Resource Database

Summer is here! Students have more time to hang out with friends, go on trips, and stay up late. Summer is also a great time to ensure that youth are getting their physical, social, and emotional needs met. You for Youth (Y4Y) has created a blog post titled “Health First,” which lists the resources summer programs need to promote their students’ wellbeing. Highlights include how to take advantage of out-of-school time flexibility to support healthy living and encourage nutritional wellness.

Afterschool programs faced numerous challenges due to COVID-19. However, they were able to persevere and provide care for many students. In Afterschool in the Time of COVID-19, the Afterschool Alliance shares the results of a survey of afterschool programs across the United States. According to this survey, 57% of afterschool programs during Spring 2021 extended their in-person hours to accommodate youth, families, and virtual learning schedules.

It is crucial that all students feel represented in their classrooms, including Black and Brown students. Achieve the Core has released an article describing how educators can support students of color and help them become more involved in STEM through connected and interdisciplinary sciences lessons. Examples include connecting to community issues such as systemic racism and the environment through project-based learning that focuses on science and historical figures like Henrietta Lacks.

Students today are becoming more engaged in current affairs issues that affect them. Because of this increased engagement, educators should help students have civil discourses about the areas that interest them. This Edutopia article provides three strategies to help students have productive discussions.

What can you do to engage students with potentially dull grammar topics such as adverbs and adjectives? Have a debate! Edutopia has released a video showing how one educator uses this tool with her students.

Youth need practical feedback from others to move forward with their education. However, receiving feedback can often feel stressful and fearful, as youth are afraid of being wrong or feeling inferior in front of their peers. Harvard Graduate School of Education provides ways that educators can make feedback less overwhelming for students.

As educators support education recovery amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, they need strategies for high-quality tutoring. Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) West has published an article that describes high-quality tutoring and produced three videos from their webinar series about the topic.

Youth engagement is a “win-win proposition” that benefits youth, adults, and organizations. The American Institutes for Research (AIR) has created a brief that provides five youth engagement strategies that organizations can use, including preparing youth and adults to be successful, building community and positive relationships, and embracing a culture of vulnerability.

Project-based learning is a unique and fun tool for students to use. However, educators need to make sure that students are learning something meaningful. Experts at the Harvard Graduate School of Education created a blog post that provides three ways educators can produce high-quality PBL. The blog post shares that educators who implemented PBL helped engage students in disciplinary practices, meaning youth were acting and thinking like professionals in their desired fields of study.

Are you unsure how to incorporate project-based learning (PBL) with your students? Edutopia has created a blog post describing how educators can begin to incorporate PBL with three easy steps.