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Association for Middle Level Education

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Building STEAM in Your School

Turning up the heat to prepare students for the future.

At Berwick Alternative School, we began building STEAM last year—this year we're moving full STEAM ahead! Berwick, a K–8 school in Columbus, Ohio, has enjoyed a strong legacy of success; however, our...

Author: Natalie Grayson
Number of views (4873)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Leadership STEM

Tags: STEAM

The effectiveness of lunch detention in middle schools.

I’ve heard mixed opinions about the effectiveness of lunch detention in middle schools. Is it appropriate and does it work? Lunch detention is not a harsh punishment, but it does provide students with...

Author: Nancy Ruppert
Number of views (2948)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Young Adolescent Development

Tags:

Top 5 Vince Lombardi Quotes to Inspire Interdisciplinary Teaming

When you join up in the middle grades, you become part of a passionate team. You cherish the middle level playbook because, as it's stated in This We Believe, you "value young adolescents and are prepared to teach...

Author: Dru Tomlin
Number of views (3481)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Teaching Teaming

Tags: Interdisciplinary Teaching

Creating Online Learning Environments

With a plethora of educational apps, websites, and digital learning tools flooding the educational technology market, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and disoriented. To combat this sensation of drowning, teachers can...

Author: Erica Preswood
Number of views (1444)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Teaching Technology

Tags:

Confronting Our Assumptions and Biases

When my wife and I were thinking of names for our children, and yes, our dogs, they were difficult conversations. As you probably understand, some of the students I've taught through the years were particularly rough...

Author: Rick Wormeli
Number of views (5598)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Leadership Teaching

Tags: Teacher Leaders

Understanding and Addressing the Challenges of Teaching Middle Grades Mathematics Conceptually

Research Summary

Understanding students' academic needs and developing curricula to address them has always been a challenge for middle level educators. Competing perspectives on academic rigor and external demands for accountability...

Author: Holly Henderson Pinter
Number of views (8575)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Common Core State Standards Research

Tags: Math Research Summary

Valuing the Conversations

A principal's informal conversations helped guide a school's priorities

I began my tenure as principal at West Rowan Middle School in the Rowan-Salisbury School District in July 2015. As a newly hired principal, I maintain a keen focus on the school goals in our school improvement plan...

Author: Derek L. McCoy
Number of views (3742)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Leadership School Culture/Climate

Tags: School Improvement

Encouraging Student Voice Through Writing

These simple strategies put students' voice in their writing.

Some students come to class ready to engage and offer their voice, but others wish to go unnoticed and remain silent observers to the educational scene. The following is an assortment of creative writing, image...

Author: Jason D. Dehart
Number of views (4296)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Language Arts and Literacy Teaching

Tags: Writing

3 Tips for Teaching Speaking and Listening Skills

Students need strong speaking and listening skills to succeed in school and beyond.

There is truth to the old adage "what is tested, is taught," particularly in the past several years of assessment mania. The question we need to be asking ourselves, though, is what "test" are we preparing our...

Author: Amber Chandler
Number of views (9301)/Comments (0)/

Topics: Teaching

Tags: Student Engagement Project Based Learning Oral Language

Driving Instruction: Giving Students the Wheel

Giving students choices speaks to their wants and needs.

Think back to the last time you took a road trip. As the driver, you might have used a GPS or map to help you navigate, or even asked advice from your passenger. But ultimately, as the driver, you made the final...

Author: Olga Lehmann, Joyell Weimer
Number of views (5166)/Comments (0)/