Middle school dean Bill Ivey says Rachel Simmons’s Enough As She Is will thoroughly illuminate and clarify what parents and teachers of girls are seeing and hearing and help those adults think through how best to be supportive as girls seek their best authentic selves.
Sarah Cooper’s Creating Citizens will ignite a passion for discovery, challenge students to seek information from wide ranging sources, and help them apply their learning and form their own opinions about history, civics and current events, writes Linda Biondi.
Heart of the School / Understanding Protests
by Rita Platt · Published 07/02/2018 · Last modified 11/15/2019
How can teachers broach the topic as civic protest becomes more visible in society? NBCT Rita Platt offers resources for student reading and discussion “because learning to thoughtfully communicate ideas and entertain the ideas of others is a cornerstone of democracy.”
About Working Draft / Working Draft
by Kevin Hodgson · Published 06/27/2018 · Last modified 04/19/2020
After five years, 6th grade teacher and NWP activist Kevin Hodgson is retiring his popular Working Draft column for MiddleWeb. In entry 72 he shares links to favorite posts and highlights three central principles about writing that have guided his blogging and teaching.
With summer’s slower pace, some educators’ thoughts may be turning to classroom grant-seeking. Amber Chandler is always on the lookout for funding that helps her kids. She’s batting 20 percent (double the average) and is happy to share tips to boost your own success rate.
Whether it’s performing as a person from history or working on a community problem with others, an assessment that gets students to dig deep into content will result in more rigorous learning, writes consultant Barbara Blackburn. She shares examples to get kids started.
Student discussions fueled by doubts and personal questions can push learning very deep, says teaching consultant Jackie Walsh. To set the stage, educators will need to address Teacher Mindset, Classroom Culture, Teaching Modeling, and Student Skills and Dispositions.
After considering his early years as an English teacher, looking at research and talking with teachers and administrators, teacher educator Sean Ruday shares four recommendations to help new ELA teachers’ first years in the classroom be as successful as possible.
Heart of the School / Summer Family Contacts
by Rita Platt · Published 06/17/2018 · Last modified 11/13/2019
We work all year to build and nurture relationships with our students and families. Why stop over the summer? Rita Platt offers quick, low-stress ideas for teachers and principals to stay connected to during the summer months. Public library meetups are super simple!
Articles / New Teacher Advice / Teacher Self-care
by MiddleWeb · Published 06/12/2018 · Last modified 11/25/2019
Successful, career-minded teachers must learn how to juggle the demands of being in a classroom all day long and also maintaining a satisfactory personal life. Julia Thompson, author of a bestselling survival guide for first-year teachers, tells how to achieve that balance.
