This new Report from the Economic Policy Institute published on August 9, 2016 only continues to reiterate the sad and disappointing perception widely held on teaching as a profession. The most important way to improve the quality of education is to ensure that teachers have the respect and status that they need and deserve:

"...An effective teacher is the most important school-based determinant of education outcomes. It is therefore crucial that school districts recruit and retain high-quality teachers. This is particularly difficult at a time when the supply of teachers is constrained by high turnover rates, annual retirements of longtime teachers, and a decline in students opting for a teaching career—and when demand for teachers is rising due to rigorous national student performance standards and many locales’ mandates to shrink class sizes..."

Read the Report here:

In this 2015 article published in The Atlantic, author Adrienne Lafrance describes the biochemical reactions that take place within a woman as she starts her journey into motherhood. In fact, the Lafrance explains that the parenting instincts kick in for both new mothers and new fathers: "...the blueprint for mothering behavior exists in the brain even before a woman has children.Perhaps, then, motherhood really is like secret space in a woman's brain, waiting to be discovered. "Although only mothers experience pregnancy, birth, and lactation, and these provide powerful primers for the expression of maternal care via amygdala sensitization," researchers wrote, "evolution created other pathways for adaptation to the parental role in human fathers, and these alternative pathways come with practice, attunement, and day-by-day caregiving"...."

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/01/what-happens-to-a-womans-brain-when-she-becomes-a-mother/384179/#utm_sguid=167195,26e397a7-d884-9452-cb37-2aa827fbadcahttp://

In a delightful article Kayla Delzer writes about re-designing the classroom.

"...at my local Starbucks and, looking around, I realized that everyone seemed to be happy, engaged in their work, and relaxed. Some people chose the traditional chairs and tables while I opted for a big, comfy chair with my MacBook on my lap. The quiet music, perfect lighting, and overall aesthetics of the coffee shop were favorable for a variety of learners. And if I wanted to switch up my seat during my stay, I was free to do just that. That's when I decided that our classroom in 2015-2016 was going to look radically different than anything I'd ever done before..."

"To see that some classrooms look the same now as they did 70 years ago is shameful. The students we share our classrooms with don't know life without constant connectivity, wi-fi, and a global audience. Outside the windows of our classroom is a dynamic, fast-paced, and ever-changing world full of choices. How can we expect our students to solve problems and make choices independently if we constantly solve their problems and make their choices for them? Our classroom environments should be conducive to open collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking..." 

For more click on the link below:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/flexible-seating-student-centered-classroom-kayla-delzer?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/studyabroad/winter-program-new-delhi-india

Judith E. Glaser's June 21st, 2016 blog in the Huffington Post  on the neurochemistry of motivation is worth a read:

"Once a person has been triggered by fear - let’s say from an angry boss, a yelling, or merely a passive-aggressive or blaming boss who is embarrassing that person in front of colleagues - a cascade of neurochemicals starts in the lower brain - and literally spews out into the rest of the brain - like someone was spray painting their brain! This cortisol bath sends messages to the other parts of the brain - there are actually 5 brains working in concert - and tells them to move into hyper-gear to protect the person from harm....Inspired leaders would be further inspired if they understand the neurochemistry of motivation - how praise and support can unlock the neurochemical patterns that also cascade chemistry throughout the brain. This powerful and almost drug-like dopamine state that comes with appropriate, honest and well-deserved (sincere) praise will set into place a pattern of intrinsic motivation that will open up new pathways for the employee to access new skills and talents..."

Read more here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judith-e-glaser/neurochemistry-of-motivat_b_10590480.html