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"Of Particular Interest" Archives

A NEW TEACHER'S TOP 10 TO-DO LIST
We hope it's not too late in September for the new teachers among us to gain from this Top 10 to-do list, prepared by veteran middle grades teacher Marsha Ratzel. She focuses on many practical matters and offers tips that will serve new teachers well in the coming months by maximizing teaching time.

TEACHING THE OUTSIDERS
Seventh-grade language arts teacher Mark Coward began this blog to document and reflect upon his strategies for teaching the popular middle grades novel The Outsiders. Somewhere along the way, Mark decided to expand his reflections to include “the day to day life” of a middle school classroom. English teachers will of course find much of use here, but so will novice educators and teachers new to the middle grades. A 20-year veteran, Mark has a funny and engaging writing style. Check out his recent post about the Raffle King, a random decision-making tool that Mark says is super-engaging to seventh graders when “projected 8 feet high with the LCD projector.”

NEW MIDDLE LEVEL PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR
Ray Landers, principal of Boaz Middle School in Boaz, Alabama has been named the 2009 MetLife/NASSP National Middle Level Principal of the Year. Landers, who's been at high-poverty Boaz Middle for eight years, says it's his responsibility “to inspire and lead change” based on solid research, best practices, and teacher collaboration. The school's journey from “good to great” was helped by the addition of an instructional specialist who supports teachers in more intensive professional development. To read a detailed report on the remarkable improvements at Boaz MS, download the Fall 2008 issue of Working Toward Excellence, the journal of the Alabama Best Practices Center (page 7).

EXPLORATOPIA: HANDS-ON SCIENCE
It's a standing rule here at MiddleWeb that we don't promote products that are purely for sale. There has to be some content you can use without spending a nickel. So we were relieved to see the sample activities offered as part of the Exploratorium's sales pitch for its new hands-on science book Exploratopia. Why? Because we want to promote it! It includes more than 400 “kid-friendly explorations and experiments for curious minds,” drawn from the archives of the 25-year old San Francisco hands-on science museum. Check out the sample activities (we're eager to try out the March of the Ants) and read the details about the book's content. Worth $30? We think so.

FACULTY BOOK STUDIES
Teacher book groups are gaining traction as a way for educators to reflect on ideas and create change in schools, says this story in the latest issue of Teacher Magazine's Professional Development Sourcebook. “On media-center couches and at conference-room tables, downing Cokes and sipping coffee together, teachers around the country are cracking open books to get better at what they do --and, often, relishing the experience.” The article includes a list of some current books being studied by middle school faculties, including Classroom Assessment for Student Learning by Robert J. Stiggins.

CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER
In his social studies and English classes, teacher Stephen Myers uses intentional, structured conversations to create and maintain trusting classroom relationships. ASCD thought enough of his methods to feature his article “Conversations That Matter” as part of the September package of stories about “The Positive Classroom,” published in Educational Leadership (online). Myers offers three structures teachers can use to model and practice community building conversations with students in grades 6-12. “Relationships are like breathing,” he says. “They aren't the whole story, but without them, nothing else matters.”

MAKING MATH CONCEPTS STICK
Laurynn Evans says she's “lost count of the number of times that I have watched a student have the thrill of an 'aha!' moment in a math classroom only to later discover that he or she forgot the skill, lost track of the process, or couldn't demonstrate their learning when assessment time rolled around.” In this recent article from Principal Leadership (May 2008), Evans has some ideas that could result in a few Aha moments for math teachers. “Recent research and practice,” she says, “show that an instructional strategy called 'reflective assessment' is helping a growing number of students bridge the gap between learning and retaining math information.” Evans summarizes the research and includes several strategies.

CREATING THE POSITIVE CLASSROOM
September's Educational Leadership focuses on "The Positive Classroom" and includes several excellent articles of interest to any teacher looking for ideas about classroom management that is both affirmative and effective. In "Joy in School," teacher educator Steve Wolk suggests that while teachers cannot always banish boredom, it's still possible to "reach for joy." In "Assuming the Best," Rick Smith and Mary Lambert offer ways that teachers can help students learn both content and appropriate behavior "in a safe, structured classroom." Also, author-educator Paula Denton reminds us in "The Power of Our Words" that what teachers say "influences students' identities as learners." She shares five principles from the Responsive Classroom approach that can help keep that influence positive. For more ideas, be sure to see the Online Only articles, covering everything from asking the right questions of students, to serving up positive behavior management in the lunchroom.

