So much discussion has focused on what students have gained, or lost, during this time of interrupted learning. But what have we, the educators, gained? Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, while most school buildings were closed and our society pivoted suddenly to learning and working from home, we heard a nearly universal outpouring of gratitude
No matter what mode your students are learning in right now, it’s always great to have some engaging take home activities in your toolkit that tie into the “real world” and make learning relevant for your students. The U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistics in Schools (SIS) program offers over 200 free activities and resources across multiple
Read More… from This Middle Level Education Month, Make Learning Fun With Census Data
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COVID-19 has challenged us to re-envision education. Every aspect of “best practice” is currently up for re-examination and debate, from current academic practices to recommendations on how to best develop meaningful curriculum to how to cultivate meaningful relationships with students/families. In the process, we have also discovered that it is not enough to make education
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Using a simple checklist can help educators design quality assessments When Ken O’Connor’s daughter was in 7th grade, she was given an assignment that included a detailed rubric. He spent time with her unpacking the rubric so that she understood the expectations. After much hard work, she produced what he thought to be an excellent
Read More… from Assessing with Instructional Integrity Before, During and After the Pandemic
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Revisiting the value of informal teaching beyond planned instruction. Wayside teaching was first introduced in the May 1987 “As I See It” column in the Middle School Journal—30 years ago. Here is a slightly modified version of it, particularly for all those educators who came to the middle school more recently. Formal, organized instruction is
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