Asian and Pacific Islander Month / Resources
by Susan Curtis · Published 04/10/2024 · Last modified 04/30/2024
For over 40 years the US Congress has recognized the heritage of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during May. Federal agencies and nonprofits provide resources to bring the culture and history of AAPIs to the classroom. For an overview visit this MiddleWeb roundup.
Stephanie Farley was a reluctant adventurer 30 years ago when she took a teaching job “until something better” came along. To her surprise, she discovered a career that has given her the gifts of meaning, mastery and connection – “a powerfully engaging, ever-evolving vocation.”
Academic success relies on students taking charge of their learning. To achieve that goal, kids must learn to organize and study effectively. G/T Facilitator Sharon Ratliff shares strategies she uses to introduce and implant essential study skills in the middle school years.
All students can learn how to pick up the pieces after they face adversity, disappointment, loss, or trauma and go on. They need our guidance to find healthy ways to move forward. Debbie Silver offers six strategies educators can use to create classrooms that foster resiliency.
Marilyn Pryle’s five crucial questions help students become critical readers in the Age of Disinformation as they learn to look more deeply into any text, in any form, and see the influences around it, the voices and sponsors, the craft and rhetoric, the intent and message.
Dina Strasser has noticed a tangible impact when her classroom door is closed on a regular basis, as security suggests. “I am isolated, physically and socially.” Students are less likely to wander in. Teachers to wave or stop by. So she’s leaving it locked but open. Defiantly.
Students need to know what to expect when they enter our classrooms, writes teacher Kelly Owens. Consistency on the front end paves the way for more student autonomy and engagement throughout the lesson. Three tips can help teachers achieve “the loyalty to learning we want!”
There’s an immense difference between rote memorization and giving students tools that allow them to work flexibly and thoughtfully with numbers, writes Kathie Palmieri. When kids learn number sense and can use multiple strategies, they have choice in how they solve problems.
Making Questions Count / Self-Assessment
by MiddleWeb · Published 02/27/2024 · Last modified 04/16/2024
Not all students arrive in our classrooms, regardless of grade level, with the ability to self-question. We can support the development of this capacity with two strategies: providing prompts and stems, and including self-questioning in daily learning targets. See examples!
Teachers become more effective when they embrace learning for all kinds of kids, including those who are both profoundly gifted and neurodiverse. Teaching coach Stephanie Farley shares ways to use choice, positive emotion, and novelty to engage and challenge every learner.
