teaching

If All Else Fails…Listen to the Teachers

MAKE SURE TO DOWNLOAD PICTURES OR READ ONLINE

This is not my normal type of post and next week I’ll get back to my summer schedule of appearances and book fairs and cool anthologies coming out. But this is a “Taste of Sherri” and teaching is an important part of that. Thus, I want to talk about non-fiction projects I’ve been working on and why these workbooks are so important for students right now.

It’s been a whirlwind since packing up my classroom but now I’m starting to process what happened this school year. 2025-2026 was tough. How do I meet my students where they are while promoting independence and grit?

There are so many issues we could talk about because I am passionate about the science of education and building perseverance in reading, but I need those who aren’t in education to understand that K-12 teachers have been saying (screaming?) that we have a problem with learning acquisition on digital devices. That is, many students have difficulty recalling information so teachers find themselves addressing the basics of a subject over and over instead of moving deeper into the subject.

The science isn’t fully understood, but it is likely that the frenetic visual cues and interest that come with devices make it hard for students to make distinctions around what is important, and what is ancillary.  Whatever the cause, there is increasing evidence that high saturation in teaching with devices is impacting learning.  

Cool photo, right? One study from 2023 explores what happens in the brain when a person writes by hand versus typing on a device: STUDY.

Citation: Van der Weel FRR and Van der Meer ALH (2024) Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread brain connectivity: a high-density EEG study with implications for the classroom. Front. Psychol. 14:1219945. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1219945

“Existing literature indicates that connectivity patterns in these brain areas and at such frequencies are crucial for memory formation and for encoding new information and, therefore, are beneficial for learning. Our findings suggest that the spatiotemporal pattern from visual and proprioceptive information obtained through the precisely controlled hand movements when using a pen, contribute extensively to the brain’s connectivity patterns that promote learning” (Abstract). 

Yes, I’m a nerd. I love that there is data about how the brain makes connections. Not everyone cares, right? Why do we need these studies?

Evidence 1: For the first time, children are not scoring the same or higher than their parents in education levels.

Here’s a PBS News Special from May 22nd, 2026 featuring William Brangham and Professor Thomas Kane from Harvard University. The term “learning recession” has been applied to American students and this asserts the problem started before the pandemic. To put the problem into numbers, “Compared to a decade ago, math scores today are down in 70 percent of school districts. Reading scores are down in 83 percent” (www.pbs.org/newshour/show/whats-behind-the-decade-long-learning-recession-for-american-students).

Evidence 2: Current college students do not have the stamina for reading or the skills for arithmetic that are necessary to take a university-level class.

Here’s the article in the New York Post from June 11th, 2026 titled, “Professors at top California college forced to radically alter coursework as students struggle to read” 

Humanities professors at one of California’s most prestigious universities say they are assigning fewer pages, replacing full books with excerpts and rethinking coursework as students increasingly struggle to keep up with reading-heavy classes.

One of the stand out quotes, “The review follows mounting pressure from more than 1,400 faculty members who argue that many students are entering college without the skills needed for rigorous coursework” (www.nypost.com/2026/06/11/us-news/professors)

Evidence 3: “America’s Reading Crisis That No One Wants To Talk About” Published in Mother Jones on January 23, 2026.

“While 88 percent of parents believe their child is reading at grade level, only roughly 30 percent of students fall into that camp, according to a 2023 Gallup poll” (Mother Jones “America’s Reading Crisis”).

These articles are sounding the alarm that many of our students are not able to read independently and aren’t on grade level. Again, teachers have been saying this anecdotally for years. The good news is that the science of reading also offers solutions.

So, what is my plan?

Luckily, I have an administration that cares about student learning and a level teacher with a ton of experience. We having been increasing analog learning in our classrooms for a hybrid approach – essentially having students take a break from screens and increase hand-eye coordination and multi-sensory skills through physical activities. This also cuts down on the temptation to utilize generative AI.

Is that too jargony?

It means reading a text and annotating it or writing notes by hand instead of typing sticks in the brain better because more connections are made. This doesn’t mean that technology should be eschewed. The above study advises that a hybrid approach allows students to learn more effectively while remaining aware of technological advances. For example, many standardized tests for college admission or College Board credit are only administered via electronic devices and students need to be comfortable and prepared for that assessment modality.

One way we are moving into analog is through a project with Caezik Academic. I put together a workbook that includes the text, vocabulary, journal prompts, discussion questions, and activities. My school will be using the workbook for The Call of the Wild.

Note: I was paid by the publisher to create this workbook. It is for sale but I do not make royalty or commission on sales.

I am excited to use these workbooks in my classroom and would be happy to help any other educators who choose to use them. I have also put together a workbook for Frankenstein. As a science fiction/fantasy writer, it was an amazing opportunity to dig into Mary Shelley’s text and ask students to make connections to what is happening with our current relationship to technology. I especially had fun with some of the journal prompts. If interested in either purchasing these workbooks or, if you are an educator, getting more information about creating one for you school, check out Caezik Academic.

While workbooks are not new, they have been largely replaced by digital learning. An emphasis has been placed on making sure every student has a device. Projects were moved from the physical world into the virtual world. For example, instead of making flashcards by hand, several electronic sites popped up to make virtual flashcards. THIS IS NOT BAD. I’ve included all these links to articles to show that this is a nuanced topic. In fact, I’ve had students use these sites for certain activities.

