my elementary school experience essay

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My Experience in Elementary School

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Published: Mar 20, 2024

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Classroom Q&A

With larry ferlazzo.

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to [email protected]. Read more from this blog.

Students Share Their Best School Experiences and What We Can Learn From Them

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Today, five students from my classes contribute short pieces about their favorite moments, and what others might be able to learn from them.

You might also be interested in these two other posts:

• Students Describe Their Favorite Teachers
• ‘He Was a Very Good Listener’ - Students Write About Their Most Memorable Teachers

Response From Leslie Servin

During my time in high school I had it really good moments, but my best moments that I’ve experienced are in a particular class during my senior year, in Sacramento, Calif. So I was basically a new student in these kind of classes and also I’m English learner. I remember my first presentation in this class. I didn’t want to do it, but finally I did it and that one was my best moment. When I went to present I felt afraid, and then when I presented I felt so good for the effort I applied on. Now I feel so much better than my first day of presentations because I now know that I can do whatever I want to do. The learnings that I acquire made it so good this moment because I know that I have to trust on me. Something teachers or students can learn from my experience is that we have to overcome our fears and not let them control ourselves because we can’t know our capabilities if we are afraid.

Response From Jesneel Singh

The best moment in class was when I was in 9th grade in sixth period. That was when I got into poetry and spoken word. Having that “character and scene” class made my life even greater. Not knowing anything about poetry, hating on poems about reading and writing it in the past. That class was fun in many ways. For example; there was this one time where we had to write our own plays and poems and perform them in front of the class. I felt alive, and the creative side of me came out. When I wrote my first poem in freshman year. I realized that it was fun and unique. I felt like I wanted to write more and more. When I performed my first poem to that class I found my passion. Since that day and today I have written over 400 poems and made two books. I have performed on many stages in small audience and in school. That was a good day for me because I can write my thoughts down and write the truth about the world. Teachers and students can learn from this experience that, you can find what best fits you.

Response From Nancy Ramirez

I would say my best class moment would be from my sophomore year in high school. For my Spanish class, our teacher decided we would do a class circle (Editor’s note: see “How To Practice Restorative Justice in Schools” for more information on class circles) for the day. She asked us a sequence of questions which required us to give a more in depth and heartfelt answer each time, starting with something along the lines of “How are you feeling?” and ending with “Why do you think that is?” A class circle which only should have lasted one day extended to three, with each and every single one of us having to share our deepest and darkest fears and insecurities. By then it felt more than just a class and opened my eyes to very different ways of teaching styles. I believe there is much to learn from this experience, both then and now. I have come to deeply appreciate not only the class but the teacher as well. This experience showed me the extent a relationship with your classmates and your teacher can go....

Response From Oscar Salazar

The best moment I’ve ever experienced in school was last year when I was a sophomore. I took biology last year and towards the end of the year we got to dissect a fetal pig. I know that it sounds gross but it’s really not. That’s what I thought at first too. I did lots of fun experiments in that class that were new to me, such as making a small ecosystem in a bottle and dissecting owl pellets to find mouse skeletons. I think that these experiences were really fun and interesting. I’ve never done anything like that in a class before.

I think that when teachers introduce students to hands-on activities and projects the students enjoy it more. Since we have more energy it’s a good use of it. We learn better when we’re allowed to move around and be creative. Our lives aren’t going to be pen on paper or books forever. It’s best to get us students to explore the world using our skills that we learn and strengthen our understanding of daily life that is sometimes hidden from us and exposed to us abruptly once we turn into adults.

Response From Kayla Guzman

What has been my best moment in a class? I’ve had many great moments but perhaps the most best moment took place in my English class about a month ago. I had a 10-15 minute presentation and I felt pretty confident. 30 minutes before my presentation I decided to incorporate an actor for visual appeal, to correspond with my presentation. I felt even more confident, assure that I would captivate the audience’s attention and keep them engaged. When my presentation started, I gave a signal to my actor which led me to drop my 8 notecards all over the floor. I was aware that the time was ticking, so I quickly grabbed all the notecards off the floor. I became overwhelmed with embarrassment, listening to the echoing laughter of the audience as I tried to rearrange the cards. The cards in my hand then became extremely restraining. My anxiety levels rose, and the disorganized cards just added stress to my emotions. I placed the cards down, and felt a great sense of relieve. My words, my explanations, my connections all flowed out my mouth with harmony, and I felt more natural and free as I presented my topic.

My presentation was a diagnosis of a character with schizophrenia, explaining the symptoms and the reasoning behind my diagnosis. The movement of my hands and my exaggeration presented by a drive of passion, along with my visual representative, kept the audience captive. I felt like a completely different person. By the end of the presentation I was sweaty, not by nervousness but because I left it all on the floor. I realized that the key to presenting with people is not getting their attention just by visual appeal. You need to let your heart pour out so that you can captivate their hearts, reach their souls. You can’t just be the center of attention, you need to give the audience attention, you need to talk to them. First and foremost, you can’t present without emotions. Anything you present should be built off of passion. As long as you can find a connection between yourself and the topic and exude your passion, you will keep the audience engaged.

Thanks to Nancy, Jesneel, Kayla, Leslie, and Oscar for their contributions!

(This is the last post in a three-part series. You can see Part One here and Part Two here .)

The new “question-of-the-week” is:

What was the best moment you ever had in the classroom?

In Part One , Jen Schwanke, Amy Sandvold, Anne Jenks, and Sarah Thomas shared their top moments. You can listen to a 10-minute conversation I had with them on my BAM! Radio Show . You can also find a list of, and links to, previous shows here. In Part Two , Meghan Everette, Jeryl-Ann Asaro, Jeffery Galle, and Kara Vandas shared their memories. I also included comments from readers.

Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected] . When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo .

Anyone whose question is selected for this weekly column can choose one free book from a number of education publishers.

Education Week has published a collection of posts from this blog, along with new material, in an e-book form. It’s titled Classroom Management Q&As: Expert Strategies for Teaching .

If you missed any of the highlights from the first six years of this blog, you can see a categorized list below. They don’t include ones from this current year, but you can find those by clicking on the “answers” category found in the sidebar.