TEACHING SECRETS: THE PARENT MEET-AND-GREET
Parent nights send "chills up the spine of many teachers," says middle school teacher Marsha Ratzel in this recent Teacher Magazine essay, aimed at helping novice educators prepare for a successful parent meet-and-greet experience. Filled with practical tips and survival strategies, Ratzel's article shares the hard-earned insights of a veteran educator. Don't get lost in the details of your classroom, she says. "Remember that this is what most parents want to know: (1) You're going to treat their child fairly; and (2) You are committed to teaching both the curriculum and other skills well... Parents want reassurance that you'll listen to them as a valued partner in their child's school year."

THE HISTORY TEACHER
This magazine published by the Society for History Education is now archived at the History Cooperative website. Currently you'll find issues published from 2000-2007 on the site, with full access to all content. The magazine is aimed a secondary school and college teachers. It's a bit geeky, but if we know history teachers, they'll enjoy browsing, both to expand their own knowledge and to pick up a new teaching strategy or two.

ADVICE FOR TEACHER MENTORS
The mentoring insights of Ellen Moir, director of the California-based New Teacher Center, are well worth the attention of both teacher mentors and school principals. In this Edutopia column, Moir responds to a mentor who writes: "I have inconsistent success in addressing instructional practice with the new teachers I mentor because I often find myself addressing their emotional needs, which, of course, is crucial but takes away from instruction." Moir responds that there is "no magic ratio of emotional-mentoring support to instructional-mentoring support for new teachers. However, experience tells us that teachers have difficulty focusing on the nuances of instructional practice when they are in a state of emotional emergency. The challenge for mentors is finding creative and supportive ways to mitigate emotional problems to free new teachers to focus on improving their pedagogical mastery." Meeting that challenge, Moir says, requires "a strong relationship between the mentor and his or her administrator."

WRITING IN SCIENCE
Science teacher Anthony Cody shares some of the strategies he has used to bring more writing into the science classroom in this best practices essay from Teacher Magazine. Cody, a curriculum coach in the very-urban Oakland CA public schools, describes a technique he has used to loosen up students for research writing by first having them write science-based fiction within a research framework. As Cody notes, the strategy is "easily adapted to math, social studies, and other content areas." In addition to his own favorite project, Cody provides a half-dozen other examples of activities that teach research and documentation skills through creative writing.

MIDDLE SCHOOL LEARNING WALKS
Learn how Rhode Island's 2008 middle grades Principal of the Year used "learning walks" and "other practices that involve the adults observing one another's work" to help Kickemuit Middle School turn the performance corner. This article by education columnist Julia Steiny describes how "honest, constructive feedback" and getting teachers out of their isolated classrooms "to take a look for themselves" transformed a hard-working but "academically idling" school into an academic pacesetter where teachers look forward to collaboration.

ORIGAMI & MATHEMATICAL THINKING
Math teachers are always searching for new approaches to teaching mathematical thinking. If you're such a teacher -- have you tried Origami yet? This website, developed by several university profs in New York State, includes background information on the Japanese art of paper folding, a set of teaching strategies that can be used to incorporate origami into the math classroom, and sample models. Education World rates the usefulness of this site as A-plus and notes that "the basic strategy is for students to become the teachers." The examples include a variety of different hand- and computer-based techniques that students at all levels can use. The Origami Sources section provides external links to other helpful origami sites.

PUBLIC SCHOOL LEADERS ARE IN SHORT SUPPLY
So said Hayes Mizell, a long-time national advocate for middle grades reform, at this summer's NSDC leadership conference. The complete quotation goes like this: "At all levels of human activity, leaders matter. This is no more true than in public education. People in leadership roles are ubiquitous, but leaders are in short supply. From the classroom to the board room, there has never been a greater need for leaders with the commitment, knowledge, and skills to mobilize, organize, and inspire others to educate all children more effectively." We commend the entire transcript (or podcast) of Mizell's remarks to you. And we should mention that Mizell, who now serves as NSDC's Distinguished Senior Fellow, was previously a program officer at the E.M. Clark Foundation and provided the funding necessary to launch MiddleWeb and this newsletter. Read more of Mizell's recent speeches.

