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:

👉 These 9 habits build kids who actually know how to connect.

👉 Turns out the ‘compliment sandwich’ is hurting more than helping.

👉 Polite on the outside, panicked inside: When teens fawn to survive.

TECH TOOL

Color Outside the Copy Machine

Sometimes the best classroom lifesaver isn’t the latest AI chatbot or a pricey subscription - it’s a good old coloring sheet. 

This week’s Tech Tool takes that idea, spins it with a dash of AI, and hands teachers a nearly free way to bring calm, creativity, or just five blessed minutes of silence to the room.

The Solution: YoPrintables

YoPrintables is an online generator for instant, unique coloring sheets. With a few clicks, teachers can pull up everything from mandalas to silly mashups (think: a giraffe in roller skates eating a snack). The tool is free to try, with premium upgrades that stay well within the “teacher budget” range.

What makes it shine is flexibility: you can create simple templates yourself, or let students design their own sheets by writing prompts. 

That second option is sneakily brilliant—it doubles as a lesson in clear communication and critical thinking, since kids quickly learn that vague prompts equal weird results. 

And because coloring isn’t just “art time,” these sheets can double as mindfulness activities, reward systems, or even quirky writing prompts.

Is This For YOUR Classroom?

If you teach older grades that groan at the word “coloring,” this might land flat unless you frame it as mindfulness or a creative warm-up. And while student-made sheets are fun, you’ll need to set clear guardrails - AI doesn’t always know the line between silly and inappropriate.

Strategies That Work:

1. Mindfulness Mondays: Start the week with 5 minutes of quiet coloring for focus and calm.

2. Creative Prompts: Have students design their own coloring sheets, then swap and complete each other’s.

3. Story Starters: Use finished coloring sheets as inspiration for quick-write stories or journal entries.

YoPrintables won’t solve every classroom need - high schoolers may roll their eyes, and prompts can go sideways - but when used with intention, it’s a low-prep way to add calm or creativity. Sometimes the best “tech” is the tool that buys you a few minutes of peace and gives kids space to breathe.

BRAINY BITS

When Screens Mess With Memory

TLDR: Researchers are warning about “digital dementia,” a decline in memory and attention linked to heavy device use. For schools, the real issue isn’t banning tech—it’s making sure it serves a purpose when we do use it.

Here’s what this study means for your classroom:

The Study: Understanding Digital Dementia

A recent review pulled together 78 high-quality studies on the cognitive effects of digital technology use. The research covered kids, teens, young adults, and seniors.

What they found: when device use piles up, especially during childhood and adolescence, it affects memory, attention, and empathy. 

The studies linked excessive screen time to ADHD-like symptoms, weaker recall, and even structural brain changes. 

But it’s not all bad news: carefully designed digital tools, like cognitive training apps, showed benefits in memory and problem-solving, particularly for older adults.

The Results:

• Kids and teens at risk: Two hours or more of daily screen use was tied to language delays, attention problems, and socio-emotional struggles. Early overexposure even altered white matter pathways linked to language learning.

• Brains don’t multitask well: Constant notifications and task-switching overloaded attention and working memory. Sleep disruption from late-night blue light added another hit to learning.

• Adults and seniors get a mixed bag: Training apps can sharpen memory and attention, but too much scrolling or social media use correlates with anxiety, isolation, and eventual decline.

In Your Classroom:

Our students already live on screens, so in school every digital choice matters.

Here’s how this data can impact your classroom this week:

Strategies

1. Tech with purpose: Every app or laptop task should directly support a learning goal—not just keep kids busy.

2. Screen swaps: Pair device time with offline moments: journals, partner talks, or hands-on problem-solving.

3. Teach tech hygiene: Model and practice routines like the “20-20-20” rule (look 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes).

Tech isn’t the villain here - it’s about balance. 

Purposeful digital use helps students prepare for the future while protecting the memory, attention, and curiosity they need to get there.

REFERENCES

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

Tech Talk:

Yo Printables. (2025). Unlimited PDF Printable Coloring Pages & Drawing Ideas At Your Fingertips.  Retrieved from https://yoprintables.com/#google_vignette

Brainy Bits:

Ali Z, Janarthanan J, Mohan P. Understanding Digital Dementia and Cognitive Impact in the Current Era of the Internet: A Review. Cureus. 2024 Sep 23;16(9):e70029. doi: 10.7759/cureus.70029. PMID: 39449887; PMCID: PMC11499077.