What I don’t like about these sites is that AI is now built in so that students are able to skip the experience of typing out the definitions. This is the learning step before the memorization ability. Instead, the computer guesses (think of autocorrect) what definition should be assigned to the word. Sometimes it is correct; oftentimes, it is not. In English class, the correct definition depends on the time period and context. AI is not able to provide connotation versus denotation and students fall into the trap of trusting AI.

Is a workbook going to fix everything? No, of course not. In fact, I’ve already noticed an error that I made and my level teacher has suggested a visual to include for next year’s edition. We are always tweaking and perfecting so that we can modify for our students. That’s what educators do.

Moving away from screens for everything is a start. And having everything in one workbook cuts down on distractions. No more “forgetting” the book in the locker, no more digging through folders to find worksheets, no more needing to charge laptops. The material is in one place and we can use what we’ve learned about how the brain makes connections to meet students where they are.

Love,

Sherri

Returning to Yoga

I happily returned to teaching yoga at the beginning of March. During the past year of the pandemic, I’ve learned to pivot by holding classes outside, teaching goat yoga, and teaching online classes. But there was a giddiness as “my” class came back together — in a large space where we could socially distance, wear masks, and practice safely. We all had so much to share with each other. Then we moved through our practice while the rain poured down outside, a reminder, perhaps, of our cozy position of watching from indoors and the future promise of colorful flowers. We finished with a reading about the Niyama of svadhyaya from Deborah Adele’s “The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice.”

In her book, Adele pictures each person in the world as a divine spark wrapped in boxes like a nesting doll. Each box represents things like how we identify ourselves, what we believe to be true, our preferences, country of origin, gender, town, ancestors, race, religion, and our personal experience. She writes, “Svadhyaya, or self-study, is about knowing our true identity as Divine and understanding the boxes we are wrapped in. The process of knowing ourselves, and the boxes that adorn us, creates a pathway to freedom.”

After class I was thinking about this in relation to a recent article from Yoga Journal, “Alabama House Votes to Overturn Ban on Yoga in Schools.” Turning over the ban seems like a good thing. There have been many articles about how yoga in schools helps students to concentrate, to ease anxiety, and to become more aware — why were some yoga teachers upset? And as I read, I started nodding my head in agreement. The article is worth reading, but the gist is that “allowing” a watered-down yoga into schools as a series of stretches that have animal names is wrong because it is erasing the history of yoga, erasing the culture that shares yoga, and erasing the language of yoga (Sanskrit).

Here’s a quote from the article: Anjali Kamath Rao also pointed out that teaching a “more digestible” form of asana and breathwork teaches kids to appropriate—instead of appreciate—Hindu culture. “We are also teaching these kids it’s ok to take what is helpful to them without any honest acknowledgment of the people that gifted them the practice. We are teaching their needs are more important than the feelings of the others in the room.” 

I thought about my own yoga class. Yoga is, literally translated, a “yoking” of physical, mental, and spiritual, not just stretching with animal names. But I also need to acknowledge that I am a Christian, white woman teaching a discipline from another culture. To me, the spark of Divinity inside every person is what Genesis 1:26 references: “Let us make humankind in our image, in our likeness…”(NIV), but I am wrapped in other boxes and those boxes influence my understanding, and therefore my teaching.

I bring my Christianity to my teaching. ‘Aum’ is a mantra and a sacred sound that is traditionally repeated at the beginning and end of a yoga practice. It is a Sanskrit word that translates to ‘source’ or ‘supreme.’ To me, it sounds a lot like what we did in the church where I grew up after singing: A-oh-men-pause. The hand mudra of palms facing up is an ancient posture of receiving a blessing or spiritual enlightenment. Its also something we’ve begun doing at the end of service at my current church. My meditation is to bring me closer to God. On the mat with my eyes closed is a time to pray to Jesus so that I can then “let it go.” This is my experience – remember each person has their own boxes – so I’m not speaking for any other Christians or yogi than myself. And if you want to argue with me about why a person can’t be both, well, keep it to yourself.

There has, historically, been push back from some churches about having yoga classes on their property and some Christian colleges have refused to allow yoga clubs. These churches and universities wanted the watered-down stretching with animal names described in the article about Alabama schools. I have to agree with Anjali Kamath Rao’s quote above. That is appropriating, not appreciating.

I want to make sure that I am honoring the history, the culture, and the discipline of yoga, but each person’s practice is going to look a little different because we are each different. There is not one correct way to practice yoga. Imagine three people working through the same pose. They are accommodating their own flexibility, their own injuries, and their own sense of balance.

But there is always more to learn. How can I do better?

I missed my next in-person training (working towards 300-level) because of the pandemic. So, I’ve signed up for an online class to study The Gita, one of the main holy scriptures for Hinduism and a story about a prince and court intrigue, dated back to the second century BCE. It will be taught by Anusha Wijeyakumar, a South Asian teacher raised in the philosophy of Sanatana Dharma. Reading a Hindu text does not make me Hindu, but if I acknowledge that everyone is a child of God, maybe I can set my ego (my boxes) aside, and maybe I can learn something I didn’t even know that I didn’t know. And then I’ll share it with my classes.

Cheers (and Namaste),

Sherri