This Year’s Most Popular Q&A Posts

Classroom Management Advice

Race & Gender Challenges

Implementing The Common Core

Best Ways To Begin The School Year

Best Ways To End The School Year

Student Motivation & Social Emotional Learning

Teaching Social Studies

Project-Based Learning

Using Tech In The Classroom

Parent Engagement In Schools

Teaching English Language Learners

Student Assessment

Brain-Based Learning

Reading Instruction

Writing Instruction

Education Policy Issues

Differentiating Instruction

Math Instruction

Science Instruction

Advice For New Teachers

Author Interviews

Entering The Teaching Profession

Administrator Leadership

Teacher Leadership

Relationships In Schools

Professional Development

Instructional Strategies

I am also creating a Twitter list including all contributors to this column .

Look for the next “question-of-the-week” in a few days.

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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Essay On My Experience in School As A Student

Through the lens of a student, this essay offers an insightful look into what it’s like to attend school. From tackling demanding coursework and balancing extracurricular to forging lasting friendships and creating memories that will stay with you forever – life as a student is both rewarding and challenging!

My Experience in School as a Student

1. Introduction

As a student, I have had to find ways to manage the unique academic pressures of school. From juggling assignments and exams each semester, there were always plenty of challenges during my educational journey; however, these also brought positive moments – like gaining new knowledge that has been essential for growing both personally and professionally.

2. Body Paragraphs

Navigating the social scene of school can be a tricky endeavor, as finding one’s place among peers is key. At first, I found it difficult to make friends and fit in; however, over time I was able to foster genuine connections with others that have since flourished into lasting relationships.

Through participation in extracurricular activities, I grew as a person and developed new abilities. From sports to clubs, these experiences taught me valuable skills while also allowing me the chance to have fun with friends . Of course, all this took effort; it was key for me to find harmony between my school work and extracurricular so that neither suffered from neglect!

My school career has given me more than just an education; it taught me the invaluable lessons of resilience and responsibility. I acquired new skills, like problem-solving and communicative proficiency, that have benefited my endeavors outside of academia. Amidst all those textbooks and presentations, there were some truly remarkable moments: field trips exploring unfamiliar terrain, passionate performances in plays alike to a professional stage production ,and ultimately watching dreams fulfilled as we crossed the graduation finish line together .

3. Conclusion

Through highs and lows, my time spent in school has been a journey of growth and learning. From mastering new skills to forging meaningful friendships, I have come away with invaluable life lessons that will stay with me forever. Looking back on it all now, I am truly thankful for the enriching experiences this chapter had to offer.

Hello! Welcome to my Blog StudyParagraphs.co. My name is Angelina. I am a college professor. I love reading writing for kids students. This blog is full with valuable knowledge for all class students. Thank you for reading my articles.

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My School Life Speech for Students and Children

My school life speech.

Memories have been the part and parcel of my life, much like everyone else. We remember the good days which have gone by and the bad ones as well. One of the good memories in life is definitely of their school life. In fact, it is considered to be the best phase of their lives by many. A student knows the importance of school life and they consider it the golden period of their life. And why should it not be? It is the first truly impactful thing in one’s life and the importance of it can never be disproved. Read my school life speech here.

A Learning Experience

My school life was surely a learning experience. The confidence and motivation it gave me, I couldn’t get anywhere else. Most importantly, it is the place where I recognized my uniqueness and individuality. My school life is no less than a treasure for me which gave me invaluable joys in life.

It is where I started by learning the alphabet and can now solve equations using the same. The warm welcome I received when I first started my school is something I will never forget. It is what also defines why my school life is so important to me.

My school life helped me learn about the things which were first mysterious to me. For instance, I got answers to many questions that were always at the back of my mind. It helped me gain knowledge and excel in studies. It is through my school life that I realized I have the talent of being a painter.

The things I have learned over the course of my school life will always stay with me forever. In fact, had it not been for my school life, I would’ve missed out on so many things. The knowledge, experience and memories, I owe it all to my incredible school life.

Get the Huge list of 100+ Speech Topics here

An Unforgettable Journey

It has indeed been an unforgettable journey which will remain in my heart forever. My school life was filled with lots of excitement and love. It made me understand the value of time and became a wonderful chapter in my life.

It is definitely the period where I found myself and learned a great deal about myself. My school life helped me learn dedication and self-actualization. My teachers motivated me and pushed me to achieve my best which is a big part of what I am today.

Most importantly, I earned friends here. Friends who will remain so for my entire lifetime. One of the greatest blessings of my school life has indeed been my friends. They were the ones who made this journey unforgettable and easy.

They helped me when I was down and elevated me when I was up. Moreover, they gave me strength and the courage to try out new things. My most memorable moments have been the ones spent with my friends. Other than that, I will remember the times we spent in the school canteen during recess. Each day was magical in my school life.

As we all know that the first and last day of our school life is the most memorable days. I entered my school weeping and even while leaving, I have the same tears in my eyes. The difference being the former was for not wanting to go and the latter is for not wanting to leave. They joys my school life has given are surely countless and will remain to be the best days of my life.

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What My School Means to Me: Essays from 3 High Schoolers

How students at an unusual school think—and write—about their experience.

In January, I visited the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, a public residential high school in Greenville. Artistically talented students from around the state spend two or three of their high school years in dedicated pursuit of their art—dance, drama, music, visual arts, or creative writing—along with their academic curriculum. I wrote about it here .

I asked Scott Gould, a creative writing teacher at the school, if he would ask his students to write me a short essay about their school. This was a wide-open request; I wanted to hear whatever perspective the students wanted to offer about their experience at the school. Among the essays the students submitted, here are three of my favorites, unedited and untouched. I’d like to share them with you.

