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Association for Middle Level Education

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Cultivating Connections with Diverse Families

Opportunities abound for teachers to make connections with diverse families.

As we welcome students into our classrooms each year, we are reminded of the important role families play in our students' education. We listen as administrators discuss the importance of community and parental...

Author: Brooke Eisenbach, Summer Clark, Amy Gooden
Number of views (6488)/Comments (1)/

Topics: Family and Community Teaching

Tags: Parent Involvement

Making Introductory Lessons Higher-Level

Make introductory lessons opportunities for higher-level critical thinking.

One of my favorite administrative responsibilities is visiting classrooms and observing lessons. I view those visits and the follow-up conversations with teachers as opportunities to share ideas and expand our...

Author: Joanne Kelleher
Number of views (4410)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Teaching

Tags: Student Engagement

Students Helping Students Succeed

A student assistant program opens up opportunities for students and teachers.

"So, you're saying you think the length of the pendulum is the most important variable affecting its frequency. Do you have data you can show me that supports this?" A question like that is common in sixth grade...

Author: Douglas Stith
Number of views (4442)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Student Leadership Teaching

Tags: Peer Coaching Student Leaders

Forging Partnerships Outside the Classroom

Sometimes teaching can cause tunnel vision. Teachers often look inside their school district, building, or classroom for resources to help their students learn, neglecting the partnerships outside the immediate school...

Author: Robin Dever
Number of views (6277)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Family and Community Leadership Professional Preparation

Tags: Preservice Teachers Community Involvement

Tag It—"Graffiti" in the Classroom

Graffiti murals promote comprehension and student voice.

Some see graffiti as vandalism; others see it as a work of art. Urban artists use graffiti to send political messages—as a form of meaning making in the larger society. Indiana University Professor David Hanauer...

Author: Samina Hadi-Tabassum
Number of views (11055)/Comments (0)/

Topics: ELL/ESL/ESOL Teaching

Tags: Student Engagement Democratic Classroom Literature Reading Literacy

Lunchroom Lessons for Leaders

In the midst of a busy morning arrival time, a few middle school students greeted me as I walked through the crowded hallway toward the room in which my meeting was being held. "Sup Dr. W. Are you coming to our...

Author: Nikki Woodson
Number of views (2071)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Leadership School Culture/Climate

Tags:

Differentiating Structure, Not Content

Changing the classroom structure can be as effective as differentiating content.

Konawaena Middle School was created as a school within a high school to meet the unique needs of the early adolescents. One of the outstanding features of this school is its commitment to the heterogeneous grouping of...

Author: Guy Gambone
Number of views (6551)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Differentiated Instruction Teaching

Tags: Seating Arrangements Grouping

8 Digital Formative Assessment Tools to Improve Motivation

The silver bullet for closing the achievement gap these days seems to be formative assessment. In simple terms, formative assessment is any ongoing activity that helps teachers gain information about student...

Author: Bryan R. Drost
Number of views (9937)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Assessment Technology

Tags: Formative

Selecting Complex Texts with Intention

Exploring the five plagues of complex text.

One of the most important aspects of teaching literacy in the classroom is text selection, the process by which teachers choose what their students will read. For many teachers, text selection boils down to choosing...

Author: Doug Lemov, Colleen Driggs, Erica Woolway
Number of views (5186)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Language Arts and Literacy Teaching

Tags: Literature Reading Literacy

How can I keep students in their seats and focused?

"I get tired of students interrupting instruction to go to the bathroom or to their locker because they 'forgot something.' How can I keep students in their seats and focused—or at least decrease the number of...

Author: Valerie Benjamin
Number of views (4645)/Comments (2)/

Topics: Classroom Management