What Should Middle School Be?
As he contemplates his new role as middle level division leader, Charlie Gramatges considers the middle school essentials that best serve young adolescents.
Articles / Teaching the Whole Adolescent
by MiddleWeb · Published 07/07/2013 · Last modified 12/03/2019
As he contemplates his new role as middle level division leader, Charlie Gramatges considers the middle school essentials that best serve young adolescents.
Book Reviews / Response to Intervention
by MiddleWeb · Published 07/02/2013 · Last modified 11/13/2019
Like CCSS, Response to Intervention is something teachers need to know right now, says reviewer Julie Dermody. Elizabeth Stein’s book, Comprehension Lessons for RTI (Grades 3-5): Assessments, Intervention Lessons and Management Tips to Help You Reach and Teach Tier 2 Students, is the place to start.
Reviewer Laura Von Staden says Teaching Students to Dig Deeper: The Common Core in Action by Ben Johnson is valuable for its ideas about rethinking the school enterprise in the era of the Common Core.
STEM & the Makers Movement / STEM By Design
by Anne Jolly · Published 06/23/2013 · Last modified 11/23/2019
The authors of “Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom” share an exciting guest post at Anne Jolly’s STEM Imagineering blog. The tools and ethos of the maker revolution offer insight and hope for middle schools and for science and math studies, they say. “The breadth of options and the ‘can-do’ attitude is exactly what students need.”
Cemeteries: Alive with Learning, Barbara Kissling’s short book describing a PBL experience focused on old cemeteries, is a unique idea sure to engage middle schoolers, says reviewer Carolyn Baker.
Research reports a strong link between trust in schools & student achievement. The Trust Factor: Strategies for School Leaders can help leaders boost the trust factor, says reviewer James Jordan.
Historical mysteries that lure reluctant readers & boost comprehension are great for classroom libraries, says teacher-author Elizabeth Varadon.
Randy Bomer’s passion for literacy for all students is evident throughout Building Adolescent Literacy in Today‘s English Classroom. Reviewer Linda Biondi suggests close reading of this research & experience based book.
In her review of Larry Ferlazzo’s Self-Driven Learning: Teaching Strategies for Student Motivation, Julie Dermody says, “Educators who read this book will become more effective teachers…better equipped to deal with daily challenges of motivating our students.”
Closing the Achievement Gap / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 04/03/2013 · Last modified 11/18/2019
Elizabeth Stein & assistant principal Paul McNeil consider personal, classroom, and school strategies that can help close achievement gaps for students with disabilities, including peer tutoring and support for high expectations. It takes a team approach, and it takes time and patience.