Category: Articles

Four Tools to Help Gamify Your Classroom

The first step toward gamifying your classroom can be as simple as taking the “ew” out of “review” with these helpful game-oriented apps, selected and described by tech integration expert Curtis Chandler. Included: Quizizz, Kahoot, Classcraft and Class Dojo.

Nurturing a Culture of Teacher Inquiry

Kevin Hodgson joins two middle level colleagues to share a cross-school collaboration supported by the National Writing Project that engaged teachers in investigating how to use writing strategies and inquiry learning with students in all content areas.

3 Organizing Tips for a Great School Year

Author and former middle level school leader Frank Buck spends his professional life helping fellow educators manage themselves and their work in ways that maximize performance and benefit students. Buck shares three practical ideas to organize the new school year.

How to Excel as a New Middle Level Principal

New principals can fall prey to “task overload.” What’s more, the transition from working with teachers as peers to working as a supervisor can be disorienting. Experts Ron Williamson & Barbara Blackburn share advice in six critical areas of the new job.

Powerful Iconic Images Can Educate & Inform

Iconic images from popular culture can raise consciousness about issues, many of them tied to health and gender awareness, writes media literacy consultant Frank W. Baker. He offers memorable examples and ties this phenomenon to teaching visual literacy.

Mathematical Fiction: A Novel Look at Numbers

Children’s writer and systems engineer Robert Black, who is finishing his third mathematical novel for middle schoolers, describes the challenges of making math stories engaging and offers tips for students and teachers interested in the new fiction genre.