Where Should Our Energy Go?
Written by: Dr. Jeffrey Levinson
What an interesting and exciting year? It was nothing short of unpredictable. For many of us, the year was filled with student absences, massive teacher shortages, unpredictable weather, and for most of us, pressure to plan for the unexpected. However, now it is March, and if schools haven’t started already, it is the time to try to predict the future and plan for the next school year and what it will hold. Administrators across Indiana have started meeting with their committees, evaluating assessment scores, and putting into place the best plan for expenditures that will support an undefined 2022-2023 school year. Despite the trials of difficult days, many schools, in the face of uncertainty, have creatively stayed with the basics in the hopes of best serving their students’ needs where they are and not where they should be.
There are four areas where schools should be focusing their energy for the remainder of the school year and the 2022-2023 school year.
According to Dun and Bradstreet’s MDR Marketing Team, (4 Hot Topic Predictions for Education in 2022 – MDR (mdreducation.com), there are four areas where schools should be focusing their energy for the remainder of the school year and the 2022-2023 school year. The areas they identify include supporting social-emotional learning, mitigating learning loss, retaining teachers and other school staff, and supporting parental involvement in school. Really Good Stuff® is your one-stop online shop for supplemental resources and teaching supplies and is conveniently located on your CIESC’s K12Indiana eProcurement Portal.
1. Supporting Social-Emotional Learning
Really Good Stuff® carries Social-Emotional Learning tools that are teacher-developed products that help children practice and build important life-long skills. Really Good Stuff offers Social-Emotional Learning kits for the classroom and home to help students learn how to regulate their emotions and behavior. With a large variety of hands-on engaging tools, children will have tools and activities that can be used throughout the school year and years to come. Kids will learn Character Education, Coping Methods, Mindfulness, Movement Breaks, Breathing Techniques, Yoga, Self-Awareness, Self-Management, and much more!
2. Mitigating Learning Loss
Our product development team consists of experienced, former classroom teachers who continue to confer with all levels of teaching professionals to keep current with trends, methodologies, and standards changes. Because we are teachers, we have a firsthand understanding of your specific needs and struggles. It will be our privilege to find products and innovative ways to address varying student and teacher needs. An ever-changing world requires dynamic solutions to maintain and improve the overall educational process. Needless to say, Really Good Stuff® ensures that all our teaching materials are in line with state, national, and Common Core Standards. In addition, our science and STEM products meet National STEM Standards and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). You can feel confident you’re getting the very best and latest materials and resources, and what’s more, they’re available at prices you can afford.
3. Retaining Teachers and Other School Staff
Teachers take pride when they are organized and feel supported. Teachers also do their best work when equipped with the resources and supplies they need. Administrators and teachers agree a classroom should be a clean and inviting learning environment for your students. Teachers feel supported when they have the resources they need, the support they need, and the tools to organize their spaces. For example, classroom desk organizers are must-haves for a tidy classroom. These areas can quickly become overrun with books, papers, pencils, and other supplies, creating a lack of available surface space to work on. Whether you need student desk organizers or helpful organizing accessories for a teacher’s desk, we’ve got you covered. For the students, consider adding chair pockets to create additional storage space. Homework envelopes, pencil baskets, take-home folders, and other accessories can also help neaten student desks. For teachers, consider using small caddies, stacked paper holders, mesh organizers, and other accessories to keep everything within reach while keeping their workspace free of clutter.
4. Supporting Parental Involvement in School
Whether it be community connections, STEM, literacy, or a game night, Really Good Stuff® offers over 5000 supplemental curriculum products, teaching supplies, and supplemental resources that can support your family engagement programs for your students and families in grades PreK – 8. In these uncertain times, our kits, games, and resources can be used in conjunction with in-person or virtual parental involvement experiences. Also, exploring our flexible seating and furniture can assist you in making an inviting family engagement center in your school. Therefore, if you are looking to support the social-emotional learning of your students and teachers, mitigate academic learning loss, retain teachers and other school staff, and support parental involvement in school, allow the Really Good Stuff® team to help you address your needs in these most uncertain times. The Really Good Stuff® account representatives are available by phone or email to assist you and answer your questions. Also, the website is conveniently located on CIESC’s K12Indiana eProcurement Portal for member districts. We look forward to helping your students have a Really Good 2022-2023 school year.
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