As Kasey Short enters her 20th year as a middle grades educator, she’s been thinking a lot about some lessons she’s learned that now help her build a strong foundation in the early weeks of each school year. See how her tips for beginning teachers match up with your own.
2024 is another fantastic year for new middle grades books with many more titles to come in the next few months. ELA teacher Kasey Short introduces titles for school and class libraries that are sure to appeal to your students. Fantasy, immigration, science, WW II, and more!
In Teaching Beyond the Timeline, China Harvey and Lisa Herzig show how to make history more relevant, exciting and connected to the present by using thematic history that integrates chronology. Sarah Cooper enthusiastically recommends sharing the book and its friendly intricacy.
Hispanic Heritage Month / Resources
by Susan Curtis · Published 07/22/2024 · Last modified 08/18/2024
For over 50 years the United States has commemorated the achievements of Hispanic and Latinx Americans as well as learned about the discrimination they have faced over centuries. MiddleWeb’s resource collection can help students learn more about this rich and complex heritage.
Taking time to reflect on current practices and explore fresh ideas can be invigorating for educators and provide students with new opportunities. Teacher leader Kasey Short shares ways we can plan for informal professional learning this summer and during the school year.
If we can teach kids to think about their futures with more specificity and positivity, then we can have a significant impact on not only their self-image but their well-being – critical work in our anxiety-ridden, social media-saturated times, writes teacher leader Stephanie Farley.
As the school year ends, it’s easy for students to lose their momentum. One way to help ease students into summer mode, but still sneak in some math review, is to find engaging activities. Kathleen Palmieri shares favorites from Jo Boaler that can also be saved for fall warm-ups.
Whether school leaders network using traditional methods like books and conferences or virtual solutions using social media tools and platforms, it’s vital to be a learner and to model learning in your organization. Ron Williamson and Barb Blackburn explore the PLN option.
The world and our students are constantly changing. Adding modern connections to classic texts can engage readers by helping them relate to and understand the universal themes and messages in these works. ELA teacher Kasey Short shares examples of connection and some favorite titles.
When we have students watch us write in our teacher notebooks about what we’re reading, we not only share our expectations for their notebook-keeping, we give them a mental model for writing critically and analytically about what they read, says literacy leader Laura Robb.
