Adolescent Development / Book Reviews
by MiddleWeb · Published 07/26/2018 · Last modified 11/17/2019
In addition to explaining the brain science behind adolescent risk taking, John Medina’s Attack of the Teenage Brain! is filled with valuable information to change the way teachers respond to adolescents in the classroom, says educator Elizabeth OBrien.
Close Reading the Media / The Emmy Awards
by Frank Baker · Published 07/25/2018 · Last modified 11/17/2019
Studying TV in the middle grades might seem frivolous, writes media literacy expert Frank Baker, but when teachers engage kids through popular culture, they meet them where they are. The Emmys is a perfect example. Baker has background and teaching ideas to get started.
This summer Rita Platt is transitioning from teacher-librarian to principal at her school. With 25 years in education, she feels ready. Sharing a letter she sent to fellow staff members, she asks readers to comment on what principals need to know to be good leaders.
Math educator Jerry Burkhart expanded his horizons this summer when he taught a 3-week math exploration course to a class of 22 gifted middle level students from across India. Learn what he discovered about the similarities and differences in U.S. and India math education.
Nancy Akhavan encourages teachers to push away from assigned passages with worksheets that require canned responses, and instead promote more freedom in student thinking, and more reflection about their connection to the reading and writing going on in their classroom.
Larry Ferlazzo and Katie Sypnieski often ask their ELL students to make short oral presentations to a group or a partner “because it is more practical, time efficient, and energizing for students.” The four ideas shared here are easily adapted to any class or subject.
Although some teaching strategies have been around for a long time, not all the “classics” are actually effective at engaging students in authentic ways. Bryan Harris and Lisa Bradshaw, the authors of Battling Boredom, explain why some common practices just don’t work.
Create Compose Connect / Student Research Papers
by Jeremy Hyler · Published 07/09/2018 · Last modified 03/23/2024
It is not easy for students to research today, or to read with a critical eye. Yet these are the very skills they need in an internet-driven world. In a new MiddleWeb column, teacher-author Jeremy Hyler shares tips that can make research writing more fun, effective and efficient.
Middle school science educator and Albert Einstein Distinguished Education Fellow Joshua Sneideman and energy education specialist Erin Twamley share seven ways that teachers and schools can involve students in climate change studies. Included: Project ideas.
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.
