Through education, teachers influence change in their students' mindsets, which in turn can help students become successful individuals (Yeager & Dweck, 2012). We believe that the best teachers guide, motivate,...

I hail from room 604, where the sign on the door reads "resource room." However, I actually teach sixth grade English language arts class at full capacity in this room, which was designed for small group support...

"Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play." —Heraclitus (554 – 483 BC) As middle school educators, we see a growing population of adolescents who struggle with...

One of the highest forms of respect around the world is to prove to someone that we really know them, and that we see them as worth knowing. We can connect with the grumpiest of individuals when we prove such things,...

It was the summer of 1998. I lived in a two room apartment with my now husband. The shower was in the kitchen. We drove clunker cars, scrounged change for take-out, and let me tell you, we were living our best life....

Emily, one of my former students, was in seventh-grade when a close friend leaned over to share a secret. "I'm bisexual," Alison* told her. "I like guys and girls" (from Emily's blog at...

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...

In the spring, right before and during testing in a middle school, teachers were asked to share some advice for beginning teachers. Note that the end of the year can be challenging. The stress associated with teaching...

Forty billion hours; not thousand or even million ... 40 BILLION. Women and children in Africa spend 40 BILLION hours walking to gather water every year. They walk for hours to obtain water that's not even safe for...

New clothes, new friends, and new advisory classes were in motion, which meant the new school year was underway! And, as true for some years, an imbalance of boys and girls seemed to be the general configuration that...