The first is by Cameron Messinides, a junior from Camden, SC:

Long-Distance My mother called on Sunday to tell me our herd of goats, previously twenty-one strong, had been reduced to three. Two feral dogs squeezed through a hole in the pasture fence and killed anything they could catch. My parents and brother arrived during the massacre. My father jumped the fence to chase the dogs and shot the slower one with a pistol. On his way back, he heard a few scattered bleats and followed the sounds. In a gully, he found two billies and the last nanny. They had survived by shoving themselves into an abandoned chicken coop. Afterwards, my family walked among the carcasses--once white, now bloodstained and caked with rain-softened clay. We wanted to find life, my mother said. They gave up at four in the afternoon, and my father and brother made a pile of the bodies in the woods, to be buried later. Phone calls like this are common now. I've been in a boarding school since August, and every weekend my mother seems to find something new to break to me. It's not always bad. The weekend before, she called to tell me my brother enrolled in a birding retreat on the South Carolina coastline. And before that, she told me about the new color she picked for the living room walls. I'm still not used to this kind of communication. I miss immediacy. A year ago, when I still lived with them, I would know all this. She wouldn't have to tell me two or three days later. I'd like to say I've adjusted, but I haven't. The Wednesday after the goats died, she called again. She told me she couldn't shake what she had seen. She worried. Would the dogs' owner show up? How about the surviving dog? What if he came back? She hadn't been sleeping, and when she did, she dreamt of the bloody bodies, the torn sides of a billy, the kids crushed into the mud. I told her I knew how she felt, but I don't. I don't think it's possible. She sent me only one picture of the scene, a close-up of the surviving nanny's nose, ripped open by the dog's teeth. The rest I have to imagine. I imagine the dogs—Brown? Black?—chasing the herd across a winter field, hooves and paws tearing up dead grass. I imagine stumbling kids. I imagine the deputy who arrived a few hours later, gray-haired and perhaps a slow talker. None of it is certain. I still sleep easily. That's the cost of our separation: her anxieties don't travel the phone lines, and I can't make myself care. But I want to care. Some days I only want to be home, in the ranch-style with green siding and the stump in the front yard, which is the only remnant of the rotting oak my family cut down without me. I'd walk to the pasture with my father, take the shovel he offers me, and dig with him, shoulder-to-shoulder, a hole big enough to put all eighteen dead goats under three or four feet of orange clay. Then, we return home, and I sit in the living room next to my mother, tell her she can sleep now. Even hours into the night, after she has gone to bed, I sit, surrounded by lamplight and the color of the freshly-painted walls, three coats of Townhouse Tan, and listen to my brothers. They lie side-by-side on the hearth, birder's guidebook open before them, and take turns whispering names to each other: bobwhite, cardinal, tufted titmouse.

Next, by Shelley Hucks, a senior from Florence, SC:

Florentine In the heart of South Carolina, the railroad tracks converge over swampland, and fields are laced with cotton in the Dog Days of early August. The summer heat rolls in, unstoppable and rests between cypress knees and Spanish moss. The place can’t decide what to be: it’s one-third urban, one-third rural, and one-third swamp. The people seem to fall victim to a cycle of poverty, of being at sixteen what their parents were at eighteen, what their own children will be at fourteen. It’s not easy to get out. The place is called Florence, and I lived there for sixteen years before moving three hours away to study creative writing at a boarding school. In upstate South Carolina is the Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. It’s situated just off Greenville’s downtown area, with Reedy River Falls Park in the school’s backyard. Downtown Greenville is an arts community, with performing centers and theaters, galleries, art festivals and craft fairs, and restaurants willing to provide venues for writing club readings or jazz band performances. Not only is the atmosphere different, but the entire landscape: from my dorm room, I can see the hazy silhouette of mountains. At the Governor’s School, I’ve studied under excellent teachers. I’ve been exposed to new authors and genres, learned to be curious, analytical, to believe in the deliberation of every line of poetry and each line of dialogue in a short story. I’ve learned to put my personal life into artistic context with the help of professionals. I’ve learned to become aware. To make something strange, beautiful, something important. And, something particularly valuable to me because of my immense pride in my hometown, I’ve learned to appreciate a strong sense of setting, the way characters can function in so many complex ways. I’ve learned how to convey Florence in words. Governor’s School has provided me with the training to write about the content that I grew up with, the material I naturally have to offer. Every story I write takes place in some type of Florence, with its tangible sensation of heat trapped in the swamp, the perpetual presence of desperation. All of my characters are based on Florentines: single mothers I’ve met at work, the mysterious neighbor who passed out already-opened Halloween candy, or the woman who showed up to church drinking hairspray. Going home on breaks, or for the summer, has altered my perspective of Florence. Instead of seeing tragic figures living in a never-changing place, I see characters full of complexities living in a place as undecided as they are. Once, the chain-link fence covered in hubcaps was ugly. But now I see it as armor, protecting the women on the porch, who sip sweet tea and watch another fistfight unfold in the street, those men who wordlessly understand the ritual required to live here.

Finally, by Jackson Trice, a senior from Simpsonville, SC:

Outside the Lines I forget how strange my school sounds to the rest of the world until I leave it. On a card at the front desk inside a college admissions building, I am told to write the name of my high school. The full name, South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, does not fit on the dotted line, and I have to draw an arrow to the back of the card, and write the rest there. When I say my school’s name out loud to family members, it sounds prestigious, almost regal. But on the first day of school here it is made clear that I was chosen based on potential, and not necessarily talent. It’s this ego smashing that happens throughout junior year that creates the atmosphere of Governor’s School. You don’t get “good,” you just make progress. You are not special, you’ve just been given an excellent opportunity. I don’t know how much Governor’s School has changed me until I meet up with friends from my old school at a football game during fall break. I live in Simpsonville, South Carolina only a fifteen minute drive from downtown Greenville. Still, all these kids know about my school are rumors. “I’ve heard the dancers are super catty,” one says. “I’ve heard there’s, like, crazy amounts of sex.” I answer, “Sometimes,” and “That’s a good joke,” respectively. I try to explain to them that yes, I have real school work on top of art work. No, I can’t have a boy in my dorm room—I can’t even have Advil. Hey, hey, there are a few republicans. Like, two, maybe? I quickly realize that the magic of this school is lost as soon as I try and pin words to it. I stop coming home for Friday night football games. I choose, instead, to stay on campus. There are two creative writing classrooms that make up our department. Each is packed with books and long desks and computers. Only creative writers are allowed in these rooms, and there’s a giddiness in the seclusion of it. Monday through Thursday, we stay in the rooms after hours to get work done, but on Fridays, we kick our shoes off and run around to celebrate the weekend. We lay on the desks and talk to each other and laugh until our sides ache. We share secrets and stories and we belong to these rooms, to the spines of our favorite books on the bookshelves. We belong to each other. There are, of course, the nights when AP Chemistry keeps me up until four in the morning. There are the days where workshop is brutal, and I never want to write another word again. There are those scary moments where I feel that the pressure is too much and I fantasize about going to regular school. Maybe then, I could learn to drive, go to real high school parties, eat my mother’s delicious food anytime I wanted. But then there’s a drama student playing guitar in the academic stairwell. The sound of his voice spins up the flights of stairs, bouncing off walls in wistful echoes. It calms me. There’s hot chocolate at the Starbucks across the street, and there’s the beauty of that street, which is lined with small trees dressed up in white Christmas lights, illuminating the sidewalk. There’s my friend who sits with me inside Starbucks and talks about Rilke and Miley Cyrus with equal insight and tenacity. When I return, there’s a group of students outside the residential life building, blocking the doors. They’re all dancing, and singing to the beat of their clapping hands, stomping feet: “You have to dance to pass. Dance, dance, to pass.” And because I can sense that there is something wonderfully magical about this place, I feel that I must obey them. It is only necessary. I am a terrible dancer, but in this moment, I dance shamelessly. When the crowd is satisfied with my moves, they cheer, and finally part, letting me into the building, welcoming me home.

