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Browse by Topic: Inspiration

Dropping the Needle on the B-Side for the Middle Grades

Dropping the Needle on the B-Side for the Middle Grades

For the Record. For Every Student We Serve.

When I was in college, I was a radio DJ at WXJM 88.7FM—although only a handful of listeners would know. I worked the timeslots that felt like the air was made of stars and caffeine: 1am-3am and 6am-8am. During...
Author: Dru Tomlin
Number of views (3356)/Comments (1)/
Topics: InspirationLeadership
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What's Your Odyssey?

What's Your Odyssey?

Supporting everyone in the middle grades isn't easy, but it's worth it.

Today's word is odyssey—so here's a quick Cliffs Notes review. In Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus navigates his way home through punishing seas, tempestuous storms, and loathsome...
Author: Dru Tomlin
Number of views (4198)/Comments (1)/
Topics: InspirationLeadership
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Oops! Did I Do That?

Oops! Did I Do That?

Celebrating Error is Essential

Oops. The familiar adage that we hear about making mistakes is that “to err is human.” It is part of the process of learning and growing. In order to walk, we first had to stumble and fall. In order to...
Author: Dru Tomlin
Number of views (2965)/Comments (2)/
Topics: Inspiration
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Outstanding: What Our Students Deserve!

Outstanding: What Our Students Deserve!

Boo! Mediocrity: Now, that's Scary!

With Halloween happening today, I am thinking about my fears. What scares me? In terms of education, being mediocre frightens me. Accepting mediocrity scares me. Middle schools and young adolescents don't need...
Author: Dru Tomlin
Number of views (4101)/Comments (0)/
Topics: Inspiration
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Food for Thought: Creating Educational Experiences

Creating an educational experience for young adolescents is a demanding and rewarding experience. As this column continues to suggest, it is an artful, savory labor founded on a shared understanding in which many...
Author: Dru Tomlin
Number of views (8399)/Comments (0)/
Topics: InspirationMiddle School ConceptYoung Adolescent Development
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ABCs of the Letter O in the Middle Grades: Openness

ABCs of the Letter O in the Middle Grades: Openness

O My!

Welcome back to the middle grades parade through the alphabet. Don't you feel proud that you made it through letter R? You should. And, once again, because young adolescents are rarely linear in nature, we're going...
Author: Dru Tomlin
Number of views (3172)/Comments (0)/
Topics: InspirationLeadership
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The Letter R: Final Thoughts

The Letter R: Final Thoughts

Get Ready for the Next Letter!

Before I bid adieu to the letter R, I know that I’ve failed with this first list of words. But I’m all right with that. As an educator who believes that knowledge is constructed and created by dialogue...
Author: Dru Tomlin
Number of views (3013)/Comments (1)/
Topics: InspirationLeadership
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The R of Resilience & Grrrrit in the Middle Grades

The R of Resilience & Grrrrit in the Middle Grades

From Monologue to Dialogue

So now we're ready to tackle Resilience. This R word has been used so much recently in the middle grades that it's almost become passé—whether you call it by its formal name or by its colloquial...
Author: Dru Tomlin
Number of views (3135)/Comments (0)/
Topics: InspirationLeadershipTeaching
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Things Learned—or Affirmed—as a Middle School Mom

Things Learned—or Affirmed—as a Middle School Mom

Confessions of a former middle school principal.

As a life-long middle school advocate, I have always known and valued my students as their teacher and school leader, but recently I became a middle school mom. As a parent, many of my beliefs about doing what is...
Author: Kate M. Cassada
Number of views (7011)/Comments (0)/
Topics: Inspiration
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The Love Bubble

The Love Bubble

Using writing as opportunities for students to grieve and grow.

Teachers are perpetual students. Each day we learn some new piece of information from a book, an article, or a podcast, but we often learn a great deal more from our students. This following story is inspired by an...
Author: Sandy Cameli
Number of views (15859)/Comments (0)/
Topics: InspirationLanguage Arts and Literacy
Tags: WritingGrief
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