Active listening is a key skill for school leaders, especially when faced with the need to mediate complex or volatile issues. Consultants Ron Williamson and Barbara Blackburn describe 5 barriers to effective listening and 10 tips to help every leader become more successful.
Middle grades teacher Mona Iehl wants students to be able to “see themselves in math” and be represented in the work they do together. Learn how she uses the images and words of Black Mathematicians to empower and inspire her classes to welcome and master math challenges.
Frank Buck revisits the Wild West movie days in his quest to help educators defy the daily deluge of unsolicited or redundant email that steals their time. Get the details on how to circle the wagons, energize the pony express, and deny those emails entry to your inbox.
Educators are exhausted and under attack, and faculty and staff need school leaders to take their frontline challenges seriously, write Ron Williamson and Barbara Blackburn. The leadership authors detail seven steps principals can take to offer real help and support.
Rebecca Crockett values the work Geraldine Woods has done in creating Sentence. A Period-to-Period Guide to Building Better Readers and Writers and the expertise she shares with teachers less experienced with this method of teaching. Destined to be an oft-referenced book!
Anna M. Quinzio-Zafran and Elizabeth A. Wilkins bring together up-to-the-minute advice from award-winning educators to guide new and veteran teachers alike as they navigate the school system, form relationships with colleagues, and connect with students and families.
In an earlier MiddleWeb post, professor and former middle grades ELA teacher Jason DeHart argued on behalf of teaching with graphic novels, with numerous examples. Here he delves deeper into a single text from the Kid Beowulf series, detailing his own instructional strategies.
Students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE) benefit when teachers consider how SLIFEs have learned previously – most often informally in their family culture. Tan Huynh shares ways educators can blend a formal literacy focus with the relational learning they’re used to.
In classes like social studies and science, students are expected to do complex nonfiction reading. How can we ensure they’ll process and retain the content for future use? History/ELA teacher Megan Kelly shares fun activities to help kids think more deeply about information text.
We may believe our students who are struggling – whether they have special needs, are English learners or are otherwise challenged – simply cannot learn at high levels. By exploring the meaning of educational “rigor,” Barbara Blackburn and Bradley Witzel show how they can.
