Middle school voices are not always what their teachers want to hear. Those voices can be high-pitched and rowdy, full of criticism and negativity, whining with complaint, or bent on distracting others, destroying...

Data, rigor, relevance, and standards are certainly terms that are important and vital in the world of education, but so is the FUN factor. When students feel and experience learning as fun, we know they are more...

Chase sat in the back of the room every day, silent and sullen, hiding behind his long bangs. I was supposed to be teaching him about ancient Mesopotamia, and everything about his body language said, "Leave me...

With more than two decades of experience, I have seen my share of the unusual, but one event in one eighth grade class forever changed the way I think about instruction and grading. It lead me on a personal and...

Remember when you first thought about becoming a teacher? Remember how you thought it would be fun? When most people look back on their own educational experiences, the teachers and lessons that stand out most to...

How effectively are we communicating with our middle school students? As a middle school counselor, I often step back and think: Am I speaking to fill the space? Is what I am saying applicable. Most important, do I...

The middle grades are notoriously challenging for youth. This is the period when some students can start to disengage. Gallup conducts an annual poll of students that measures, as they categorize it, their hope,...

"Challenge every student." That was my goal for the quarter. As I peruse the results of students' latest math assessments, my goal again crosses my mind. The test scores are fine, but upon closer scrutiny, I can see...

Do you remember Judith Viorst's story about Alexander, who had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day? For some middle school students, each day of the school year is an Alexander kind of day as defeat after...

We can never underestimate the power of belonging and relationships. As middle level educators, we know the correlation between establishing relationships and student achievement, but have we considered the need to...