Asking—and listening—to our students pays off Last night I saw the play Dear Edward Hansen with my 14-year-old eighth grader, Zoey. It’s amazing, of course, but one thing that really struck me was the audible sobbing during the show. This is a play about a suicide, social media, mob mentality, and absolute loneliness, so tears were inevitable.
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Discussion and disruption to reduce and end harmful language and behaviors As a white, privileged, cisgender, heterosexual male, I can walk into most situations with people of my own race, or with mixed race, gender, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status groups, and not have to be on my guard. I do not have to worry
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Modeling gender empowerment and equity in a #MeToo Movement world Introduction Young adolescent education must be empowering and equitable (NMSA, 2010). While empowerment and equity are at the forefront of middle school educators’ minds as they plan their lessons and conduct class, it may be harder to encompass these attributes when working with students and community members
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Help our students with and without intellectual disabilities lead the way to socially inclusive schools Exclusion, discrimination, bullying—all are in the headlines on a daily basis, but change is ahead. It is time for an inclusion revolution, and our middle level students can help lead the way by becoming part of a unified generation. Ending
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Examining the cultural narrative around these ideologies As with most things in education, context can be everything. A skill taught in isolation from meaningful context, for example, is rarely learned, and often becomes grist for blaming the student for his lack of learning rather than analyzing the teacher’s instructional design. Read a mediocre piece of
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Designing homework with students of poverty in mind Homework, like taking a daily vitamin, is supposed to be good for us. So why all the angst over a seemingly benign antidote? For teachers, homework is frequently just another piece of paper to grade; for parents, another evening chore to be done; and for students, a
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