Annual resolutions to “get organized” usually fade quickly, despite ready access to smart devices and clever management apps. What we need, writes organizing expert Frank Buck, is some good advice. He begins his 5-part series with the digital calendar.
Principals can use social media to improve communication, provide information during school safety situations, increase collaboration, and enhance professional development. Ron Williamson and Barbara Blackburn argue, in fact, that social media is a leadership essential today.
Help middle graders take the next step in environmental studies & awareness. Using USDA resource materials, students can join the effort to uncover and eradicate the invasive Asian Longhorned Beetle which threatens 70% of the tree canopy in the United States.
A class full of middle schoolers are ready to learn. But supplies are low, technology is sparse, and you have already spent too much of your own money for the classroom. Educational consultant Anne Anderson repurposes 3 classroom staples you’re sure to have.
Do your students know that when they watch docudramas, they’re not watching history as it actually happened? Do they understand movie makers’ “artistic license” for condensing history into 2-hour films? Frank W. Baker suggests media-oriented films and teaching strategies.
If demoralizing teachers worked, then our educational system would already have reached a state of perfection. Instead, says reviewer Jenni Miller, policymakers can find a true roadmap for change in Richard DuFour’s “In Praise of American Educators And How They Can Become Even Better.”
In Teaching Outside the Lines, Doug Johnson addresses the need to start helping students to be creative and innovative rather than conformist. He includes strategies and tools to help teachers overcome reluctance to make the shift, says teacher leader Laura Von Staden.
Genius Hour is an inquiry-driven, passion-based strategy designed to excite and engage students around the unrestrained joy of learning. Teachers Denise Krebs and Gallit Zvi make a case for the weekly time investment and share tips for getting started.
The difficulty students have in writing clearly can be traced to many factors, says literacy consultant Sarah Tantillo, from muddled pre-CCSS standards to weak teaching practices. Here she offers concrete suggestions to correct persistent writing problems in the secondary grades.
Educators may be reluctant to try memoir writing with middle grades students, but the rewards are considerable, says 8th grade teacher-author Jake Wizner. He shares three insights that can help guide teachers as they enrich the student writing experience.
