Some teachers may suggest that no text can replace the classics, the perennial list of books that English teachers seem to love and endearingly pass on to students year after year. However, the list of what belongs in...

Co-teaching can be compared to preparing a savory meal for others. Every meal has some basic components: a chef who prepares it, ingredients, preparation time, and delivery. What makes the meal delicious, and not a...

The movie Hidden Figures, the story of four African American women working at NASA in the 1960s, has reinvigorated the role of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) careers. Although women comprise...

In the summer prior to entering middle school, I dove deep into the Choose Your Own Adventure book series. On page 11, as commander of a spaceship, I chose to put up the energy propulsion shields to try to escape a...

The faculty lounge crackles with disagreements about the new grading policies suggested by the standards-based grading committee. The English department debates whether or not grammar proficiency is a requisite for...

The words "independent reading" should bring celebration, right? Somehow, a confluence of amazing events has occurred that has brought a student to a point in life where she is reading! However, indulge me on the...

Hanna's adoption was never a secret. It was a fact of life, like her black hair and her fear of spiders. She didn't give it a lot of thought until she turned 13. At the beginning of seventh grade, she desperately...

Much of the writing we assign students is public writing: writing to communicate with others. Writing-to-learn is personal writing, writing that helps students increase comprehension of texts in all disciplines. In a...

What would middle schoolers call a "Shark Tank" style competition about the national parks? "Park Tank" of course! Last spring, seventh grade students from Hudson Middle School in northeastern Ohio presented their...

Collaboration. The buzzword that gets crowned as one of the most important student skills. It has emerged as one of the major components of 21st century learning. The idea of collaboration is far from new, and the...