By Sarah Kelly, - Lexington School District One Have you ever been in a class where your students struggled with engagement? Or maybe you currently have a class that you think could benefit from increasing overall engagement. If you answered yes to either of these questions, this blog is for you. This school year I worked with Dr. Candace Lett, Reading and Language Arts Coordinator for Lexington School District One, on looking at ways that we could level up engagement within classrooms. Being a Social Studies teacher, I knew that this would look different in my classroom than it did in an En ..read more

By Shane Peek - Greenville County Schools See that plant to the left in the image (below)? Take a glance and you'll spot a magnificent Azalea thriving in my backyard. But here's the twist: three years back, I nearly gave up on it. Despite its potential, it constantly wilted and hardly ever bloomed. Multiple branches were infected, rendering it lopsided and awkward. In short, it wasn't like the picture of vitality you see below - it was not thriving, green, or healthy. After nearly tossing in the towel, I decided to try and relocate it to a new location - I wanted to give it one more chance.&n ..read more

By Marian Simmons - Richland School District Two Marian Simmons is the Magnet Curriculum Specialist at MED (Medical/Engineering/Arts) at Bridge Creek Elementary School in Richland County School District 2.  Her session's instructional research based strategy focuses on building student engagement using Canva for Education aligned to our ASCD whole child tenets of challenged, supported, and engaged ..read more

By LaKeyseah Brennan - Lexington and Richland Counties of District Five Shifting Mindset and Practice for Teachers and Students:   Using UDL (Universal Design Learning) to address the WHOLE Child  Summary: This blog highlights the benefits of UDL for the holistic development of students, emphasizing its role in creating safe, supported, engaged, healthy, and challenged learning environments. It stresses the importance of addressing the needs of the whole child and sees UDL as a means to achieve that goal, not as an additional burden for teachers but as a liberating approach th ..read more

By Megan Mayes - Anderson School District One Webinar/Vlog - Practical strategies for digital learning coaches to effectively bridge the gap and enhance collaboration within their team environments to support the whole child Webinar Recording  Canva Presentation  ..read more

By Shane Peek - Greenville County Schools Recently, my electricity bill left me bewildered. It was a mammoth $600, and in the quest to solve this budget-blowing mystery, a friend with HVAC expertise came to my rescue. While examining my cooling system, he revealed the hidden truth—a heating element was running constantly, which warmed the O2 that my air conditioner was diligently cooling. The thermostat was caught in a loop of confusion, causing the AC to work overtime. It was a classic case of a negative feedback loop. As we crawled around the dark, dusty crawl space and closely examine ..read more

By Dr. Kayla Hostetler - Aiken County School District I have had the privilege of working with teenagers for many years as an educator and as a mentor of Aiken’s Next Generation Youth Leadership Network, a program of Write to Change. The Aiken Next Generation program focuses on growing South Carolina youth as leaders and advocates. Youth participate in think tanks and develop actionable plans to make a difference in their local communities. Next Generation teens in Aiken serve locally as mentors to children, teens, and youth-serving organizations. They lead Family Literacy Nigh ..read more

By Shane Peek - Greenville County Schools We love shining the spotlight on our Emerging Leaders. Check out "What is AI" by @ShaneRPeek focused on: What is AI · Where is generative AI · Why should we consider using AI in the classroom · How to write a ChatGPT prompt blog? https://bit.ly/scascdAI ### About the Author Shane serves as an Instructional Technology Facilitator with Greenville County Schools where he irons the capes of the true superheroes (teachers). As just one member of a dynamic team, his mission is to grow and equip teachers through professional development, co-teaching, model l ..read more

By Alphonso Richard, Jr - Powdersville Elementary School/Anderson School District One Summary: The author recounts their mentor's powerful statement about the role of educators in sowing seeds for future growth, a concept that has become a guiding principle. They encourage fellow educators to persevere in their efforts despite challenges, emphasizing the long-term impact of their work. They offer practical advice, including meeting students where they are, maintaining high standards, leading with love, trusting the process, and staying connected even after students move on. Overall, they stre ..read more

Author: Neely Potts Think back to a time when someone told you that you couldn’t do something. Maybe it was a time in school where you were told you couldn’t take a higher level class, you would make the sports team you wanted, or you wouldn’t be able to complete a challenging assignment. You might have felt discouraged, upset, or defeated. Now, let’s think about a time in school when a teacher or coach encouraged you to have the confidence to complete a challenging or difficult task or assignment. We can all think back to a time when someone either discouraged us by telling us what we can’t ..read more