At MiddleWeb central in North Carolina, late summer means fresh back-to-school ideas from our bloggers and guest writers. Discover the wealth of teacher wisdom highlighted in one, easy-to-access post. We’ll add more posts as they arrive.
What does instructional rigor look like in the middle school classroom? Teaching consultant and bestselling author Barbara Blackburn offers examples of lessons that reach for the top of Bloom’s and DoK – in social studies, math, electives, the arts, English/ELA, and science.
Many students don’t consider the source of media they consume on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or elsewhere. Often they don’t consider the ramifications of spreading fake news or conspiracy theories. Frank Baker shares ways educators can make media literacy a classroom priority.
Each educator braving the gauntlet of Covid-era teaching has been stressed and stretched to wits’ end. It’s time to collect the payoff from this strenuous work. Curtis Chandler relates 5 questions teachers asked themselves during the crisis. “If we begin the new school year with solid answers, we’ll be rewarded.”
Sometimes you just wanted to scream, writes assistant principal DeAnna Miller, but staying focused on compassionate care, supportive relationships, and flexibility in the face of misdirection and uncertainty helped her remain centered and expand her leadership skills.
Middle school educators at Brooklyn’s Ditmar IS 62 chose to overcome “learning loss” by engaging their sixth, seventh and eighth graders in a long-range project documenting the tragic story of 9/11 through research, oral family and community history and literacy activities.
Tween and YA books are more dynamic than ever and offer readers avenues for pleasure, reflection, adventure, and emotional engagement, writes Lynne Dorfman. Many choices are also “socially conscious” and deserve a prime spot in class libraries. She has gr4-8 ideas!
Amid all the other challenges of pandemic education, principal Rita Platt has noticed an uptick in communication breakdowns between teachers and parents this year. Platt relates several stories that prompted her to share some parent/teacher do’s and don’ts with staff.
What if a STEM project became a product kids make for actual use? Anne Jolly shows how industry’s Product Design Process (PDP) expands upon the familiar engineering design popular in STEM classes, giving students new skills as they move from prototypes to the marketplace.
Meaningful Math / Pandemic Teaching
by Michelle Russell · Published 04/12/2021 · Last modified 10/19/2022
With her students facing so many pandemic challenges, Michelle Russell decided to say ‘yes’ to as many requests as possible, whether it was late papers, school supplies, or a quick review minutes before a test. Here’s what she’s discovered about the value of answering YES.
