The teacher opens an umbrella over his head while standing in the middle of the classroom. He appears not to recognize how unusual this is. Concerned about the teacher's mental health, students lean forward as he...

What's Wow! about your school? Effective middle level leaders rarely miss an opportunity to connect with families of current and potential students to tell the story of how their middle school positively affects the...

The research is clear: humans are literally "hard-wired" with the desire and need to connect. We are social beings who thrive on healthy relationships. And yet, the importance of positive relationships in our schools...

When I graduated from Slippery Rock University 25 years ago, I was eager to meet the challenges and enjoy the rewards I knew would come my way as an educator. I've not been disappointed. Over those two decades, I...

One of the primary goals of education is to encourage, support, and facilitate students' academic and personal achievement. Eighth grade students at Springville-Griffith Institute Middle School in Springville, New...

Agreeing to have a student teacher in your classroom is an important decision. It's one more time commitment on top of a schedule that probably is already overflowing with things to do. But consider how unnerving it...

You worked long and hard to earn your teaching credentials, and this year you have your own classroom for the first time. With that classroom come new responsibilities: learn the curriculum, create instructional...

I was sitting in my office when I heard the distant sounds of crying. I found the source in the girls' bathroom. Kesha, the president of the student council, was collapsed on the ground, sobbing. I got her to her feet...

Remember the Fibonacci sequence? It's a series of numbers in which each subsequent number is the sum of the previous two: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, and so on. One of the most fundamental concepts in...

In December 2007, Walled Lake Consolidated Schools in Michigan faced a dilemma: how to revise the 30-year-old pre-referral process that identified students for special education services. The old process—Student...