Connecting Your Students with the World encourages teachers to step out of their comfort zones and incorporate do-able collaborative online projects to improve communications and encourage both student and teacher creativity, says MS educator Jennifer Wirtz.
Building a STEM Program / STEM By Design
by Anne Jolly · Published 02/02/2016 · Last modified 11/23/2019
STEM courses don’t belong in silos. Anne Jolly recommends bringing science, technology, engineering and math together in class to help students understand how the disciplines work together in the real world. She includes questions to pose about your STEM program.
New in this 2nd edition of the empirical literature on the social and emotional development of gifted children are psychosocial variables as predictors of high performance and diversity issues. A book for educators, not parents, says reviewer Tracie Bell-Moon.
Frank Buck is back with Part Two in his series for school leaders on developing a digital productivity suite. Keeping up with plans on a digital calendar or a smartphone Notes app is frustrating. Buck outlines what a full featured task app needs to do and suggests a free option.
Articles / Writing across Content Areas
by MiddleWeb · Published 01/25/2016 · Last modified 11/24/2019
Four educators explain how the Western Massachusetts Writing Project joined forces with the National Park Service to help middle school teachers and students explore and write about a major history resource right in their backyard – the Springfield Armory museum. DIY tips included!
STEM expert Anne Jolly takes a close look at the many well-funded STEM components found in ESSA, the new federal education act, and urges educators to remain true to the project learning and engineering elements that characterize authentic STEM curriculum.
Conferences are valuable ways to grow professionally. Consultant Anne Anderson, who attended many such events as a teacher, shares ideas for getting buy-in and funding, prepping for the trip, getting the most from talks and exhibits, and bringing it all home.
Franklin P. Schargel’s guide to school safety addresses student drug abuse, teen driving accidents, pregnancies, truancy, gambling and more. Former principal Mary Langer Thompson would like more detailed discussion about responding to violence and addressing resource issues.
Current Events / Future of History
by Sarah Cooper · Published 01/11/2016 · Last modified 11/12/2019
Current events discussions can be “a litany of disappointment” if they focus only on the dreary headlines of the day. Fortunately, writes social studies teacher Sarah Cooper, “sometimes students bring in articles that make us all laugh and think and give us hope.”
Literacy expert Regie Routman takes teachers for a ride and demonstrates how to avoid roadblocks that make writing less than doable, effective and gratifying. The destination? Classrooms where students routinely write to think, problem solve, create and explore.
