Offering diverse texts as well as justice-focused critiques of traditional literature On the first day of school in Chicago, I encountered a room full of Iraqi, Nepalese, and West African refugee students. Timid, cautious, and nervous, they sat in Room 34 with visible trepidation. Someone with an equal level of trepidation? Me. I was a
Read More… from Be Radical: Reimagining the 8th Grade Literary Canon
Helping students make sense of issues that concern them In September 2015, a haunting image of Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi circulated the world, mostly via social media. His lifeless body on the shores of Turkey was a confronting and emotive image for the average adult. For many young adolescents, it was unimaginable. The “why” was
Read More… from Get Real: Worthy Curriculum for Worldly Adolescents
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Ideas that energize your lessons and fuel students’ desire to learn The best compliment a teacher can ever receive from a student is when they look at you and say, “Class is over?” These three words let you know loud and clear that they were engaged, focused, and enjoying the lesson you have created. But
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Robust learning happens when students have choice and voice in curriculum. “Students in the middle grades … have the ability to perceive deep truths and are making decisions that will affect the way they live the rest of their lives. This transitional time between childhood and adulthood is the prime time to introduce students to
Read More… from Moving into Action: Middle Level Learners as Change Agents
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How to Keep Middle Grades Students Motivated in the Edu-Kitchen If you read last week’s moving, marvelously humble post about Mulch, you know that we’ve moved from the letter C to the letter M in the ABCs blog. Before we put the next M word in the cognitive crockpot, let’s use our senses to explore the letter itself
Read More… from Motivating Young Adolescents: What’s Your Recipe?
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Students share valuable insights when we take time to listen. Middle level educators engage in a variety of professional development experiences in order to continue to learn about effective ways to work with young adolescents as they develop their identities, ideas, and “voices.” We listen to and talk with colleagues and other professionals in our
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