My Elementary Life

Let God's promises shine on your problems.

Miyerkules, Disyembre 28, 2011

• Grades 6-12
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The Big List of Essay Topics for High School (120+ Ideas!)

Ideas to inspire every young writer!

High school students generally do a lot of writing, learning to use language clearly, concisely, and persuasively. When it’s time to choose an essay topic, though, it’s easy to come up blank. If that’s the case, check out this huge round-up of essay topics for high school. You’ll find choices for every subject and writing style.

• Argumentative Essay Topics
• Cause-and-Effect Essay Topics
• Compare-Contrast Essay Topics
• Descriptive Essay Topics
• Expository and Informative Essay Topics
• Humorous Essay Topics

Literary Essay Topics

• Narrative and Personal Essay Topics
• Personal Essay Topics
• Persuasive Essay Topics

Research Essay Topics

Argumentative essay topics for high school.

When writing an argumentative essay, remember to do the research and lay out the facts clearly. Your goal is not necessarily to persuade someone to agree with you, but to encourage your reader to accept your point of view as valid. Here are some possible argumentative topics to try. ( Here are 100 more compelling argumentative essay topics. )

• The most important challenge our country is currently facing is … (e.g., immigration, gun control, economy)
• The government should provide free internet access for every citizen.
• All drugs should be legalized, regulated, and taxed.
• Vaping is less harmful than smoking tobacco.
• The best country in the world is …
• Parents should be punished for their minor children’s crimes.
• Should all students have the ability to attend college for free?
• Should physical education be part of the standard high school curriculum?

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• Schools should require recommended vaccines for all students, with very limited exceptions.
• Is it acceptable to use animals for experiments and research?
• Does social media do more harm than good?
• Capital punishment does/does not deter crime.
• What one class should all high schools students be required to take and pass in order to graduate?
• Do we really learn anything from history, or does it just repeat itself over and over?
• Are men and women treated equally?

Cause-and-Effect Essay Topics for High School

A cause-and-effect essay is a type of argumentative essay. Your goal is to show how one specific thing directly influences another specific thing. You’ll likely need to do some research to make your point. Here are some ideas for cause-and-effect essays. ( Get a big list of 100 cause-and-effect essay topics here. )

• Humans are causing accelerated climate change.
• Fast-food restaurants have made human health worse over the decades.
• What caused World War II? (Choose any conflict for this one.)
• Describe the effects social media has on young adults.

• How does playing sports affect people?
• What are the effects of loving to read?
• Being an only/oldest/youngest/middle child makes you …
• What effect does violence in movies or video games have on kids?
• Traveling to new places opens people’s minds to new ideas.
• Racism is caused by …

Compare-Contrast Essay Topics for High School

As the name indicates, in compare-and-contrast essays, writers show the similarities and differences between two things. They combine descriptive writing with analysis, making connections and showing dissimilarities. The following ideas work well for compare-contrast essays. ( Find 80+ compare-contrast essay topics for all ages here. )

• Public and private schools
• Capitalism vs. communism
• Monarchy or democracy
• Dogs vs. cats as pets

• Paper books or e-books
• Two political candidates in a current race
• Going to college vs. starting work full-time
• Working your way through college as you go or taking out student loans
• iPhone or Android
• Instagram vs. Twitter (or choose any other two social media platforms)

Descriptive Essay Topics for High School

Bring on the adjectives! Descriptive writing is all about creating a rich picture for the reader. Take readers on a journey to far-off places, help them understand an experience, or introduce them to a new person. Remember: Show, don’t tell. These topics make excellent descriptive essays.

• Who is the funniest person you know?
• What is your happiest memory?
• Tell about the most inspirational person in your life.
• Write about your favorite place.
• When you were little, what was your favorite thing to do?
• Choose a piece of art or music and explain how it makes you feel.
• What is your earliest memory?

• What’s the best/worst vacation you’ve ever taken?
• Describe your favorite pet.
• What is the most important item in the world to you?
• Give a tour of your bedroom (or another favorite room in your home).
• Describe yourself to someone who has never met you.
• Lay out your perfect day from start to finish.
• Explain what it’s like to move to a new town or start a new school.
• Tell what it would be like to live on the moon.

Expository and Informative Essay Topics for High School

Expository essays set out clear explanations of a particular topic. You might be defining a word or phrase or explaining how something works. Expository or informative essays are based on facts, and while you might explore different points of view, you won’t necessarily say which one is “better” or “right.” Remember: Expository essays educate the reader. Here are some expository and informative essay topics to explore. ( See 70+ expository and informative essay topics here. )

• What makes a good leader?
• Explain why a given school subject (math, history, science, etc.) is important for students to learn.
• What is the “glass ceiling” and how does it affect society?
• Describe how the internet changed the world.
• What does it mean to be a good teacher?

