MAKING IT EASIER TO BE A BETTER TEACHER

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Here’s our weekly roundup of interesting education stories from around the world. Click each link to dive deeper:

• Why do kids actually like to read the same book endlessly?

• Here’s why children need more say in their education next school year.

• Being adaptive as a teacher is great - but what can you do when even that doesn’t work?

TECH TOOL

My vacation (or field trip) budget says “no,” but my soul says “Louvre.”

Between airline prices, heat waves, and the occasional existential teacher fatigue, summer exploration can feel out of reach. 

But that itch to discover - to wander through ancient ruins, marvel at masterpieces, or deep dive into random cultural rabbit holes - isn’t something that turns off when school lets out.

The Solution: Google Arts & Culture

Google Arts & Culture is a free platform that lets you virtually stroll through 2,000+ museums, landmarks, and cultural sites around the world - from the British Museum in London to the ancient city of Petra. 

It combines ultra-high-res artwork scans, interactive timelines, curated exhibits, and even 3D models of historic artifacts to bring the world to your screen.

Overwhelmed by choices? Try their quirky tools:

• “Art Selfie” matches your face to historical portraits.

• “Pocket Gallery” lets you walk through virtual rooms filled with curated art.

• “Art Filter” uses AR to let you try on famous artifacts and styles using your camera.

Whether you’re sipping iced coffee on the couch or introducing students to a museum they’ll likely never visit in person, this tool turns curiosity into an immersive experience - without the airfare.

In Your Classroom:

Use it to plan a dreamy virtual day trip (the kind that doesn’t require a passport), or queue up a mini cultural escape for that one rainy afternoon when your plans get canceled. 

This isn’t just passive scrolling - it’s genuinely fascinating, and often surprisingly moving.

And when school starts again, it’s a ready-made solution for “field trips” that don’t require permission slips.

Here’s how you can use it this week:

Strategies

• Feed your curiosity. Pick a theme - like street art, ancient cities, or surrealism - and explore exhibits, zoom in on brush strokes, or hop continents in a single click.

• Use it to plan classroom tie-ins. Bookmark favorite collections or sites that match your curriculum - so come fall, you’ve got a virtual museum tour or historical walkthrough ready to go.

• Bring your students along (later). Use it as a low-tech alternative for creative projects: students can “visit” a place, create a report, and even curate their own digital exhibits.

Whether you're trying to unwind or get inspired for next year, Google Arts & Culture is a (free) reminder that the world is still full of wonder - and it’s only a tab away. No sunburn required.

BRAINY BITS

Building math skills with Lego

This week’s Brainy Bit study shows that all it takes is six weeks of teacher-led LEGO® block building to boost young learners’ spatial and math skills.

The Study: SPACE program brings spatial training to the classroom

Researchers partnered with 16 UK Year 2 classes (6-7 year-olds), delivering the six-week SPAtial Cognition to Enhance mathematical learning (SPACE) program during math class. 

Teachers first completed a half-day workshop on spatial reasoning and using pictorial LEGO instructions. 

Then, twice weekly, students spent 30 minutes building 2-6 LEGO models per session, following exploded diagrams and story themes (e.g., superheroes) while teachers prompted spatial reflection (e.g., “Can you turn that brick in your mind?”). 

A total of 409 children in the intervention group and 103 business-as-usual controls completed pre- and post-tests in spatial language, mental rotation, and curriculum-aligned math.

The Results:

By the end, the LEGO-trained children showed medium-sized gains in mental rotation and small but significant improvements in math performance compared to control groups. 

Spatial language scores improved over time in both groups, but the extra LEGO practice didn’t add benefit there. 

Mediation analyses suggested that while spatial visualization and math both improved, the math gains weren’t fully explained by rotation skill alone - hinting that other spatial abilities (like working memory or spatial-numerical mapping) may also play a role.

In Your Classroom:

Hands-on spatial activities aren’t just “fun breaks” from worksheets - they’re powerful tools for sharpening the same thinking students need in math. 

Here’s how to bring a bit of SPACE into your own lessons:

Strategies

• Embed LEGO or block tasks into regular math slots - 30 minutes twice a week can make a measurable difference.

• Use pictorial instructions and story contexts to keep students engaged while they practice visualization and precise manipulation.

• Prompt spatial talk: Ask questions like “How could you rotate that piece in your head?” or “Which way will the shape face next?” to reinforce mental imagery.

This study reminds us that spatial thinking belongs in every math classroom - and taking apart a LEGO model is just the beginning. 

By weaving simple, block-based exercises into your instruction, you can help students build stronger foundations for geometry, measurement, and problem solving - one brick at a time.

REFERENCES

This week’s issue adapts information from the following sources:

Tech Talk:

Google (2025). What’s your favorite Art Movement? Retrieved from https://artsandculture.google.com/

Brainy Bits:

Farran, E.K., Gilligan-Lee, K.A., Mareschal, D., Živković, M., Bartušēvica, S., Bell, D., Jay, T. and Gilmore, C. (2025), Teacher Delivered Block Construction Training Improves Children's Mathematics Performance. Mind, Brain, and Education. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.70006