Create Compose Connect / Professional Learning
by MiddleWeb · Published 11/06/2019 · Last modified 11/24/2019
Teaching is hard work, but we should always be thinking about what we can do to get better at our craft, writes teacher and department chair Jeremy Hyler. Sometimes that means having difficult but crucial conversations with colleagues who need to make a greater commitment.
Frequent high-quality class conversations make a huge difference in how far middle grades students advance academically, socially and emotionally, writes author and teaching coach Jeff Zwiers. Learn about five skills that can help students build ideas through dialogue.
Every principal has dealt with unhappy or angry parents and guardians. Many family members simply have a concern and want to share it with someone they believe can resolve the problem. Ron Williamson and Barbara Blackburn offer ways to calm waters and get to solutions.
Throughout Putting Teachers First, Brad Johnson supports his strong belief that a positive relationship between leader and teacher is essential in successful schools. He shares a myriad of ways to make that relationship happen, writes international ed leader Brad Latzke.
Class Apps / Student Questioning
by Curtis Chandler · Published 10/29/2019 · Last modified 11/15/2019
One of our teaching tasks with the highest rate of return on time invested is working with students to develop their capacity and confidence to ask good questions. Curtis Chandler offers the research-based tips and tools we need to make eager inquiry an everyday event.
Educators and parents alike will find How Many? A Counting Book a beautiful adventure in learning about how children can grapple with the complexities of mathematical reasoning in relatively simple terms using everyday objects, says history (?!) teacher Michael DiClemente.
Pam Koutrakos offers a goldmine of fresh ideas we can dig into as we launch our word study routines – building our repertoire so we can stay engaged with word learning all year long. Best of all, she shares good ways to assess student progress and keep track of growth.
Dina Strasser finds more poets are writing about climate change and other social justice issues. Such poems can provide alternatives to middle schoolers when themes aren’t too entangled in complex structures. She suggests some options students can “hook into easily.”
In summer, Mary Tarashuk carefully prepared her literacy hope chest for 2019-20. Now, after a month of school, it has somehow morphed into a Pandora’s box. Though she is sheltering hope in this new box, she feels challenged to meet kids’ needs and district time demands.
Close Reading the Media / Political Ads
by Frank Baker · Published 10/21/2019 · Last modified 11/14/2019
We know political advertising persuades and influences. When we use campaign ads in instruction and guide students through the analysis and deconstruction process, writes media literacy expert Frank Baker, we’re helping them become better critical thinkers and viewers.