• Explain how we could colonize the moon or another planet.
• Discuss why mental health is just as important as physical health.
• Describe a healthy lifestyle for a teenager.
• Choose an American president and explain how their time in office affected the country.
• What does “financial responsibility” mean?

Humorous Essay Topics for High School

Humorous essays can take on any form, like narrative, persuasive, or expository. You might employ sarcasm or satire, or simply tell a story about a funny person or event. Even though these essay topics are lighthearted, they still take some skill to tackle well. Give these ideas a try.

• What would happen if cats (or any other animal) ruled the world?
• What do newborn babies wish their parents knew?
• Explain the best ways to be annoying on social media.
• Invent a wacky new sport, explain the rules, and describe a game or match.

• Imagine a discussion between two historic figures from very different times, like Cleopatra and Queen Elizabeth I.
• Retell a familiar story in tweets or other social media posts.
• Describe present-day Earth from an alien’s point of view.
• Choose a fictional character and explain why they should be the next president.
• Describe a day when kids are in charge of everything, at school and at home.

Literary essays analyze a piece of writing, like a book or a play. In high school, students usually write literary essays about the works they study in class. These literary essay topic ideas focus on books students often read in high school, but many of them can be tweaked to fit other works as well.

• Discuss the portrayal of women in Shakespeare’s Othello .
• Explore the symbolism used in The Scarlet Letter .
• Explain the importance of dreams in Of Mice and Men .
• Compare and contrast the romantic relationships in Pride and Prejudice .

• Dissect the allegory of Animal Farm and its relation to contemporary events.
• Interpret the author’s take on society and class structure in The Great Gatsby .
• Explore the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia.
• Discuss whether Shakespeare’s portrayal of young love in Romeo and Juliet is accurate.
• Explain the imagery used in Beowulf .

Narrative and Personal Essay Topics for High School

Think of a narrative essay like telling a story. Use some of the same techniques that you would for a descriptive essay, but be sure you have a beginning, middle, and end. A narrative essay doesn’t necessarily need to be personal, but they often are. Take inspiration from these narrative and personal essay topics.

• Describe a performance or sporting event you took part in.
• Explain the process of cooking and eating your favorite meal.
• Write about meeting your best friend for the first time and how your relationship developed.
• Tell about learning to ride a bike or drive a car.
• Describe a time in your life when you’ve been scared.

• Share the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you.
• Tell about a time when you overcame a big challenge.
• Tell the story of how you learned an important life lesson.
• Describe a time when you or someone you know experienced prejudice or oppression.
• Explain a family tradition, how it developed, and its importance today.
• What is your favorite holiday? How does your family celebrate it?
• Retell a familiar story from the point of view of a different character.
• Describe a time when you had to make a difficult decision.
• Tell about your proudest moment.

Persuasive Essay Topics for High School

Persuasive essays are similar to argumentative , but they rely less on facts and more on emotion to sway the reader. It’s important to know your audience, so you can anticipate any counterarguments they might make and try to overcome them. Try these topics to persuade someone to come around to your point of view. ( Discover 60 more intriguing persuasive essay topics here. )

• Do you think homework should be required, optional, or not given at all?
• Everyone should be vegetarian or vegan.
• What animal makes the best pet?
• Visit an animal shelter, choose an animal that needs a home, and write an essay persuading someone to adopt that animal.
• Who is the world’s best athlete, present or past?
• Should little kids be allowed to play competitive sports?
• Are professional athletes/musicians/actors overpaid?
• The best music genre is …

• Is democracy the best form of government?
• Is capitalism the best form of economy?
• Students should/should not be able to use their phones during the school day.
• Should schools have dress codes?
• If I could change one school rule, it would be …
• Is year-round school a good idea?

A research essay is a classic high school assignment. These papers require deep research into primary source documents, with lots of supporting facts and evidence that’s properly cited. Research essays can be in any of the styles shown above. Here are some possible topics, across a variety of subjects.

• Which country’s style of government is best for the people who live there?
• Choose a country and analyze its development from founding to present day.
• Describe the causes and effects of a specific war.
• Formulate an ideal economic plan for our country.
• What scientific discovery has had the biggest impact on life today?

• Analyze the way mental health is viewed and treated in this country.
• Explore the ways systemic racism impacts people in all walks of life.
• Defend the importance of teaching music and the arts in public schools.
• Choose one animal from the endangered species list, and propose a realistic plan to protect it.

What are some of your favorite essay topics for high school? Come share your prompts on the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, check out the ultimate guide to student writing contests .

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Sign Right Here: The Parents Pledging to Keep Kids Phone-Free

By committing not to give their children smartphones until an agreed-upon age, parents are hoping for strength in numbers when schoolyard pressure starts to build.

By Alyson Krueger

Kiley DeMarco recently attended Safety Night at her children’s public elementary school on Long Island. As she walked around different booths learning about how to protect her children from accidentally taking a cannabis gummy, about a local violence-prevention program, about how police officers would respond to an emergency on campus, one station caught her eye: A parent was asking other parents to take a pledge not to give their children smartphones until the end of eighth grade.

Ms. DeMarco has two children, one in kindergarten and one in first grade. But like many parents, she has already read books and research arguing that smartphones, and the social media apps on them, drastically increase anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts in teenagers.

Asking parents in the same school to commit to holding back phones until a certain age made sense to her. “It means there is no gray area,” she said. “There is a clear grade level when they get the phone.”

The idea of acting collectively, in lock step with other parents, made her feel more confident that she could keep her commitment. “It totally takes the pressure off of us as parents,” she said. “Down the road, when my kids start begging for phones, we can say we signed this pledge for our community and we are sticking to it.”

In schools and communities across the country, parents are signing documents pledging not to give their children smartphones until after middle school. The idea, organizers say, is that if parents take action together, their children are less likely to feel isolated because they aren’t the only ones without TikTok in their pockets.

Considering the prevalence of smartphone use among young people, it’s a bold step: Research from Common Sense , a nonprofit organization that provides technology reviews for families, shows that half of children in the United States own cellphones by age 11 — roughly fifth or sixth grade.

