Katie Durkin has begun adding picture books and read alouds to her seventh grade classes. She finds that in units like historical fiction and social justice, they bring students a sense of nostalgia, help them grasp difficult abstract concepts, and create a shared experience.
Collaboration / Making Questions Count
by MiddleWeb · Published 04/30/2024 · Last modified 09/16/2024
Our Making Questions Count series explores three key roles in the teacher-student learning relationship. In their final post, Jackie Walsh, Emily Brokaw and Anna Salazar describe in rich detail the Student as Collaborative Contributor, with real-world stories and resources.
Equity can be found in many places in the school – on the walls, on bookshelves, and in policies. The best place to check for equity for multilingual learners is by examining teacher and student schedules. Tan Huynh describes the practices that lead to equitable scheduling.
For educators who want to create culturally, linguistically sustaining gifted education policies and practices, Robin M. Greene and Michelle Pacheco Dubois offer a roadmap for change in their new book. Teacher Katie Galayda notes the book can be extended beyond gifted classes.
Teachers are always short of resources. New teachers, in particular, need a helping hand and the tools to make their jobs less stressful. Education resources specialist April Angel urges them to take advantage of quality resource sites to plan lessons and fill specific needs.
If you have been wondering how you can move on when Jamboard sunsets in December, Kathleen Palmieri has found a super next-generation tool developed through a collaboration of Google – FigJam by Figma – that offers easy transition and improved tools. See her overview and tips.
As pre-service teachers anticipate their first classrooms, former Kansas TOY and teacher educator Curtis Chandler is ready with expert strategies to help them select the right schools and successfully complete the interview process. He stresses staying positive and being persistent.
100-Word Stories: A Short Form for Expansive Writing by Kim Culbertson and Grant Faulkner is a wonderful resource for teaching with micro texts and for helping students in levels 5-12 develop both writing and reading mastery, writes middle school ELA teacher Erin Corrigan-Smith.
The missteps of middle schoolers may be “developmentally appropriate” but we still need to guide students to do better, writes school leader Jody Passanisi. “Students this age often rise to the expectations that are set for them. That is developmentally appropriate, too.”
Watching a movie in class doesn’t have to be passive, says Jason DeHart. Teachers can engage students in a critical process of “reading” film and also responding as readers by creating video products. It’s time to broaden literacy education to meet students where they are.
