What motivates teens to innovate in STEM? Anne Jolly researches the background of young inventors who are making a difference for our 21st century lives and identifies some common experiences that helped them be successful, including the support of teachers.
In Who’s Doing the Work? Jan Burkins and Kim Yaris ask important questions about how literacy teachers should approach reading instruction for a new generation of students. Reviewer and former literacy coach Nancy Chodoroff has high praise for their insights.
Adolescents have a strong attraction to parody, says media literacy expert Frank Baker. Luckily the Common Core includes parody as a genre worthy of study. Baker shares resources and ideas to involve middle graders in some fun as they learn important skills.
Increased funding for STEM programs in the new ESSA has heightened interest among proponents of other curriculum areas in getting a piece of the STEM money pie. Anne Jolly warns that diverting funds away from real STEM initiatives could be bad for the nation.
Despite her strong commitment to 21st century collaborative learning, Amber Chandler admits she’d “always held back from allowing my students to work together on their writing.” Would everyone be engaged? Could it be graded? Then her kids showed her the way.
Involving parents and families in a partnership with schools has a positive impact on students. What can principals do to ensure the partnership is sustained, vibrant and diverse? Ron Williamson and Barbara Blackburn suggest strategies to build connections.
With plentiful humor Gerald Aungst shows how to address math problem solving in powerful and realistic ways, helping students become innovative mathematical thinkers. Middle school math resource teacher Maia Fastabend plans to revisit his book frequently.
Paid ads and social media give lots of exposure to Presidential candidates. They also get free visibility from magazines, though they don’t always like what they see. Frank Baker offers a magazine-cover activity to help students build media literacy skills.
Kids on the Cusp / Switching Classes
by Mary Tarashuk · Published 04/05/2016 · Last modified 11/24/2019
How to fit it all in? For Mary Tarashuk, switching classes with a 4th grade team teacher is helpful. He takes science; she takes history. One downside: her homeroom kids get extra history instruction through their ELA studies. Might “platooning” be better?
Engineering Career Preparation / STEM By Design
by Anne Jolly · Published 03/29/2016 · Last modified 11/13/2019
The sky’s the limit for students pursuing engineering careers. Anne Jolly offers STEM educators Q&As they can share with middle graders who’d like to investigate engineering’s possibilities. Jolly highlights creativity, teamwork, making a difference and more.
