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Middle School Concept

Mixing Up the Teams: All Students Deserve the Very Best

Mixing Up the Teams: All Students Deserve the Very Best

Why tracking based on ability means everyone loses.

Let's say we have two soccer teams. One is populated by all of the strongest, fastest, toughest, athletic students. These kids attend practice every day after school and work out on their own in the evenings and on...
Author: Krista Venza, Nancy Doda, Robert Salladino, Jonathan Treese
Number of views (16935)/Comments (0)/
Topics: Diversity and Social EquityLeadershipMiddle School ConceptTeaching
Tags: Student EngagementStudent MotivationGrouping
Why Awaken the Middle School Voice?

Why Awaken the Middle School Voice?

Middle school voices are not always what their teachers want to hear. Those voices can be high-pitched and rowdy, full of criticism and negativity, whining with complaint, or bent on distracting others, destroying...
Author: Elyse S. Scott
Number of views (20904)/Comments (0)/
Topics: InspirationTeaching
Tags: Student EngagementStudent MotivationNew Teachers
Compassionate Discipline: Dealing with Difficult Students

Compassionate Discipline: Dealing with Difficult Students

Reaching and teaching all students requires an understanding of them inside and out.

If you are tired of dealing with negative student behaviors day in and day out, you are not alone—in fact, you are firmly in the center of the average teacher's experience. Still, managing difficult student...
Author: Grace Dearborn
Number of views (133315)/Comments (4)/
Topics: Classroom ManagementTeaching
Tags: Student Motivation
How I Won the Grading Game

How I Won the Grading Game

One single event can change teaching forever.

With more than two decades of experience, I have seen my share of the unusual, but one event in one eighth grade class forever changed the way I think about instruction and grading. It lead me on a personal and...
Author: Theresa Heilsberg
Number of views (23674)/Comments (0)/
Topics: Teaching
Tags: Student EngagementStudent MotivationGradesGames/Gaming
How to Bribe Your Students

How to Bribe Your Students

Teachers seem to be naturally resistant to rewarding students for doing "what they are supposed to do." Some equate reward with bribery and claim that students will be working only for the points/recognition/reward,...
Author: Kimberly A. Henkle, Benjamin N. Witts
Number of views (19220)/Comments (5)/
Topics: Teaching
Tags: Student Motivation
Letting Students Succeed at Their Own Speed

Letting Students Succeed at Their Own Speed

A self-paced unit helped students take control of their learning.

"Challenge every student." That was my goal for the quarter. As I peruse the results of students' latest math assessments, my goal again crosses my mind. The test scores are fine, but upon closer scrutiny, I can see...
Author: Diane Krueger
Number of views (33618)/Comments (0)/
Topics: Differentiated InstructionTeaching
Tags: Student EngagementStudent Motivation
New Perspectives on Student Engagement

New Perspectives on Student Engagement

Do you remember Judith Viorst's story about Alexander, who had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day? For some middle school students, each day of the school year is an Alexander kind of day as defeat after...
Author: James Hall
Number of views (22333)/Comments (0)/
Topics: TeachingYoung Adolescent Development
Tags: Student EngagementStudent Motivation
Keeping Our Feedback "On Par"

Keeping Our Feedback "On Par"

A little bit of golf can help teachers improve instruction.

I love to play golf even though I am not very good. I know I am not very good because someone a very long time ago created a scoring system that reminds me that my scores are well above average, and in golf being...
Author: David M. Schmittou
Number of views (14085)/Comments (0)/
Topics: Teaching
Tags: Student Motivation
Minds-On, Hands-Off Learning

Minds-On, Hands-Off Learning

Allowing students freedom within boundaries promotes dynamic learning.

Middle school students are growing and developing into actively thinking young adults. To become critical thinkers who take ownership of their work, they need guided autonomy embedded in rich learning experiences....
Author: Alicia A. Cole
Number of views (25307)/Comments (1)/
Topics: Classroom ManagementTeaching
Tags: Student EngagementStudent Motivation

Motivation: Understanding and Responding to Individual Differences

Research Summary

A basic educational principle is that no matter how well teachers design their instruction, students who refuse to engage can ensure the teachers' instruction will come to naught. This simple truth leads teachers on a...
Author: Bruce Henderson, David Strahan
Number of views (57308)/Comments (0)/
Topics: ResearchTeaching
Tags: Student EngagementStudent MotivationResearch Summary
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