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U.S. public, private and charter schools in 5 charts

While children in the United States are guaranteed a free education at their local public school through state constitutional law, many families weigh other educational options for their children. Even before the coronavirus pandemic upended families’ usual routines, 36% of parents with K-12 students say they considered multiple schools for their child in the 2018-19 school year.

Students’ school environments vary widely – sometimes even for children living in the same community – depending on whether they attend traditional public, private or charter schools.

Here are some key distinctions between these three types of schools, based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). All figures reflect the most recent school year with data for all three types of schools.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to better understand how U.S. students’ school experiences might differ depending on whether they attend a traditional public school, a private school or a charter school.

Data comes from the Institute of Education Sciences’ National Center for Education Statistics . We used the most recent year in which data is available for all three school types.

Public, private and charter schools include those that teach students in kindergarten through 12th grade, unless otherwise specified. Racial categories used in this analysis include those who report being a single race and non-Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. National School Lunch Program data for 2021-22 is not available for Alaska.

What’s the difference between public, private and charter schools?

Until a few decades ago, parents with kids in elementary, middle or high school could choose to send them to either a traditional public school or a private one. More recently, many states have added a third option: public charter schools.

• Traditional public schools are taxpayer funded, are tuition free and must adhere to standards set by a school district or state board of education. These are the most common schooling option in the U.S.
• Private schools are known for being selective, religiously affiliated or sometimes both, and charge tuition rather than receive public money. In addition to tuition dollars, private schools may be funded through a combination of donations, endowments or grants from other private sources. As a result, they have more autonomy when it comes to curriculum and other academic standards. During the 2021-22 school year, about three-quarters of private school K-12 students (77%) attended a religiously affiliated school. The largest share went to Catholic schools, which accounted for 35% of all private school enrollment. Another 23% of private school students attended secular institutions.
• Public charter schools are legally allowed to operate in nearly all states, plus the District of Columbia, as of 2024. Like traditional public schools, these are taxpayer funded and tuition free. They’re open to any student who wishes to enroll. But unlike their traditional counterparts, agreements – or charters – with the state or local government allow them flexibility when it comes to curriculum and other standards. They also may turn students away due to space constraints.

Differences exist in the size and locale of each type of school, NCES data from the 2021-22 school year shows.

Traditional public schools tend to be larger than the other types. For instance, 39% of public schools enroll 500 or more students, compared with 32% of charter schools and 8% of private schools. And while 31% of public schools have fewer than 300 students, 44% of charter schools and 82% of private schools do.

Public schools are relatively evenly distributed across urban, suburban and rural areas, while most charter and private school campuses are located in either cities or suburbs.

(Traditional public and charter school environment data includes prekindergarten students, who account for less than 1% of enrollment at these types of schools.)

Where is enrollment growing and shrinking?

During the 2021-22 school year, the vast majority of the country’s roughly 54.6 million public, private and charter school students in pre-K through 12th grade (83%) attended traditional public schools. Another 10% were enrolled in private schools, and 7% went to public charter schools.

Enrollment numbers have shifted over the last decade:

• Traditional public school enrollment has declined. In fall 2011, about 47.2 million students attended public elementary, middle and secondary schools, accounting for 87% of all school enrollment. By fall 2021, the number of public school students dropped to about 45.4 million, resulting in a small drop in public schools’ share of total enrollment.
• The popularity of charter schools has grown. Minnesota became the first state to pass legislation allowing charter schools in 1991. In the last 10 years alone, enrollment has risen from about 2.1 million students in fall 2011 to nearly 3.7 million in fall 2021, an increase from 4% to 7% of total enrollment.
• Private school enrollment has held relatively steady. Private school students have consistently made up about 10% of school enrollment, with numbers that have fluctuated from a 10-year low of fewer than 5.3 million in 2011 to a peak of almost 5.8 million in 2015.

How does enrollment look at the state level?

Nationwide, the vast majority of students in pre-K through 12th grade attend traditional public schools – but shares vary somewhat from state to state. In Wyoming, for example, nearly all students (97%) attend public school, while 45% do in D.C.

The states with the highest percentages of public school enrollment include some of those with the lowest population density . In addition to Wyoming, West Virginia (95%), Montana (93%), Kansas and Alaska (91% each) round out the top five states by share of public school enrollment.

In most states, students are more likely to attend a private school than a charter school. Charter school students make up a larger share of enrollment than private school students in just 12 states and D.C. (Data is unavailable for seven states because they did not have any charter schools or legislation allowing them in fall 2021.)

Among the places where students are the least likely to attend traditional public schools:

• D.C. has the highest share of charter school students, at 36%. Just 45% of K-12 students there attend traditional public schools. Another 19% attend private schools.
• D.C. and Hawaii have the largest percentage of students in private schools, at 19% each. In Hawaii, another 76% of students are enrolled in public school, and 6% are enrolled in charter schools.

How do student demographics vary by school type?

Charter schools had the most racial and ethnic diversity during the 2021-22 school year. Hispanic students make up the largest share of enrollment there (36%), followed by White (29%), Black (24%) and Asian American students (4%).

In contrast, 47% of traditional public school students and 65% of private school students are White. Smaller shares are Hispanic, Black or Asian.

Differences also exist by household income level. Nearly all public and charter schools are part of the National School Lunch Program , which provides free or reduced-price meals to students based on family income.

In general, charter school students are more likely than public school kids to qualify for the program. For instance, 31% of charter students and 21% of traditional public school students are enrolled at a school where more than three-quarters of their peers qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Because a relatively small share of private schools participate in this program, 2021-22 data is not available for them. However, research shows that private school enrollment rates are highest among upper-income families .

What does the teaching staff look like at each type of school?

More than 4.2 million full- and part-time teachers worked at public, private and charter schools during the 2020-21 school year, the most recent year with available data. That year, about 3.5 million teachers (83%) taught at traditional public schools. Another 466,000 (11%) worked in private schools, and 251,000 (6%) taught at public charters.

The teaching force in each environment varies based on race and ethnicity, age, experience, and educational attainment.

