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Reflections on Teaching and Learning

Reflections on Teaching and Learning

Educators have a responsibility to guide the moral development of youth

For years I have been concerned over what I view as the seriously truncated understanding of what teaching entails that is now commonly held. Taken hold in most peoples' minds, it seems, is a very narrow and limited...
Author: John H. Lounsbury
Number of views (3173)/Comments (0)/
Topics: InspirationMiddle School ConceptTeaching
Tags: Civic education
Making it Work, Making it Meaningful

Making it Work, Making it Meaningful

These elements of the middle school concept need attention and commitment

We have heard it talked about for years and years. The middle school concept was implemented in the early 1990s when I was a teacher in an urban middle school. Traditionally, teachers worked in departments and there...
Author: James Davis
Number of views (1119)/Comments (0)/
Topics: LeadershipMiddle School Concept
Tags:
From Ideology to Action and From Progressive Pedigrees to Peacemaking

From Ideology to Action and From Progressive Pedigrees to Peacemaking

Making social conscience and democracy come alive

The call came in December 2015. I didn't recognize the voice of Dr. Glenda Mosley. A native of the Baltimore, Maryland, area, Dr. Mosley is a business owner, a concerned citizen, and an entrepreneur. Her passion was...
Author: Tracy W. Smith
Number of views (4137)/Comments (0)/
Topics: Diversity and Social EquityTeaching
Tags: PovertyCivic education
Planting the Seeds of Innovation

Planting the Seeds of Innovation

Four steps to build capacity for long-term innovation

Innovation has become a widely-used term in education with a variety of interpretations. Generally, innovation implies novelty and inventiveness that leads to improvement and thus, is considered a positive...
Author: David C. Barrett, Christy S. Murray, Veronica L. Miller
Number of views (1131)/Comments (0)/
Topics: Leadership
Tags:
Using Graphic Novels to Open the Gateway for Struggling Readers

Using Graphic Novels to Open the Gateway for Struggling Readers

The benefits of using graphic novels in the social studies classroom

The standards in current education reform movements stress the importance of strengthening students' content-area literacy skills. This means that social studies teachers must draw on powerful texts. The problem is...
Author: Jeremiah Clabough
Number of views (3627)/Comments (0)/
Topics: Language Arts and LiteracyTeaching
Tags: Student EngagementReadingSocial Studies

Leadership and Organization

There are striking parallels between the work of a middle school leader and a chef. Having done both jobs—though my role was more that of a cook—I can attest to these similarities with firsthand knowledge...
Author: Dru Tomlin
Number of views (1000)/Comments (0)/
Topics: Leadership
Tags:
Going "Old School" to End School

Going "Old School" to End School

One middle school gives students a personal send-off

On the last day of school for the past six years, after hiking a small mountain near our school in Vermont, we gather in the shade of venerable maples for a final ceremony with the eighth grade class. After each...
Author: Ryan Becker, Beth Hayslett
Number of views (3160)/Comments (0)/
Topics: School Culture/ClimateTransitions to/from Middle School
Tags: Transition to High School

Moving into Action: Middle Level Learners as Change Agents

Robust learning happens when students have choice and voice in curriculum.

"Students in the middle grades … have the ability to perceive deep truths and are making decisions that will affect the way they live the rest of their lives. This transitional time between childhood and...
Author: Maggie McHugh, Penny Reedy, Ann Yehle
Number of views (2456)/Comments (0)/
Topics: School Culture/ClimateTeaching
Tags: Student EngagementStudent MotivationDemocratic ClassroomInquiry-based Learning
Cheating and Plagiarizing

Cheating and Plagiarizing

Ben reads below grade level, and knows that if he whines about how unfair school is, his dad will cave in and do most of the work for him. Jacqueline knows how to do the math, but she doesn't think she should...
Author: Rick Wormeli
Number of views (8641)/Comments (0)/
Topics: Classroom ManagementOrganizational StructuresTeaching
Tags: Rick WormeliDiscipline

Changing Our World

How a daily rotating schedule positively impacted the culture of our school

"If you want something you've never had, you've got to do something you've never done." —Anonymous How many of us remember that last class of the day? As students, we all zoned out by that time, and it always...
Author: Liz James
Number of views (3277)/Comments (0)/
Topics: Middle School ConceptOrganizational Structures
Tags: Scheduling
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