MS. TEACHER'S MIDDLE SCHOOL TIPS
We recently came across the blog of Ms. Teacher, subtitled (and many of you can relate to this) "The hectic adventures of a wife, mother and middle school teacher." Ms. Teacher mixes stories from her classroom with news of her personal life and children (who have school adventures of their own). What is particularly pertinent right now is Ms. Teacher's regular feature, Teacher Tip Tuesdays, in which she either offers tips of her own or points you to the ideas of other teacher bloggers, mostly at the middle school level. New teachers and those new to middle school will especially appreciate the Tuesday collection. Click on the link above to see them all on a single page.

HELP FOR THE (TEACHER OF THE) GIFTED
A new subscriber writes that "I teach a gifted pull-out program for 7th and 8th graders and need all the help I can get." One of our favorite resources about the gifted from newsletters past is an article in the March 2006 Edutopia Magazine which offers the "sage advice" of a number of teachers under the heading "Challenging and Motivating Gifted Students" (link above). Last fall, we recommended a new blog, just beginning to appear at Teacher Magazine, with the intriguing title "Unwrapping the Gifted." Author Tamara Fisher specializes in K-12 gifted ed. Fisher has now built a backlog of blog entries, where she offers teaching ideas, smart advice, and moral support for the GT pullout teacher. And our list wouldn't be complete without this favorite – a 20-year-old essay by psychologist Thomas Armstrong titled "Little Geniuses."

10 PRACTICAL TIPS FOR PARENTS
School is beginning in many places, and tips seem to be in order! Wings for Kids is a national non-profit that specializes in afterschool programs for elementary and the middle grades. This downloadable handout, "Beyond the Bookbag: Ten Practical Tips to Prepare Kids to Succeed in School by Building Their Social and Emotional Smarts," may be particularly useful to parents whose children are transitioning from elementary to middle or intermediate schools.

MEDIA LITERACY: A ONE-STOP SHOP
Frank Baker is a noted media literacy educator whose "Media Literacy Clearinghouse" (which doubles as his consulting website) is a major resource for teachers interested in integrating this 21st Century skill into their content and curriculum. Baker keeps up with goings-on in media literacy (recent headline: "Media literacy crucial in the age of Internet news") and provides plenty of newslinks on his homepage. In the right margin you'll also see a lengthy list of resources for K-12 educators. Note for example Baker's suggestion for a lesson that deconstructs cigarette advertising, or a lesson that engages kids in analyzing TV toy ads. Baker has a new book about political advertising (a timely topic this fall) and also provides a lesson plan on the role of media in campaigns. If his name sounds familiar, Baker also blogs for NCTE on media literacy topics.

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE
Before there was the Summer Olympics, there was the total solar eclipse (August 1), also seen in China, and in parts of Canada, Greenland, the Arctic Ocean, Russia and Mongolia. A crew from the San Francisco Exploratorium traveled to the remote Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China to webcast the eclipse live. At this site, you can "replay" the solar/lunar event thanks to an Exploratorium video that does a nice job of setting up the eclipse, discussing the science, and documenting all the human activity at the site as photographers and other visitors prepared for the event. Students can also peruse the team's blog dispatches, which feature both text and video. Excellent!

KIDS OPEN DICTIONARY BUILDER
Brad at K12 Open Ed writes: "We're building a free and open dictionary with content aimed at kids. What might interest you is our glossary builder. It's under an experimental section, but no one has had any troubles. It's a really easy way to build glossaries to enhance content and provide extra help to kids that need it. We provide a variety of output formats. You can print them out or copy and paste them into other things. It's all licensed public domain so you may use it without restriction." This might make an interesting project for middle school students. The glossaries function something like a wiki. You can see the beginnings of a glossary for the popular YA novel "Hatchet." Check out the FAQ page to learn how and why this project got started.

