student-Centered Learning (22)
- Summer Learning (5)
- Teacher Recruitment & Retention (4)
- Teaching (20)
- Tips and Tools (24)
- Web 3.0 (3)