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New high school: Preparation is key
Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman for Military Spouse magazine — For military-connected students, the transition from middle school to high school can be compounded by a PCS move. Moving to a new community, loss of social support networks and unfamiliar academic expectations will be a heavy burden for budding teens. Planning for the…
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Bringing a Student’s Military Life into Classroom Learning
By Amanda Trimillos As teachers welcome military students into a classroom, they may also welcome the students’ military life into classroom learning with planned and purposeful lessons. A mobile lifestyle gives military-connected students unique knowledge of the world. They may have lived in and visited many locations, experiencing a variety…
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Teachers: Supporting Students Before, During, and After Deployment
By Amanda Trimillos When is the right time to inform teachers about a deployment? Before, during, after? The answer is all of the above. Teachers want to know about events in a student’s life that impact classroom behavior or learning. For military-connected students, this includes a parent’s deployment–before, during, and…
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Academic Gaps and Overlaps
By Amanda Trimillos In conversations between teachers of military-connected students, two issues come up repeatedly: gaps and overlaps. At one table in the teachers’ lounge, it might go like this: “I have a new student who has already completed the unit we’re working on now. What do I do?” Across…
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Education Binder: A Portable Teachers’ Lounge
By Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman Think of the Education Binder as a portable teachers’ lounge. One way teachers gain insights about incoming students is through informal conversations with other teachers. With frequent school changes, a military-connected student won’t always have the benefit of this kind of communication. Their past teachers are not…
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Parent-Teacher Team Begins With Communication
Partnership and solid communication are the best shelter parents and educators can offer a military-connected student in any season or storm. A strong student-advocacy team begins with parents and classroom teachers, with close support from counselors and school administrators. The partnership also brings the student alongside, ultimately giving the maturing student…
