In this week’s One Thing You Might Try . . . blog post, third-grade teacher Janaki Nagarajan writes about her class’s mini-unit of study on names—and why doing this kind of identity work is more important now than ever.

“[A name] is one of the greatest gifts that a family can give you—it is the first gift that a child, usually, when they enter the Earth, receives from their family. It is usually informed by tradition and love, and the hope and aspiration the family has for that child. It is something precious, and sacred, and it is a part of their identity. And when I see people fighting for the right for that to be respected and treated in a dignified way, I applaud and salute that.” —Kamala Harris

In this One Thing You Might Try . . . post, kindergarten teacher, Katie Keier, offers a few ideas for maintaining the critical aspects of shared reading and writing during virtual learning and creating “Read it again!” moments for young learners—no matter what instructional setting you find yourself in.

In this week’s One Thing You Might Try . . . post, first- and second-grade teacher Zak Champagne nudges us to reconsider requiring students to share their ideas and helps us reimagine what it means to participate in the distance learning or socially distanced classroom.

In this week's One Thing You Might Try . . . post, 7th/8th grade English and Social Studies teacher, Jen Vincent, considers how pandemic teaching has affected the way we develop instructional relationships and shares a helpful idea for checking in with students authentically from six feet away.

In this One Thing You Might Try . . . post, teacher and parent, Grace Choi, gives us some creative ideas on how to help kids enjoy and succeed in reading at home.   

I wonder if Friends actor, David Schwimmer, knows that his character, Ross Geller’s “PIVOT!” scene has now become the anthem of educators. Across the country, school looks different, and teaching and learning has had to pivot in many ways. It’s either happening in physical school buildings with necessary measures and precautions to limit spread and exposure of COVID-19, or school is happening in people’s homes. Including mine.

The banner across the top of the Stenhouse website reads “for teachers, by teachers.” This has always been Stenhouse’s tagline, but more than that, it is our core belief. We believe in creating a space for teachers’ voices. And while perhaps this doesn’t seem like a particularly radical idea—that teachers have ideas, practices, and expertise worthy of listening to, in our current environment it sometimes does.