Middle school principal Evan Robbβs Six Pillars of Leadership work in concert to form a solid and lasting foundation for shared decision making. The result: a student-centered culture that values collective vision, empowerment, risk-taking, kindness, trust, equity and more.
Principal Rita Platt is learning to sign, both to communicate with a new student and to renew her empathy for the hard work we ask students to do every day. She also has a fresh appreciation for learning targets. βSeeing the purpose of our work is critical to motivation.β
When we give in and teach students to βwrite for the test,β Brent Gilson says, we force them into a writing box that many kids come to hate. Learn how heβs reinventing his writing instruction so students discover their truth, expressed through their own words and ideas.
With unprecedented levels of stress among adolescents, and promising new research from leading institutions, thereβs never been a better or more crucial time to implement mindfulness practices into middle school classrooms, says author-consultant Dr. Thomas Armstrong.
We asked Google Analytics to find the 10 most-read posts published at MiddleWeb during 2019. We love the variety and the solid advice. Every contributor has been a successful classroom teacher who loves to collaborate with colleagues. Here they are, in no particular order.
Cultural constructs and limited school resources can impact our ability to discover gifted and talented English learners. Despite these barriers, determined teachers can help close the EL representation gap in gifted programs. Specialist Valentina Gonzalez offers her ideas.
When we use verbal, imaginative, and conceptual play as touchstones for our planning and teaching in middle school, we help students look forward to learning and school itself, say educators Chris and Katie Cunningham. Their idea-rich post offers many jumping-off points.
Family involvement boosts student success. Yet parents of middle schoolers sometimes face a steep learning curve as they seek to interact with an increased number of teachers. Dr. Curtis Chandler suggests ways to engage and support families, including useful technology.
When Rita Platt assesses students using CBMs (curriculum based measures) for literacy, she gives the one-minute Oral Reading Fluency tests a twist to make sure comprehension is also being measured. Investigate her technique and a special approach devised for English Learners.
A recent study found drawing can improve our memory more than re-writing or visualizing because it activates more areas of the brain. With this in mind, Megan Kelly set out to incorporate sketchnotes into her English class without it becoming βLanguage Arts and Crafts.β
