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 learn more:

• School boards in Toronto (Canada) are officially spying on teachers who take sick days - is this the best use of funding though?

• New York schools are now mandated to keep a livable temperature.

• As AI gets more powerful, should schools be apart of the conversation? History tells us “yes!”.

TECH TALK

Running out of ideas for classroom activities?

Teachers often face the challenge of creating fresh and engaging lessons to keep their students engaged. What if a tool could brainstorm personalized ideas for you based on your lesson plans or resources?

This week we dive into Part III of our deep look into NotebookLM to see how it can use your previous lessons to become the ultimate brainstorming partner.

The Solution: NotebookLM (by Google)

NotebookLM functions as an AI-powered thinking partner that works by analyzing the content you upload—whether it’s lesson plans, research papers, articles, or teaching guides.

Once materials are uploaded, the app can extract key insights, identify themes, and generate targeted ideas or questions that fit directly with your teaching goals.

For brainstorming teaching strategies or activities, us teachers can interact with NotebookLM by posing questions like, “What are some engaging activities I can create for this science topic?” or “Suggest debate topics based on this historical text.”.

The app draws upon the context of your uploaded materials to produce relevant and creative suggestions.

For a specific example, if a teacher uploads a historical text on the Civil Rights Movement, NotebookLM might suggest:

• Role-playing exercises: Students act out key historical events to deepen understanding.

• Debate prompts: “How effective was nonviolent protest during the Civil Rights Movement?”

• Research projects: “Choose a Civil Rights leader and explore their impact on modern social justice movements.”

If it’s a science lesson, such as Newton’s Laws of Motion, teachers might receive ideas for hands-on experiments (like building balloon-powered cars) or real-world application projects (identifying forces in everyday activities).

NotebookLM bridges the gap between raw resources and creative, actionable classroom strategies - you just have to ask.

How About YOUR Classroom?

NotebookLM’s brainstorming feature helps teachers stay creative, meet diverse student needs, and make lessons more dynamic with minimal effort.

Strategies:

• Activity Expansion: Upload lesson outlines and receive suggestions for additional activities that promote deeper learning—perfect for filling some new found extra time or engaging advanced learners.

• Project-Based Learning: Use NotebookLM to brainstorm meaningful project ideas tied to your curriculum, encouraging students to apply their knowledge in real-world contexts.

• Differentiated Strategies: Adapt NotebookLM's suggestions to fit different learning styles—visual learners might benefit from storyboards, while kinesthetic learners could engage in hands-on activities.

By acting as a brainstorming assistant, NotebookLM empowers teachers to design interactive, personalized learning experiences that keep students excited and engaged—all while saving time.

BRAINY BITS

Can Less Screen Time Improve Kids’ Mental Health?

This week, we look at a recently published study that explored what happens when students take a break from screens.

Researchers in Denmark studied 181 children over two weeks, finding that reduced leisure-screen time led to measurable mental health improvements.

The Study: Screen Media Use and Mental Health Impacts

Researchers split families into two groups: one reduced screen time, while the other maintained usual habits.

Using a Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, researchers measured behavioral changes before and after the intervention. Smartphones and tablets were removed from the homes of the intervention group, and compliance was tracked using device monitors to make sure results were accurate.

The Results:

The intervention group showed significant improvements across multiple mental health dimensions:

• Behavioral Difficulties decreased by 8.4%, reflecting fewer emotional and conduct problems - notable shift in just two weeks.

• Internalizing Symptoms: Emotional challenges and peer problems dropped by 5.2%.

• Positive Social Interactions at Home improved by 8.4%, suggesting that cutting down on screen use may encourage children to engage more meaningfully with peers and family members.

Keep in mind, this study only lasted for two weeks! These findings suggest that even short-term interventions can lead to realistic benefits in a student’s social and emotional health.

In Your Classroom:

The key piece here is that only leisure (i.e. non-school related) screen time was limited. And well we may not have much control over what families choose to do in their own homes, there are ways we can encourage less screen time as teachers.

Strategies

• Encourage Screen Breaks: Suggest short-term screen reductions at home, particularly for students showing emotional or behavioral challenges.

• Foster Prosocial Activities: Replace screen-heavy downtime in the classroom with structured social or physical activities to improve peer relationships.

• Collaborate with Parents: Share these findings (and today’s article) with families to highlight the mental health benefits of mindful screen use.

While further research is needed to explore long-term effects, the message is clear: a little less screen time can make a big difference in emotional well-being and social connection.

REFERENCES

Tech Talk:

Google. (2024). Think smarter not harder. Retrieved from https://notebooklm.google/

Brainy Bits:

Schmidt-Persson J, Rasmussen MGB, Sørensen SO, et al. Screen Media Use and Mental Health of Children and Adolescents: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(7):e2419881. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.19881