Much of the writing we assign our students is public writing: writing to communicate with others. Writing-to-learn is personal writing, writing that helps students increase comprehension of texts—fiction and...

Once we've learned to read, reading becomes a tool that helps us learn. Creating a learning experience that incorporates reading deeply, however, can be a challenge for today's teachers. How can we make reading...

One of the many reasons teaching is a unique profession is that there is a finite beginning and end to each year. After bidding farewell to outgoing students, we have a summer vacation that provides us with time to...

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is the current teaching practice being implemented in classrooms to develop 21st century skills and engage students in a deeper level of learning by presenting authentic, complex problems...

Exclusion, discrimination, bullying—all are in the headlines on a daily basis, but change is ahead. It is time for an inclusion revolution, and our middle level students can help lead the way by becoming part of...

As I look around the classroom, I'm reminded of all the things I like about teaching. Photographs feature our ongoing service project, and displays highlight our unit on globalism. I've also created a modest space...

It's easy to stereotype "kids these days." Always on their phones, always taking selfies, tethered to a virtual world but disconnected from the real one. If you don't work with kids, or know what is happening in...

I started my teaching career in high school English for two years before I transitioned to middle school, or what I always referred to as teaching-topia. I taught seventh grade for nine years, and during that time I...

The Coalition to Support Grieving Students is a unique collaboration of the leading professional organizations representing classroom educators (e.g., AFT and NEA), principals, administrators, student support...

Middle schools devote attention to good beginnings such as orientation programs, building tours, and icebreakers meant to ease the transition. But what is the fitting end? Before middle schoolers pack up their...