Megan Kelly writes about improvements in her student relationships after trying out strategies adapted from Zaretta Hammond’s Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain. One key insight: talking with kids about their lives and personal interests can boost in-class learning.
Without good math fact recall, many students become discouraged about building math knowledge and solving equations. Kathleen Palmieri uses song and movement to engage fifth graders in computation fluency. Watch the music and exercise videos that are hits with her kids.
The authors of Educating for Global Competence break down what global competence is and then give examples and advice on how teachers can help students achieve it. International teacher Megan Kelly recommends the book as a resource to engage students in global citizenship.
Kasey Short recommends offering middle schoolers YA novels with multiple narrators as a way to enrich opportunities for content instruction and SEL. They’re also really engaging and fun for kids to read. Included: sample questions and activities and lots of suggested titles.
Author and master teacher Debbie Silver begins her case for spirit-building humor and laughter in classrooms and schools with a personal story from her years as a middle level educator. “Pay attention to how much you laugh together. Teachers and school leaders who laugh, last.”
Grounded in research and real-world situations, The Social-Emotional Learning Playbook by Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher and Dominique Smith supports the social-emotional growth in you, your students and your community, writes Anne Anderson, calling the book “a great PD resource.”
While most middle schoolers can decode text, the crux of any worthwhile lesson is assuring they understand what they’re reading and how it might impact them or the world around them. Peg Grafwallner shares strategies to help embed these literacy skills across the content areas.
I Will Screw This Up / Unstructured Learning
by Dina Strasser · Published 11/06/2023 · Last modified 11/08/2023
A just-crafted clay dino from seventh grader Gil reminds Dina Strasser that middle graders need unstructured time under the careful but non-interfering eye of a teacher who is trained to watch, listen and learn. Making room for such time is a challenge that’s seldom met.
Given the challenges educators are facing today, Silver and Berckemeyer’s new edition of Deliberate Optimism could not be more timely. Kathie Palmieri finds lots to like, including a new focus on mental health, Silver’s humor, and the message that teachers “have to take our power back.”
Scaffolding strategies need to be used strategically, writes depth of knowledge expert Dr. Karin Hess. A strategy intended to support executive functioning or language development may not be effective for deepening content knowledge and thinking. See her tips and tools.