FOR MATH TEACHERS: MATHEMATICS ILLUMINATED
Mathematics Illuminated is a 13-part multimedia learning resource developed by Oregon Public Television for teachers. The videos and other materials are available at the Annenberg teacher resources website at no cost. "The series explores major themes in the field of mathematics, from mankind's earliest study of prime numbers to the cutting edge mathematics used to reveal the shape of the universe." The series includes "groundbreaking videos, interactive Web exploration, text materials, and group activities." The math focus is high school and college but we know many middle grades math geeks (er, teachers) who will want to explore this offering for their own professional development. NOTE: you can watch the videos online for free once you establish an account — the only fees come with workshop registration or graduate credit. Go to the "home" for each unit ('The Primes' is the first) to find the video link and many other resources.

MIDDLE SCHOOLS BACK UNDER MICROSCOPE
An analysis by the Boston Globe finds two-thirds of Massachusetts middle schools have fallen short of NCLB performance goals for at least two years. The story questions whether middle school teaching practices are appropriate "for students wading through the turbulent years of puberty" but doesn't provide much insight into possible solutions. You'll find more useful ideas in the current edition of the ASCD Express, "Muddle in the Middle?", which offers a mix of stories and resources. Of particular interest: a video report on Montgomery County MD's reform efforts; a clip of Carol Tomlinson discussing differentiated instruction in middle school; and a reflection by middle grades principal Samuel Dasher on his Georgia school's success.

TEACHING SECRETS: FIVE TIPS FOR THE NEW TEACHER
We highlighted Cindi Rigsbee's excellent middle grades blog, The Dream Teacher, earlier this year. Now the newly named North Carolina Teacher of the Year has an essay in Teacher Magazine in which she shares her five favorite comments to new teachers in her school. Rigsbee begins with "Hit the floor running and breathe when you leave" and ends with "Don't hide your light under a bushel." This essay, one of a series written by members of the Teacher Leaders Network, is currently the "most viewed" article at the TM site. Other veteran teachers are leaving additional tips in the Comments section. You might, too!

SUMMER OLYMPICS 2008 (AND LOTS MORE)
Creator Walter McKenzie is celebrating the 10th anniversary of his Surfaquarium and Innovative Teaching Newsletter. You can sample his vast educational resource offerings -- and seize upon some teachable moments -- by vaulting into his collection of more than 75 Beijing Olympics links. You'll find everything from the official Summer Olympics blog, schedule and venue, to a simulation unit on the ancient Greek olympics and the website of the Tibet Government in Exile. See all of Walter's topical categories.

CHRONICLING AMERICA
"Chronicling America" offers teachers and students access to a remarkable database of primary American history sources -- nearly 700,000 pages of U.S. newspapers spanning the 19th and early 20th Century. A joint project of the Library of Congress and the National Endowment of the Humanities, the site has two search engines: one looks for keywords within the archived pages, and a second lets users search for newspapers in the collection by state, publication years, and titles/subjects. The site is long-term project -- find out more on the About page. For fun, we searched for the 1904 world's fair in St. Louis (the subject of the 1944 Judy Garland film "Meet Me in St. Louis"). The New York Tribune story about the Fair's grand opening describes President Teddy Roosevelt demonstrating exciting 20th Century technology. As he sat in the White House, Roosevelt pressed a gold key "which completed the electrical circuit and released the gigantic power...putting in motion the 40,000-horsepower machinery and the cascades on the exposition grounds." Bully!

DEAR SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY LEADER
Scott McLeod is a college professor and keeper of a popular ed-blog called "Dangerously Irrelevant." As a July 4th event, McLeod invited readers to comment on effective school technology leadership, either by writing in their own blogs or commenting at his. The response was robust -- many participants wrote letters of advice to their school ITs and central office decision makers. McLeod has summarized many of the contributions at the link above. You can browse the various advice and add comments of your own.