• Charter school teachers are the most racially and ethnically diverse: 69% of charter school teachers are White, compared with about eight-in-ten at both traditional public and private schools. Charters also employ the largest shares of Black and Hispanic teachers.
• Private school teachers skew slightly older, while charter school teachers are the youngest: About 17% of private school teachers are ages 60 and older, compared with 8% in public schools and 7% in charter schools. And in charter schools, 21% of teachers are under 30, compared with 14% each in public and private schools.
• Charters employ a larger share of teachers with fewer years of experience: For instance, 13% of both private and charter school teachers have fewer than three years of experience, compared with 7% of public school teachers. And 43% of charter school teachers have between three and nine years of experience, compared with 28% each in public and private schools.
• Public school teachers are the most likely to have a master’s degree: 52% of public school teachers have a master’s degree, compared with about 41% each in charter and private schools.

Katherine Schaeffer is a research analyst at Pew Research Center .

A quarter of U.S. teachers say AI tools do more harm than good in K-12 education

Most americans think u.s. k-12 stem education isn’t above average, but test results paint a mixed picture, about 1 in 4 u.s. teachers say their school went into a gun-related lockdown in the last school year, about half of americans say public k-12 education is going in the wrong direction, what public k-12 teachers want americans to know about teaching, most popular.

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Moscow , city, capital of Russia , located in the far western part of the country. Since it was first mentioned in the chronicles of 1147, Moscow has played a vital role in Russian history. It became the capital of Muscovy ( the Grand Principality of Moscow ) in the late 13th century; hence, the people of Moscow are known as Muscovites . Today Moscow is not only the political centre of Russia but also the country’s most populous city and its industrial, cultural, scientific, and educational capital. For more than 600 years Moscow also has been the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church .

The capital of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) until the union dissolved in 1991, Moscow attracted world attention as a centre of communist power; indeed, the name of the seat of the former Soviet government and the successor Russian government, the Kremlin (Russian: Kreml), was a synonym for Soviet authority. The dissolution of the U.S.S.R. brought tremendous economic and political change, along with a significant concentration of Russia’s wealth, into Moscow. Area 414 square miles (1,035 square km). Pop. (2010) city, 11,738,547; (2020 est.) city, 12,678,079.

If St. Petersburg is Russia’s “window on Europe,” Moscow is Russia’s heart. It is an upbeat, vibrant, and sometimes wearisome city. Much of Moscow was reconstructed after it was occupied by the French under Napoleon I in 1812 and almost entirely destroyed by fire. Moscow has not stopped being refurbished and modernized and continues to experience rapid social change . Russia’s Soviet past collides with its capitalist present everywhere in the country, but nowhere is this contrast more visible than in Moscow. Vladimir Ilich Lenin ’s Mausoleum remains intact , as do many dreary five-story apartment buildings from the era of Nikita Khrushchev ’s rule (the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s), yet glitzy automobiles and Western-style supermarkets, casinos, and nightclubs are equally visible. Many Orthodox churches, as well as some synagogues and mosques, have been restored, Moscow’s novel theatres have reclaimed leadership in the dramatic arts, and traditional markets have been revived and expanded. These markets, which under the Soviets were known as kolkhoz (collective-farm) markets and sold mainly crafts and produce, are now more sophisticated retail establishments.

It has become habitual to compare Moscow with St. Petersburg , its rival and the former (1712–1918) capital of Russia. While St. Petersburg has absorbed western European influences, Moscow is viewed as a traditional Russian city. Unlike its rival, Moscow has a well-defined city centre marked by the Kremlin . Other characteristics of Moscow are its physical layout in radial spokes and rings that have been extended over time, its hodgepodge of architectural styles, and its historical buildings that were mainly built by Russian architects. Moscow’s buildings were predominantly wooden until the 1920s, when brick and stone came into use.

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I thought my son loved our family trips. Now I see I was just being selfish

My son had disappeared. While I strained to catch every third sentence from our Beefeater tour guide at the Tower of London, Wells, my 8-year-old, had walked off. Finally I looked down and spotted him sitting outside our scrum of tourists. “Mom, I can’t hear anything he’s saying,” Wells stage-whispered. My suggestion to “just scooch closer” was met with a dramatic eye roll. “I’ll just wait over here until the tour’s over, Mom,” he said, stomping off. 

“He’ll thank me for this later,” I thought as I spun around and tried to rejoin the tour, smug in the knowledge that I was fulfilling a dream to show my boy one of western civilization’s most important historic sites.

Flash forward three months later: Like a Pop-Tart sprung from a toaster, I watch Wells fly above the Caribbean Sea. My husband has just launched him from an inflatable blob bobbing off the shore of Bay Gardens Beach Resort & Spa on the northwest corner of Saint Lucia. Nearby, on a floating trampoline, a pair of elementary school-aged sisters from Rochester, New York — my son’s new best friends — cheer his aerial acrobatics. He Evil Knievels his way along the resort’s massive floating Splash Island waterpark, then races back to the girls, the three falling into a heap of giggles. 

I have never seen my only child so happy on vacation . 

That’s when it suddenly struck me: Maybe I’ve been approaching the whole family travel thing all wrong.

I’ve always dismissed amusement-related trip activities in favor of educationally enriching attractions, believing I was expanding my son’s horizons. Give me that Tower of London tour over go-karts or Dave & Busters any day. Yet, in the bright light reflected off the West Indies sand, it all seemed so clear; this instinct primarily satisfies my own travel preferences. I thought I was unveiling the riches of the world to my kiddo. But really, the only wanderlust bucket list I’ve cared about is my own.

I thought I was unveiling the riches of the world to my kiddo. But really, the only wanderlust bucket list I’ve cared about is my own.

In my experience, this is all too easy to do as the mother of an only child. In many ways, having an only — a booming demographic that accounts for the fastest-growing family unit in the United States  — is a boon for travel enthusiasts. From a math perspective alone, the cost benefits are overwhelming. Just ask any family of five who has flown internationally lately. 

My husband and I have used this to our advantage by taking our little trio on trips from Burlington, Vermont, to the Scottish Highlands and stopping at every historic site, museum or nerdy literary landmark on the way. My husband is a high school history teacher who never met a historic plaque he didn’t pull over to read. I grew up in a family of thespians who spent hours doing community theater. We’re like the poster kids for liberal arts education. So naturally, when we travel, we follow culturally stimulating itineraries. For instance, when we took our son on his first international trip to England last summer, we bypassed the London Eye, the city’s enormous Ferris wheel that Wells begged us to ride, to expose him to “Hamilton the Musical” (second row, center seats, of course). Did he cry during the second act because he’d lost a souvenir in the lobby during intermission? Yes. Did I feel it was more important for him to power through his snuffles to experience a once-in-a-lifetime West End-caliber production? I did. 

