Teachers in middle level schools face overwhelming demands and challenges in their classrooms. They are expected to know content and pedagogy, develop engaging lessons that meet the needs of diverse learners, and use...

It was bright orange and boxy. I had used it repeatedly to "catch air," plowing over snow piles at high speed in school parking lots during the winter. Doing these stunts was safe, I reasoned: It was the family...

Do you want to do more with your advisory period? Maybe you want to bring students and the community closer, or maybe you are looking to change a negative school climate into a positive one. You might want to try R...

Remember the Fibonacci sequence? It's a series of numbers in which each subsequent number is the sum of the previous two: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, and so on. One of the most fundamental concepts in...

Can you imagine teaching middle grades students for more than four decades? As a middle school principal, I had the opportunity to work with just such a teacher. Barry Krizan taught three generations of our...

In every country in the world, we elevate those who endure, especially against overwhelming odds. We exalt politician William Wilberforce, who led a challenging campaign to end all slavery in the British empire. We...

A caring classroom environment is a key factor in students' success in school (Kohn, 2005; Noddings, 1995). Young adolescents, in particular, need the support and encouragement of an adult advocate who cares and...

As Mary watched Ashleigh get off the bus, she knew it was going to be “that kind” of day. Ashleigh was mad and yelling in the faces of the other children. Mary watched her push her way through the hallway,...

Posters, buttons, rally speeches, and Robert’s Rules of Order have been mainstays of school-level politics for decades. Regardless of grade level, participation is limited to those students who are willing to...

Lynn is an eighth grade student struggling through several of her courses; pre-Algebra is her biggest challenge. Until now, she has gotten by with acceptable grades, but this year she has found her classes much more...