Across the state, education organizations have planned a variety of learning events for the fall. Since Rutgers Alternate Route is committed to supporting New Jersey teachers in their professional growth and providing them with the tools they need to excel in their classrooms, we've made it easy for New Jersey teachers to identify PD opportunities for the upcoming teaching season. We have curated a list of 25 must-attend education conferences for teachers in New Jersey, hosted by state-based professional associations, local universities, and grassroots education groups.

During COVID lockdown, educators across the world connected on TikTok through the hashtag #TeacherTok, which evolved from a hashtag into a colloquial term for the community as a whole. During distance learning, educators found inspiration from other TikTok users and had an accessible platform where their frustrations and challenges were validated by their peers.

A recent cohort of Rutgers Alternate Route teachers designed low-tech classroom games aimed at stimulating student memory retention. These games use exciting and entertaining review formats to encourage information recall. Free for all to access, these games come with instructions and images for easy adaptation for all subjects and grade levels.

For students to excel on assessments weeks or months removed from the lesson, it's important that teachers shift from short-term memory tactics and find ways to make what they teach stick. In addition to preparing well-planned engaging lessons, teachers must also consistently invest time into strengthening students’ information recall ability. Games can help with this.

Let's face it; everyone loves to win. Everyone also enjoys fun. So why not introduce those two elements into the classroom experience with games? The magic of games in learning comes from their ability to engage, challenge, and reinforce previously taught skills and content. For this reason, they cannot be dismissed as time-wasting diversions from precious learning time. Games are not just about fun; they help teachers build connections between the rigors of learning and the satisfaction of achievement, while also reducing forgetting.