SAFE-SCHOOL AMBASSADORS
To date, 650 schools in thirty-one states have made use of Safe School Ambassadors, an eight-year-old program run by the California-based Community Matters. The program identifies students in grades 4-12 who are leaders in their school social circles and trains them in constructive ways to prevent cruelty and violence. "There are a lot of bystanders who are afraid to open their mouths because the bullying could be turned against them," says founder Rick Phillips. "You have to start with kids who aren't afraid to buck the trend. They are not always the 4.0-grade-point-average, student-council kids. They're diverse. They come from all the different cliques." And while you're at Edutopia, read this article by anthropologist Jane Goodall about her Roots and Shoots program, which helps kids come to see they hold an important place in the world, where they can make a difference. http://snipurl.com/jgoodall

MATH: DIGITAL DEMOS FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL
Thanks to Kansas math/science teacher Marsha Ratzel for checking out this free material at the Mathematica website. Downloading the special player needed to view these middle school math demonstrations was "no big deal," Marsha says. While similar resources are available through NCTM's Illuminations website, "these demos are downloadable," she says, making them useable in a variety of settings (blogs, wikis, classroom website). "That could be a great bonus to our kids when they are learning concepts," she believes. "I will definitely use them and may try to organize them in ways that students could look at them while they do homework." There are also elementary and HS demos, which could be used to support remedial or advanced lessons.

THE PERFECT CORPSE
Science? History? How about English? Designed to complement the NOVA program of the same name, this PBS website provides articles, slideshows and interactive experiences around the many ancient, intact bodies found in blogs -- including America's "premier bog-body site," just down the road from Florida's Disney World. What middle schooler could resist features like "10 Ways to Make a Mummy" or the chance to poke around (virtually) in the remarkably preserved remains of 4th-century-BC Tollund Man and learn the contents of his last meal. He was also hanged, and the braided leather rope is still around his neck. Does it GET any more interesting? The literary connection is made by Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney, who reads his tribute poem "The Tollund Man."

NEW DOUBTS ABOUT THE K-8 "SOLUTION"
A recent story in the Washington Post, headlined "Doubts Linger on Pre-K-8 Strategy," considers the available evidence supporting the contention of D.C. school chancellor Michelle Rhee that a pre-K-8 grade structure will produce more successful, higher achieving students. "Evidence of pre-K-8's long-term benefits, however, is far from clear-cut," the Post reports, quoting a Johns Hopkins researcher who says, "The benefit isn't as big as it looks when you sit down and eyeball it." Those who view the K-8 structure as a solution to what ails middle schools might consider a new policy statement on grade configuration from the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform. The brief document summarizes all of the important research to date and concludes: "What is most important for the education of young adolescent learners is what takes place inside each middle-grades school — not grade configuration, per se." The link above will download a PDF of the policy statement. Here's a link to the Washington Post story.

FOR NEW TEACHERS: THE ORGANIZED MIDDLE SCHOOLER
Little wonder new middle schoolers are so disorganized, wrote Laurie Wasserman in this 2007 "Teaching Secrets" essay at the Teacher Magazine website. Most "have spent their first five years of school with a single teacher for the majority of the day." When they enter middle school "they are given a combination lock, a hallway locker, a homeroom, and a schedule that often has four or more subject-area teachers...This is where the child with significant organizational challenges becomes both overwhelmed and frustrated." Wasserman, a sixth grade special ed teacher who works with ADD/ADHD students, offers some ideas for building an "organized" middle schooler. (We're recycling this resource with all our new-teacher subscribers in mind. Teacher Magazine will begin a new series of "Secrets" next week. Meanwhile you can find more 2007 articles at our new-teacher page.)

STUDENTS PUT MATH INTO ACTION
Who knew math could be so much fun? This new Edutopia story describes a "grand conjunction" of algebra and medieval technology. The author writes: "The night sky is lit up with streaking arcs -- parabolas, to the math initiated -- as the freshmen shoot glow sticks from their catapults. But even more beautiful is the sight of students deeply engaged in learning -- and teaching." We're willing to stretch our definition of "middle school" just a bit (to ninth grade) so you can read this great teaching tale that demonstrates once again the power of hands-on learning.

