High school Spanish teacher Dianne-marie Cotto of World Journalism Preparatory in Queens has her class create an elaborate ofrenda (or altar to the dead) to help them better connect to the Mexican celebration El Dia de los Muertos.

Natalie Sidarous, a 4th-grade ELA teacher at PS 1 on Staten Island, uses this chart of hand signals as a strategy for encouraging all students to participate and be heard in class discussions.




A colorful multi-sensory space in a Queens special education teacher's classroom offers her kindergarten and 1st-grade students a range of engagement to calm themselves and self-regulate.

School librarian Cynthia Turnquest Jones teaches young students to recognize “put-ups” (positive language) and “put-downs” (negative language) as part of a restorative circle.

Math teacher makes innovative use of dry-erase tables inside her Brooklyn classroom.

Pre-K teacher Melysa Solomon of Manhattan's PS 343 has come up with an innovative way to provide students with their snacks throughout the day.

PS/IS 268 science teacher Maria Katsanos uses an engaging lesson to teach about genes and inherited traits.

Second-grade teacher Candace LeDoux has her students write a daily affirmation each morning. She believes this small investment in positive thinking can have a big impact on her students’ well-being.

Cara Cifferelli, an ELA teacher at John Dewey HS in Brooklyn, encourages her students to write full-length novels in her classroom as part of National Novel Writing Month. The students' work is displayed in a classroom bookcase.