Math class brings certain challenges and requires special attention when forming a community, writes middle grades teacher Mona Iehl. “Many of my students come with negative math experiences and associations. My goal is that each student feels a sense of safety and belonging.”
Just like adults, our students will respond better when we offer an empathetic response to their situation. School psychologist Katelyn Oellerich relates the story of “Justin” as an example, highlights the Restorative Conversations process, and shares some helpful resources.
Self-evaluation does not happen magically, writes author and literacy consultant Lynne Dorfman. Students need to learn to reflect through practice. Dorfman shares some of her favorite ways to help students see the value of metacognition, goal-setting and assessing progress.
Want to keep content from last year’s digital classes while at the same time close down your prior students’ access? Follow along as NBCT Kathleen Palmieri shows how she’s organizing her files and folders to prep a fresh Google Classroom space as the new school year begins.
When we are passionate and persistent advocates for middle graders and get them aboard the invisible elevator of agency, we can help them reach levels they once thought unachievable – and show the world what young adolescents can achieve, says middle school principal Dru Tomlin.
Kelly Owens saw that polished texts didn’t model the struggles writers go through. “It was like showing kids an elite Olympian’s performance and asking them to replicate it.” With her ‘Draft Along’ activity, students now experience the wrinkly reality of the writing process.
What does instructional rigor look like in the middle school classroom? Teaching consultant and bestselling author Barbara Blackburn offers examples of lessons that reach for the top of Bloom’s and DoK – in social studies, math, electives, the arts, English/ELA, and science.
“My collaborative approach to discipline may sound too good to be true. But it’s still working, eight years into the experiment,” writes David Finkle. “Some classes respond immediately; some need time to adjust to the paradigm shift. But in the end, it nearly always works.”
Most students at Laurie Lichtenstein’s middle school were F2F all year, but masked and isolated in small classroom pods as teachers moved about. It was hard, but as time passed teachers found ways to reduce isolation, build community, and let kids have lots of time to play.
Using rough drafts and revision in middle school math class can reduce anxiety and boost math learning. Kathleen Taylor and Amanda Jansen relate an action research project aimed at shifting lessons from a process of task completion to one of continuous, ongoing learning.
