Articles / Teaching the Whole Adolescent
by MiddleWeb · Published 07/02/2013 · Last modified 07/14/2024
Eighth graders present a video and describe the creation of their “I AM Wall” – part of a project on stereotyping that included reading S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. “It seems that we keep discovering things about ourselves every day, so all we need to strive for is to be ourselves.”
STEM & the Makers Movement / STEM By Design
by Anne Jolly · Published 06/23/2013 · Last modified 11/23/2019
The authors of “Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom” share an exciting guest post at Anne Jolly’s STEM Imagineering blog. The tools and ethos of the maker revolution offer insight and hope for middle schools and for science and math studies, they say. “The breadth of options and the ‘can-do’ attitude is exactly what students need.”
Media literacy consultant Frank Baker makes the case that students should be writing scripts and screenplays as part of their schoolwork.
Elisa Waingort found valuable ideas in this book from the “PLC at Work” series but objected to the intense focus on assessment-driven school improvement.
A new web tool, designed just for education, can help promote student creativity and innovative thinking, says ed consultant & former MS teacher Mike Fisher.
Student Motivation / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 04/14/2013 · Last modified 12/11/2019
In her 2nd post about the power of high expectations for all students, special educator Elizabeth Stein shares the views of a diverse group of 7th graders.
In her review of Larry Ferlazzo’s Self-Driven Learning: Teaching Strategies for Student Motivation, Julie Dermody says, “Educators who read this book will become more effective teachers…better equipped to deal with daily challenges of motivating our students.”
Media expert Frank Baker offers examples of political stagecraft at the highest levels and suggests several visual literacy lesson ideas.
Building Community / Two Teachers in the Room
by Laurie Wasserman · Published 03/17/2013 · Last modified 11/23/2019
After years without a homeroom, special educator Laurie Wasserman eagerly volunteered for one — and set out to build a real classroom community.
We interview The #Sugarkills Gang, a group of sixth grade science students. They’re on a social media nutrition mission to sugar-shock the world.
