Our chief guideline is the same for articles, book reviews and interviews: Tell our visitors what YOU would want to know if you were the reader, not the writer, and you are looking for ideas, practical tips, inspiration and collegiality.
STEM By Design / STEM Teaching Practices
by Anne Jolly · Published 12/16/2013 · Last modified 11/16/2019
Student responses to a recent question posted by the NYT Learning Network confirm that coaching is the best teaching style for STEM subjects, writes science educator Anne Jolly in her MiddleWeb blog STEM by Design.
Whether it’s Grandma’s biscotti recipe or a lesson plan, adding new ingredients (like digital tools) shouldn’t distract from the end result you seek, says teacher and technology consultant Mike Fisher. “The modern mindset is really about willingness, not digital knowledge. It’s about trying new things and exploring new tools and avenues for instruction WITH the students rather than FOR the students.”
The Killgallons’ sentence-composing approach to grammar instruction, bolstered by “a mountaion” of model sentences and mentor texts, could be a valuable tool if teachers would like to see less hesitation and more acrobatics in their students’ writing, says reviewer Jenny Ovadia.
For the 2013 EduBlog Awards we’re defining “best” as among the “especially interesting & attention-worthy.”
Literacy expert Sarah Tantillo shares an essential strategy in helping students become close readers, with help from Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Media literacy consultant Frank W. Baker considers some of the ways that media arts intersect with STEM and present STEAM learning opportunities.
Common Core / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 11/04/2013 · Last modified 11/28/2019
Special educator Elizabeth Stein has championed higher Common Core standards for her inclusion students but is beginning to question the relentless pace.
Middle school advocates have long championed thematic curriculum design & project learning. Now is the time to actually do it, say Nancy Doda & Mark Springer.
Ariel Sacks says that by teaching novels “whole” she has been able to ignite interest in books, deepen discussions & improve reading comprehension. In this informative article, Sacks shares her rationale, her method, and reactions from her middle school students.
