Are we asking our students to take risks that we as adults aren’t willing to take? Structure is utilized in the middle school experience to build a safe learning environment for our students. Students are placed on teams where they take classes with the same peer group, increasing their comfort level in contributing to classroom
Four steps to build capacity for long-term innovation Innovation has become a widely-used term in education with a variety of interpretations. Generally, innovation implies novelty and inventiveness that leads to improvement and thus, is considered a positive contribution to society. But in education we must be careful not to equate innovations with research-based practices, proven
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These elements of the middle school concept need attention and commitment We have heard it talked about for years and years. The middle school concept was implemented in the early 1990s when I was a teacher in an urban middle school. Traditionally, teachers worked in departments and there were no teams. When the middle school
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Educators’ mindsets make it possible to move a philosophy forward What is middle school philosophy and how does it compare with or differ from a middle school mindset? A philosophy can be summarized as a system of principles used to guide one’s practices; whereas a mindset can be described as an attitude with intention. Based on those
Read More… from Making Middle School Philosophy Work: Philosophy vs Mindset
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We’ve all been there. It’s an infamous juggle between what is right and what should be, or better yet what we know we should do for our students and what is supposed to match the status quo. It often takes years to see the results we hope to produce in the midst of measures that
Read More… from Principal vs. Principles: The Power of People
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5 Tips to Support Students and Staff in the Grand Narrative Homework vs. no homework. Soft skills vs. hard skills. Chunky vs. smooth peanut butter. BYOD vs. low tech. Axe body spray vs. breathing normally. Ugh. I typically avoid writing or speaking about binary relationships because nothing is ever that simple. Especially not in the
Read More… from Major and Minor Characters in the Story of School
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