Teaching and learning in grades 4-8

Teaching Assertiveness to Counter Meanness

In response to kids just being mean or in instances of downright bullying, teaching children to be calmly assertive can help. Rita Platt shares strategies that students can use to stand up for themselves and others – learning the difference between tattling and reporting.

A Comprehensive Guide to Badges and Portfolios

David Niguidula goes beyond theory and provides a multitude of authentic examples, practical applications, and thoughtful considerations for the development and use of digital badges and portfolios to boost student mastery, writes teacher leader Jennifer Savery.

Selecting Digital Tools for Literacy Coaching

Many books focus on effective literacy coaching, and others are specific to technology integration in education. Stephanie Affinito’s Literacy Coaching: Transforming Teaching and Learning with Digital Tools and Technology fills a gap by merging the two, writes Shannon Russell.

Want Classroom Equity? Seek and Value Diversity

Low expectations and inequitable classrooms persist in many of America’s public schools, writes Regie Routman, author of Literacy Essentials: Engagement, Excellence and Equity for All Learners. Here’s what Routman believes educators must do to address this moral dilemma.

Quick Tips for New T’s – Managing Your Time

If you are a beginning teacher, wondering about time, survival guide author Julia Thompson has created a collection of quick tips that can help you maximize every minute at school, minimize the time you spend working at home, and keep from sabotaging your own strategies.

Engaging Math Students: Compete or Collaborate?

Math students who prefer competition do a good job of creating it for themselves, writes author-educator Jerry Burkhart. On the other hand, kids who prefer collaboration and reflection need teachers to create an environment that supports their mathematical learning.

How Laughter Can Lead to Better Learning

What if students could find a way to overcome their fear of speaking, learn storytelling, and become more confident public speakers? Teaching these skills to middle graders using stand up comedy can lay the groundwork for greater success, writes actor-educator Kevin Flynn.

Making Sure All Kids Can Access Books

Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp’s “Game Changer! Book Access for All Kids” is a must-read, writes principal, NBCT and veteran school librarian Rita Platt. Its 10 short chapters are power-packed with research, stories and strategies for building a strong reading culture.

The Back to School Faculty Meeting (a Novel Excerpt)

Novels about school are rare and often feature a lone heroic teacher defying the odds. Instead, NBCT Roxanna Elden’s fictional account of life at a struggling urban Texas school – “Adequate Yearly Progress” – is funny, often moving, and always authentic. Read Chapter 2.