As an educator, do you ever feel like you might be at a point in your career where you’re like the old person sitting on the front porch complaining about people walking across their lawn? Have you started saying things like: “These kids today!” or, “When I was a teenager … ?” Some argue that
Read More… from 8 NEW Characteristics of Middle School Kids: What Can We Do?
Teachers, maybe even more so those who teach in the middle level, may feel like they are currently under attack. Myths about teaching, especially teaching young adolescents, are circulating in social media, podcasts and other public forums. Here I outline five of these common myths, separating fact from fiction along the way. Myth One: Teachers
Read More… from Common myths about teaching that deepen the divide
The holiday season is upon us and that can mean madness in our classrooms. Why is that? The truth is, we are often the primary culprit of the chaos. We spend months tirelessly pre-teaching routines and procedures and establishing behavior expectations, only to ease up on them or even abandon them during the holiday season.
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Post-pandemic, students are yearning for connection. This has made the shared purpose that school mission statements and core values provide for a school community critical. And, I argue, one of the best ways to realize this collective “why” is through advisory. Done well, successful advisory programs are designed around the needs of students, giving them
An Interview with the Authors of Successful Middle School Instructional Technology In their newly released book, Successful Middle School Instructional Technology, authors Ryan Ruggles and Tim Schigur advocate for schools to develop a common language and approach to instructional technology within the middle grades setting. I sat down with the authors to talk about why
Read More… from The Most Important Instructional Conversation of Our Time