Today's students must be able to learn and express themselves in myriad ways, yet reading, writing, and speaking remain the primary vehicles. Thus, language arts still...

In the race to complete reports that prove the immediate value-added measures of our teaching, we've lost sight of one of the most powerful teaching tools we have: patience. Teacher patience is the heart of students'...

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...

As I drove home one evening after hosting a showcase of student work, attended by the community, all I could think about was how a new project called Genius Hour had transformed my seventh graders over the course of...

Team teachers must develop respectful relationships with each another if they wish their students to exhibit positive relationships with others in their group projects. One cannot model that which one doesn't...

What do you remember from your middle school or junior high days? Your test scores? Your grades? Probably not. You are more likely to remember special occasions and events that made a particularly positive...

Academic rigor, achievement on standardized tests, character education, and student behavior will always be important topics, but above all, parents want their children to come home safely and in the same physical...

Have you noticed the groundswell of volunteerism during the past few years? In 2006 alone, 60 million Americans dedicated 8.1 billion hours of service to community organizations. More recently, President Obama has...

“Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be, and he will become as he can and should be.” When he wrote those words, could Goethe have foreseen a...

We often assume that by the time they walk through our doors, middle school students know how to read well. Yet, that’s not always the case. And with the complex text requirements of the Common Core State...