And our old-timey all-the-timey journey didn’t end there. We made him climb Hadrian’s Wall. We hiked in the rain to Lindisfarne Castle and visited more battlefields than I care to recall. Don’t get me wrong, our son is a trooper. After a rock star usher at “Hamilton” recovered said souvenir after curtain, Wells told us he loved the play. He showed genuine amusement at most of the sites we took him to. That’s all that any parent could want: to see their child share and appreciate some of their interests. But I’m beginning to realize that in our enthusiasm to raise our own young Indiana Jones, a very privileged position — one might say the very definition of #firstworldproblems that I try to never take for granted — we may have overlooked opportunities for our boy to participate in more good old-fashioned holiday fun.

Take Disney World. When my husband and I found out that I was pregnant, we made a pact that we’d save up our pennies to take our kid abroad long before we succumbed to the magnetic pull of the legendary house of mouse.

Take Disney World . I shudder to type those words. When my husband and I found out that I was pregnant, we made a pact that we’d save up our pennies to take our kid abroad long before we succumbed to the magnetic pull of the legendary house of mouse. Sure, the thought of the crowds and long lines is off-putting, but it’s the concept of spending precious vacation days on amusement rides when that time could be spent seeing the Parthenon or, say, Venice that genuinely haunts us. It  is  a small world, after all, and we only have so much time to see it! Nope, no D-word for us. 

Try explaining that policy to a third grader, though. Kids talk, and it wasn’t long into our son’s elementary school career before he had heard about the most magical place on Earth. No surprise, the stories his friends relayed of their visits to the Florida amusement park sounded like, well, the most magical place on Earth! Now, picture me, his loving mother, attempting to throw shade on his Tinkerbell pixie dust-laced dreams. I tried very hard to make a compelling argument that exploring the Tuscan countryside (our travel plan for this summer) was far more exciting than any stomach-churning trip up Space Mountain. 

“Yes, honey, I know spinning on a high-speed roller coaster in the dark sounds fun, but what if you could see the Italian island where Napoleon was imprisoned instead?”

My boy wasn’t buying it. And maybe it’s time I stop deluding myself, too. Even I had a laugh launching myself into the ocean off Splash Island last November. No, I didn’t learn anything about the biodiversity of the surrounding ocean while flinging myself into the sky like a maniacally laughing, sunburnt Raggedy Ann. Nor did the hours spent listening to my son holler, “Mom, watch!” while he climbed a two-story inflatable iceberg illuminate Saint Lucia’s rich past or cultural heritage. But the saltwater-sprayed bounce-a-thon did result in a heady endorphin rush rarely available in my daily life, one we were at leisure to enjoy as a family; an experience that was made that much sweeter by the smiles and appreciative hugs I got from my son for being a good sport and answering in the affirmative again and again what we all know is childhood’s most fleeting question: “Mom, will you play with me?”

So, will I be marching Wells through Florence’s cathedrals and Lucca’s Roman walls this summer? Of course. But when we get back, I am reconsidering a potential August trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I hear the theme park’s 46-year-old Loch Ness Monster roller coaster will reopen this summer. Maybe we can squeeze in a lesson on Pictish mythology after the 100-foot plummet.

Kinsey Gidick is a freelance journalist based in central Virginia. Her work has been published in the  New York Times ,  Washington Post ,  Travel + Leisure ,  Garden & Gun ,  BBC Travel ,  Atlas Obscura ,  Roads & Kingdoms , and Anthony Bourdain's  Explore Parts Unknown , among others.

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Time in Elektrostal , Moscow Oblast, Russia now

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• Sunset: 21:11
• Day length: 17h 31m
• Solar noon: 12:26
• The current local time in Elektrostal is 26 minutes ahead of apparent solar time.

Elektrostal on the map

• Location: Moscow Oblast, Russia
• Latitude: 55.79. Longitude: 38.46
• Population: 144,000

Best restaurants in Elektrostal

• #1 Tolsty medved - Steakhouses food
• #2 Ermitazh - European and japanese food
• #3 Pechka - European and french food

Find best places to eat in Elektrostal

• Best vegetarian restaurants in Elektrostal
• Best seafood restaurants in Elektrostal
• Best sushi restaurants in Elektrostal

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Geographic coordinates of Elektrostal, Moscow Oblast, Russia

City coordinates

Coordinates of Elektrostal in decimal degrees

Coordinates of elektrostal in degrees and decimal minutes, utm coordinates of elektrostal, geographic coordinate systems.

WGS 84 coordinate reference system is the latest revision of the World Geodetic System, which is used in mapping and navigation, including GPS satellite navigation system (the Global Positioning System).

Geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) define a position on the Earth’s surface. Coordinates are angular units. The canonical form of latitude and longitude representation uses degrees (°), minutes (′), and seconds (″). GPS systems widely use coordinates in degrees and decimal minutes, or in decimal degrees.

Latitude varies from −90° to 90°. The latitude of the Equator is 0°; the latitude of the South Pole is −90°; the latitude of the North Pole is 90°. Positive latitude values correspond to the geographic locations north of the Equator (abbrev. N). Negative latitude values correspond to the geographic locations south of the Equator (abbrev. S).

Longitude is counted from the prime meridian ( IERS Reference Meridian for WGS 84) and varies from −180° to 180°. Positive longitude values correspond to the geographic locations east of the prime meridian (abbrev. E). Negative longitude values correspond to the geographic locations west of the prime meridian (abbrev. W).

UTM or Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system divides the Earth’s surface into 60 longitudinal zones. The coordinates of a location within each zone are defined as a planar coordinate pair related to the intersection of the equator and the zone’s central meridian, and measured in meters.

Elevation above sea level is a measure of a geographic location’s height. We are using the global digital elevation model GTOPO30 .

Elektrostal , Moscow Oblast, Russia