LET'S FACE IT - FACEBOOK IS MAINSTREAM
ASCD, long-time publisher of Educational Leadership, popular professional books, and the daily SmartBrief newsletter, has "created a presence" (as web savvy folks like to say) on Facebook. If you have a Facebook account of your own — or have thought about creating one but didn't have a sufficient excuse — check out ASCD's "Whole Child" area, where 250 or so Facebook users have already declared themselves fans. To quote from the press release: "Facebook is a rapidly growing social networking site that can help nonprofits like ASCD generate awareness and support for key initiatives."

21ST CENTURY SOCIAL STUDIES
For several years, we've been promoting the outline of new-century skills developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. So we were interested to learn of the Partnership's first attempt to translate their skill set into a curriculum map for a specific content area. The National Council for the Social Studies collaborated to produce this first-of-its-kind document, which seeks to provide educators "with concrete examples of how 21st century skills can be infused into classroom practices" and highlights "the critical connections between social studies and 21st century skills." The link above will download the Map. Here's the press release.

STRATEGIES TO ENGAGE MIDDLE-LEVEL LEARNERS
This short article at the website of the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement (CCSRI) offers a concise research review of best middle grades practices to engage learners. You'll also find links to additional resources and key research documents. CCSRI is a national clearinghouse for best instructional practices, maintained under a federal contract by Learning Point Associates, the successor to NCREL. While you're visiting the site, click on "Newsletters" in the left-hand margin and peruse similarly structured articles on other important topics, many of particular interest to principals and others in school-based leadership positions.

COACHING TEACHERS TO BE LEADERS
Principals - is this year when you make teacher leadership a permanent component of school success? Need some advice? Education World maintains an archive of nine insightful articles by leadership coach Evelyn Cortez-Ford that can help. Perhaps the early enthusiasm for leadership is fading in your school -- commitment is waning, and old patterns are resurfacing. How do you maintain momentum? How do you know when it's working? See if Cortez-Ford's practical insights might be of help.

KINDLES FOR KIDS
Although this blog is titled Kindles for Kids, it's not a website dedicated to marketing Amazon's breakout electronic book reader. The subtitle better describes it: "News and views on Digital Books, the Digital Divide and Teen Literacy." The blog mixes information about Kindles in education settings with posts on literacy topics (like the recent Family Reading Report published by Scholastic or the demise of the Reading First program). The site is supported by Connect2Books, a non-profit that donates Kindles "to deserving students who are in financially challenging circumstances." Successful candidates also receive a credit for $100 worth of e-books from Amazon's Kindle store. The program is targeting U.S. students in grades 6-12.

BUILDING STUDENT THINKING SKILLS
We really love Educational Leadership's summer Online Only edition. Not only is the content great, but all the articles are available to non-members at no cost. Just visit this link to the table of contents, then click and read. What's there for middle grades educators? How about "Immersed in Inquiry" (how to help students become researchers), or "Differentiating Math Through Expeditions" (a strategy that also works in other content areas), or a toolkit from the Center for Creative Learning that can help you in "Preparing Creative and Critical Thinkers." And we've just hit a few highlights. Browse and read what grabs you while you can. You'll soon hear them coming down the hall!

YOUR TEACHING LIFE -- IN EXACTLY SIX WORDS
Your editor helped compile this new article at the Teacher Magazine website, where members of the Teacher Leaders Network were asked to write six-word mini-memoirs of their teaching lives. The intellectual fun that ensued is so enticing that more than 60 readers have already left THEIR mini-memoirs in the article's Comment section. Drop by, browse the contributions of others, and leave your own brief tale. Here's mine: "Consorted with teachers; wiser for it."

FOR NEW TEACHERS: STUDENT ICEBREAKERS
New teacher Brandi writes: "This fall I will begin teaching middle school Language Arts and Reading. I am looking for an introductory activity that will allow my students and me to get to know one another better. Any advice or information will be very helpful." First, Brandi, welcome to your very own classroom. One great resource for icebreakers is the Education World website. As the editors note, beginning-of-the-year icebreakers are "the story that won't quit." EW has accumulated quite a collection for you to choose from. This link leads to Volume 4 (which has 19 teacher-tested ideas). From there you can jump to an archive of more than 150 -- and/or share your own. (Don't miss Vol. 12, which brags on us!)

