Some classroom problems look simple on the surface. 

Students seem distracted. Social habits look messy, so naturally, screens take the blame. But the research we found this week suggests the reality is more complicated — and more human. 

Plus, we’ve found a tool that helps you reset focus without another device battle. 

Look at you - using this Wednesday to become an even better teacher in the next 7 minutes.

🔉But first, a word from today’s sponsor for teachers who want to teach the much needed subject of financial literacy but don’t know where to begin:

And now back to making you an even better teacher 👇️ 

TECH TOOL

Not Everything Needs a Screen

We love a shiny new app as much as anyone. But some days? The Wi-Fi is spotty, the devices are dead, and the class needs a reset that only pen and paper can deliver.

That’s where this quietly useful tool comes in.

The Solution: PaperMe

PaperMe is a free browser tool that generates highly customizable printable paper. Graph paper. Lined paper. Sheet music. Dotted grids. You name it.

Instead of hunting through random PDFs online, you pick the exact format you need and save/print instantly. Music teachers short on staff paper? Done. Math class needs quick graph sheets? Two clicks. Everything is clean, simple, and fast. No login required.

It’s not flashy. It’s just ridiculously useful.

Is This For YOUR Classroom?

If you’re looking for AI fireworks, this isn’t it. But if your classroom still lives (or needs to be brought back to it) in the real world of pencils, printers, and “we need this now,” this tool earns its keep fast.

Strategies That Work:

1. Emergency Print Station: Bookmark it for those surprise “we’re out of graph paper” moments.

2. Focus Reset: Shift from screens to paper when attention is sliding.

3. Student Choice Workflow: Let students choose digital or paper paths for the same task.

Sometimes the best classroom tech… is the paper that shows up exactly when you need it.

🚀 Noteworthy News

👉️Provocative: Why many educators say constant assessment is quietly killing good teaching.

👉️2️⃣ Practical: The simple classroom moves that actually build real critical thinkers.

👉️3️⃣ Intriguing: AI boosts creativity—but only for people who use it the right way.

BRAINY BIT

Social Life Isn’t On/Off

TLDR: A large adolescent study found teens fall into four different social media use profiles tied closely to real friendship quality. Translation for us teachers: simply pulling students offline doesn’t automatically strengthen their social world.

The Study: The Social-Media Friendship Study

Researchers surveyed over 1200 adolescents about their social media habits, motivations for using it, and the quality of their close friendships over the course of two years. They also measured how students interacted with peers both online and offline.

Using a person-centered statistical method (latent profile analysis), the team grouped students into four distinct social media use profiles and examined how these patterns connected to friendship quality and social motivation.

The Results:

Four clear user profiles emerged, showing that teens do not use social media in one uniform way. Instead, their patterns were strongly shaped by their social needs and friendship experiences.

The four profiles were:

• Low users

• High self-disclosing users

• High self-oriented users

• All round users

Importantly, online and offline peer interactions were highly linked. Students with stronger friendships in-person tended to show more socially engaged patterns of use online.

Perhaps the most surprising finding: low social media use was not automatically a social win. Some lower-use students may actually miss opportunities to strengthen friendships that increasingly live partly online.

And if we extrapolate this, on the flip-side, those with high social-media use also relied on it for their social ‘fill’; without it, the skills to maintain these friendships without their phones can falter without the correct support in place.

In YOUR Classroom:

Because for today’s students, the social world doesn’t split neatly between online and offline - it’s one blended ecosystem.

Here’s how these results need to impact your classroom this week:

Strategies That Work:

1. Teach “how,” not just “how much”: Help students analyze how they use social media, not just reduce minutes.

2. Run reality check discussions: Create space for honest class conversations about where friendships actually live today.

3. Bridge the two worlds: Design activities that move ideas from online spaces into face-to-face collaboration.

The goal isn’t to defend screen time - the research is still very clear on the negative impacts of screen addiction. 

It’s instead to recognize the social reality students are already living in — and teach them to navigate it wisely.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

We would LOVE to hear from you!

Reply to this email, or send us a message on Instagram! We’re here to walk with you in these crazy times!

Part of what makes The PEN Weekly community so special is the fact that our readers are teachers from around the world! We’re not going to lie, we think that’s pretty darn cool!

We’ll see you again on Monday 🍎

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