We asked teaching consultant Annette Breaux to write about three of the most pressing questions new teachers have in the weeks (and months) before they open their classroom doors to students for the first time. Here’s her advice on discipline, classroom management, and daily procedures.
Articles / Teaching the Whole Adolescent
by MiddleWeb · Published 06/07/2015 · Last modified 11/29/2019
After a decade teaching third and fourth graders, Patti Grayson ventured into middle school this past year. She has come away from her first year in the middle with several gleanings about the most effective ways to work with unpredictable, sensitive tweens.
Formative assessment is good practice, as every teacher knows, says tech consultant Curtis Chandler, but finding time to measure individual student understanding is challenging. Chandler offers seven apps that can make the practice both routine and engaging.
As the year comes to a close, wouldn’t you actually like to be able to savor it? Frank Buck has 3 suggestions that can help leaders overcome May stress through organization. Try them now; implement for years to come. You and your school will be glad you did.
Since his fast-growing district shifted to a year round schedule, teacher and PD consultant Bill Ferriter finds himself “more focused and productive as a practitioner,” more rested, and more able to pursue professional opportunities beyond the classroom.
Teacher Cheryl Mizerny is not anti-tech, just anti-bad pedagogy – the kind that crops up when the garnish of tech overshadows the deep learning that can happen when teaching is “brain based, not screen-based.” Make the app fit the lesson, she says, not the other way around.
Seventh grade teacher Kami Spampinato uses four kid-savvy strategies to get her students to “buy in” to reading complex texts. In this post, former MS educator Anne Vilen of Expeditionary Learning summarizes each technique and shares supporting EL videos.
Every day news images flood our print publications, digital spaces and social media apps. Why do some become iconic and unforgettable? Media literacy expert Frank Baker suggests ways that students can explore this question through close reading & research.
Kate Messner was a veteran middle grades teacher when she began to write books for children and often shared work in progress with students as part her teaching process. This article includes advice from her new book for educators who want to be authors.
In today’s budget-conscious and time-stressed schools, virtual field trips are a great way to excite students without leaving the classroom. Teaching expert Barbara Blackburn shares a sample lesson idea and some good places to hunt for relevant field trips.