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE GOOD AT SOMETHING?
Here's a high school project that can easily be adapted to the middle grades. The wonderful innovators at the What Kids Can Do organization helped students explore a common misconception that "getting good at something" is more about talent than effort. As part of the Practice Project, they had students look for ordinary adults who have special mastery in a field, then ask them questions about how they gained their skills. The students transcribed their interviews and turned them into first-person narratives. Some students also examined areas in which they themselves have developed special skills. At this WKCD webpage, you'll not only see results of the students' work -- you'll find a curriculum outline you can adapt to your own school or classroom.

LISTEN TO YOUR (DIGITAL) STUDENTS
Marc Prensky, who thinks a lot about the future of education, is a frequent speaker before school audiences. Here's a recent piece he wrote for Edutopia magazine, "Young Minds, Fast Times," about the 21st century digital learner. "During my talks," he says, "I typically look out at oceans of white hair. Never -- I can't even say rarely -- is a kid in sight or invited to the party. It is a measure of the malaise of our educational system that these old folk -- smart and experienced as they may be -- think they can, by themselves and without the input of the people they're trying to teach, design the future of education."

ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE CONTENT LITERACY
Here's a nice little set of strategic teaching techniques that can help teachers across the curriculum promote literacy skills while they address their own content areas. The learning activities include Chalk Talk, Exit Slip, Gallery Walk, 3-2-1, Turn and Talk, and Word Splash. This Word doc from the website of the Council of Chief State School Officers succinctly describes the procedures for each strategy. It's part of CCSSO's Adolescent Literacy Toolkit.

EIGHTH GRADE LETTER BRINGS RUSH OF MEMORIES
Thanks to subscriber Sarah Cooper for spotting this column in a recent edition of the Los Angeles Times. As Sarah writes, it is "a wonderful story about the impact of middle school" that comes from columnist Sandy Banks' own life. Her daughter's eighth grade teacher from 2003 keeps a promise to mail all of her former students a letter they wrote as they were about to cross the threshold of high school. The letter, Banks writes, "reminded me of all I owe to the teachers who were my unacknowledged partners, whose kind words and small gestures helped ease her passage." The teacher, Mrs. McKeever, got the idea from the "Roseanne" show years ago. It's an idea worth borrowing.

TECHNOLOGY AND THE MIDDLE SCHOOL
There's a new summer issue out of Meridian, N.C. State University's long-running online journal of "middle school computer technologies." This link leads to the table of contents, where you'll find stories with social studies and science angles, among others. There's also a commentary on the use of cell phones in education (it's coming, folks!), and a continuing discussion about one-to-one laptop learning, building on an earlier article by Friend of MiddleWeb Chris Toy.

FOR NEW TEACHERS: PRINCIPAL INTERVIEWS
What kinds of questions do principals ask new-teacher interviewees? That was the topic of conversation at the well-read blog, LeaderTalk, not long ago. In this ASCD blog post, pre-service teacher Grace Norheim weighs in on some of LeaderTalk's suggested questions, based on her experiences. Read her answers, offer your own perspectives, and click on the link in the first paragraph to jump over to Leader Talk and find out what's on principals' minds as they approach your interview. New principal might also mosey over to gather up a good question or two.

SCHOOL STARTER: GREAT TOOL TO CONNECT WITH PARENTS
It's been a couple of years since we mentioned this MiddleWeb beginning-of-year classic. We were prompted to share it once again after receiving a note from Sonya Brown: "I am a 6th grade teacher in Georgia. My team and I used the 'In a Million Words or Less' writing assignment last fall. Our parents really sent us valuable and priceless info about their children. We referred to the papers throughout the year in conferences and student meetings, but the best was when we gave them back to the students on the last day of school. They laughed, smiled, and a few girls needed a tissue to wipe their eyes. The assignment was a brillant idea! Kudos to you!" Most of the kudos go to Indiana teacher Deb Bova, who introduced the idea to the MiddleWeb online discussion group quite a few years ago. Follow this link to read the original archived conversation. AND see this Education World story which describes the activity and includes some cautions.