It's Not Easy Being Tween / Social-Emotional Learning
by Cheryl Mizerny · Published 11/06/2017 · Last modified 12/15/2019
Off to a great start, Cheryl Mizerny continues to promote a Year of Kindness among her 6th graders and her school. Here she looks ahead and describes plans for the rest of the year. You’ll find lots of resources to promote kindness among your own students and community.
Shirley McPhillipsβ non-traditional book about teaching poetry is both insightful and fun to read, says retired principal and former California senior poet laureate Mary Langer Thompson. She predicts teachers will not be able to read for long without writing poetry themselves.
Noting that high quality classroom discussion fosters content learning and critical thinking, social studies teacher Michael Yell reports that Challenging Learning through Dialogue is a powerful resource to help make middle grades discussion more thoughtful, engaging, and real.
Close Reading the Media / News Literacy
by Frank Baker · Published 09/26/2017 · Last modified 11/16/2019
No one knows for sure whether there will be actual war with North Korea, but talk about the potential conflict abounds on TV and in social media. Media literacy expert Frank W. Baker calls on teachers to help students learn how to identify trustworthy news sources now.
It's Not Easy Being Tween / Social-Emotional Learning
by Cheryl Mizerny · Published 09/25/2017 · Last modified 11/25/2019
Cheryl Mizerny has launched a year-long Kindness Classroom project with her all-girl sixth graders. Learn about Sept-Nov plans to strengthen peer relationships, develop positive mindsets, and practice empathy β including activities that anticipate the new Wonder movie.
This fall, as school districts scattered around the country are considering “no homework” policies, teacher educator Curtis Chandler looks at research on whether and how homework can support learning and suggests teaching apps to help make it short, meaningful, and accessible.
Being Culturally Responsive / The Unstoppable ML Teacher
by Valentina Gonzalez · Published 09/12/2017 · Last modified 11/22/2019
Texas professional learning leader Valentina Gonzalez launches her new MiddleWeb blog, The UnStoppable ELL Teacher, with a look at Culturally Responsive Teaching β what it means and why it’s essential to helping English language learners succeed in American classrooms.
Jon Sapier’s High Expectations Teaching provides an overview of best practices for encouraging a growth mindset and includes scripts, links to videos, and checklists that teachers can use immediately. Educator Amy Williams finds the short book a good introduction.
Close Reading the Media / The Emmy Awards
by Frank Baker · Published 08/31/2017 · Last modified 09/08/2021
As the Emmys return in September to celebrate the art and craft of television, how do we encourage students to view the programming from a media literacy perspective, with the thinking parts of their brains turned on? Frank Baker ties television studies to CCSS.
Mary Tarashuk is counting on Peter Brown’s fiction picture books to enliven her 4th graders’ adaptation to their new classroom and their first science unit on animal and plant adaptation. The Global Read Aloud, featuring Brown’s Roz the Wild Robot, is in the wings.
