The best of Teach. Learn. Grow. in 2021

My eldest started kindergarten this year and I have to say: covering his sweet little face with a mask every morning was not what I imagined when I daydreamed about his first day of school. Neither was being forbidden to cross the threshold into his classroom, having to say no when he asked to wear a Halloween costume to school, and attending virtual conferences.

If I’m tired of life in the time of COVID, as a friend dubbed these long years, I can only imagine how exhausted everyone with a job dedicated to helping others must be. Bus drivers and nurses. Package handlers and grocery store clerks. And educators, of course.

I’m so lucky that my kid (that’s him at the top of this page, by the way) gets to be in school in person. And luckier still that he has an amazing crew of teachers, from his classroom teacher, who keeps our family up to date with text messages, to his librarian, who managed to pull off an in-school Scholastic book fair, to his PE teacher, whose ability to get small kids in motion while keeping them from touching each other appears to know no bounds.

It’s our hope that the posts we publish every week help you feel supported.

At Teach. Learn. Grow., it has always been our mission to support educators like them—and you—in doing the difficult work of helping our kids learn and grow, regardless of whatever might try to get in the way. It’s our hope that the posts we publish every week help you feel supported. As this calendar year winds to a close and you begin to think about the second half of the 2021–22 school year, we invite you to revisit some of our most popular posts of the year.

On formative assessment

So much about education has changed during COVID-19, but one thing has remained the same: formative assessment is still a critical part of an effective teaching practice, one that can help you understand exactly where your students are in their learning. The following posts describe how to put it to work in your classroom.

Addressing interrupted learning

We’ve all been worried about student learning during the pandemic, and research shows our concerns are well-founded. A study conducted by the NWEA research team found that learning gains were fewer during the 2020–21 school year than before the pandemic, with kids in historically marginalized groups disproportionately affected. Countless readers found helpful tips on how to approach instruction this year in the following posts.

To find additional articles to support your practice, see our collections of posts on classroom tips, early learning, and equity.

Supporting families

Collaborating with families is key to student success. These posts have helped thousands of Teach. Learn. Grow. readers better understand MAP® Growth so kids can get exactly what they need in the classroom.