Mathworlds

Five Friends Make School Matter to Kids

Educators are witnessing a post‑COVID surge in students who only work when directly observed, whether on digital devices or paper. Traditional interventions—grading each warm‑up, calling home—scale linearly with class size, leading to teacher burnout. Five seasoned educators propose community‑centric, non‑linear solutions that make effort visible to peers and give students agency, such as allowing strategic breaks, using mini‑whiteboards, and designing tasks with clear purpose. These approaches aim to sustain cognitive struggle without multiplying teacher workload.