Sheldon Soper

Sheldon Soper is a New Jersey middle school teacher with over a decade of classroom experience teaching students to read, write, and problem-solve across multiple grade levels. He holds teaching certifications in English, Social Studies, and Elementary Education as well as Bachelor's and Master's degrees in the field of education. In addition to his teaching career, Sheldon is also a content writer for a variety of education, technology, and parenting websites. You can follow Sheldon on Twitter at @SoperWritings.

Help Your Teen Deal with Cyber Bullying

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For all its good, the internet has also provided a global communication network for faceless individuals to provoke, harass, and intimidate others in ways that many would never dream of attempting in person. Cyber Bullying has become part of the modern world. Unfortunately, most teenagers enter the internet unprepared to handle the negativity and potential danger caused by these cyber bullies.

However, not having access to social media can be a source of bullying as well; your child may be harassed by peers and experience stress over the fear of missing out if they are kept away from all online peer contact.

While your gut reaction as a parent may be to try to prevent your child from logging on to the internet entirely, there are much more effective ways you can help your teen deal with cyber bullying.

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The Benefits of a Terrible Summer Job

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For some teenagers, summer represents a freedom from the shackles of academics and the promise of fun, sun, and relaxation.

For others, summer is a stiff wake-up call as they leave the safety-net of school and dive into the tedium of the real world as members of the workforce.

While most teenagers would opt for the former over the latter, there are some significant benefits to a terrible summer job.

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3 Steps to Encourage Student Mindfulness

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Any teacher will tell you, it is impossible to teach a student who is not in the proper head-space to learn. Thankfully, there are things educators can do to make their environments more focused and peaceful places to learn. Promoting mindfulness skills with students doesn’t require any complex curriculum or extensive professional development. You can start … Read more

5 Practical Ways to Use Music to Promote Learning

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  Music is an amazing force. It can rev you up and it can calm you down. It can make you feel and it can make you think. Bringing music into the classroom isn’t a new concept, but there is much more to unleashing its power than just hitting “Play”. Here are 5 practical ways educators can bring music … Read more

When Students Are Too Cool to Care

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One of the biggest challenges in education is motivation. For many students, getting older brings the added pressure to fit in and be accepted by their peers. This focus on popularity and “personal branding” doesn’t always line up with being seen as “the smart kid”. As educators, how can we successfully promote learning and growth … Read more