IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Middle School E-mail Insights

Here are some memorable posts from various WWW sites, listservs, and other Internet resources that bear on middle school reform and student achievement in some way. If you have suggestions for contributions, send them to MiddleWeb@middleweb.com.

We also collect subject-specific e-mail and post some of the best ideas in our Curriculum area.

How Parents Can Help Remove Homework Hurdles -- Turns out it's often parents, not students, who erect hurdles to homework, says Teachers College professor Lucy Calkins and other experts in the area of parent involvement and student learning. This article from the Boston Globe shares ideas about how parents can help students succeed at "the single most important job children have."

Strengthening Transitions Between School Levels -- Michelle Pedigo was selected NASSP's national Middle Level Principal of the Year in 2000. She offered these comments about transitions from elementary to middle to high school on the MiddleWeb educators discussion listserv.

The Joy of Inquiry-Based Teaching -- These two diary entries by Ellen Berg, a St. Louis language arts teacher, first appeared in MiddleWeb's diary section. We combine and reproduce them here as an excellent demonstration of the power of inquiry-based learning that is both challenging and highly engaging.

We have to get past our old mental models of the "good" classroom -- Teacher Brenda Dyck reflects on the tendency of many teachers to long for a 'mental model' of the classroom that's out of date and out of sync with the times (from the MiddleWeb listserv).

Discipline Tips from a Teacher-Survivor -- This message from a veteran teacher to the MiddleWeb listserv describes the discipline and classroom management system that saved her career.

What motivates unmotivated 6th graders? -- Middle grades teacher Ellen Berg offered her thoughts about motivating students with a history of failure in this June 2000 Middle-L e-mail to a fellow listserve member.

An Effective Problem-Solving Tool You Can Use with Students and Adults -- Middle grades teacher Brenda Dyck offered this description of the Six Thinking Hats strategy -- and an example of how she's used it in her classroom -- in a Middle-L e-mail.

A little summer humor -- Here's the latest (possibly apocryphal) list of middle school test answers. This time it's history. We don't know if they're genuine, but they're funny!

Technology education deserves more respect -- In an e-mail letter to MiddleWeb, middle grades technology teacher Dan Queior writes about the struggle for credibility among technology educators. "Most people think this area is just about computers when, in fact, it is about helping kids learn how to use math, science, and other content to figure out how humans create the tools and products we use. Science is the study of the natural world. Technology is the study of the human-made world."

School Safety and Student Violence -- Kenneth S. Trump, President and CEO of National School Safety and Security Services in Cleveland, Ohio, recently held a dialogue with education reporters on a private listserve supported by the national Education Writers Association. Comments of particular interest to educators and parents are excerpted here.

Adolescent Risk-Taking -- These materials, prepared by the Casey Journalism Center for Children and Families from the work of Lynn E. Ponton, MD, author of The Romance of Risk: Why Teenagers Do the Things They Do, appeared on a listserve for journalists who cover children and youth. They include: "Guiding a Child or Teen in Risk Assessment;" "Adolescent Risk-Taking: Healthy vs. Unhealthy;" and "Ten Tips for Parents: Understanding Your Adolescent's Behavior."

Adolescent Trends and Issues -- Peter C. Scales is senior research fellow at the Search Institute, a Minnesota-based policy group that specializes in youth development issues. Scales wrote this memo for journalists who participate in a listserve sponsored by the Casey Journalism Center for Children and Families. Although the memo was written for reporters, the perspective and data presented by Scales will be of interest to anyone who works with young teens. (12/99)

Trash Can Discipline: Outsmarting the Young -- A wise old man practices his own brand of positive discipline with some junior high boys.

"Let me see if I have this right. . ." -- This teacher note to an Atlanta listserv begins: "Let me see if I've got this right. You want me to go into that room with all those kids, and fill their every waking moment with a love for learning." And it goes on from there!

Talking to Middle Schoolers: The "Brown Bag Lunch" -- A Minnesota teacher describes how she developed an informal "brown bag lunch" conversation with middle schoolers that grew, and grew, and grew -- to the benefit of everyone.

"A Teachers' Influence Is Often Lasting" -- A reporter recalls the positive influences of her middle school teachers. If you're a teacher, read this and get a morale boost!

Calling Cheating What It Is -- The moral stand against cheating seems grounded in quicksand as people increasingly accept it as "the way things are," says middle grades teacher David Summergrad in this recent op-ed in Education Week. But "there is still plenty of sting in being called a liar. Students who shrug when accused of cheating get positively outraged at being accused of lying."

High School Teacher Learns New Lessons From Seventh-Graders -- Veteran teacher who was "bumped down" to junior high will take an important lesson back to high school -- "assume nothing." Not e-mail, but middle school teachers will find it satisfying!]

By Any Means Necessary! -- Cartoonist Joel Pett offers a satirical look at school reform.

Good Ideas Require Good Professional Development -- Two middle grades reformers answer a mom's questions about implementing block scheduling and the teaming concept.

In-School Suspensions --

We've updated a "tips" list on in-school suspension programs, adding resources and a commentary that urges educators to explore the reasons behind high suspension rates.

Rules for Middle Schoolers -- "You will notice that these guidelines are lacking in academic substance. Of course they are. It is pointless to try to teach middle-schoolers anything that does not bear on personal appearance, gossip or the opposite sex. What is the point of learning the sequence of operations if all the girls are wearing shorts today and you are not?"

What happened to childhood? -- A Boston Globe columnist muses: "I don't know when time runs out on Katie's lazy afternoons on her belly watching the ants on the front walk. I don't know when the deadline arrives for her to climb down from the maple tree in the yard and get focused, develop her gifts, compensate for her weaknesses and begin padding her primary school resume. But I know the clock is ticking."

The Myth of Education's Golden Years -- A newspaper columnist recalls some of education's "high points" in the good old days that politicians are so fond of recalling.

Dr. Teacher -- Judy Willis practiced neurology for 20 years before deciding to become an elementary school teacher. These two articles, versions of which have been published in the Los Angeles Times, describe the reasons for her decision, share her reflections on the state of American public education and teacher training, and recount her experiences as a student-teacher.

All Good Things -- A junior high teacher (and nun) recalls the impact of a simple activity she tried one day when her students "were edgy with one another" that had a huge impact on their shaky adolescent self-esteem.

Research on technology integration -- Emily Vickery, a former classroom teacher, who now consults with Apple Computer, the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, and other clients, answers a question about research on the use of technology in the curriculum. Includes links to other research discussions and resources.

Real Teachers -- A little humor to lighten your teaching load. "Real teachers grade papers in the car, during commercials, in faculty meetings, in the bathroom, and (at the end of the six weeks) have been seen grading in church." Read the entire list!

Some thoughts about teacher mentoring -- Several Middle-L teachers discuss teacher mentoring programs and your helpful MiddleWeb editor offers several links to mentoring stories.

How should students speak in class? -- When a teacher on the Middle-L listserv complained that "many of our students explain their ideas of lessons, subjects, and their environment in terms of slang words and/or ebonics" and expressed her belief that children must learn to speak proper English in school, she triggered one of 1998's most lively and impassioned Middle-L discussions. We've provided a link to her original message. You can follow the entire discussion in the Middle-L archive by simply clicking through the "next in thread" hyperlink. Warning! There are over 50 responses from middle school teachers to this post.

The Critical Ingredients of a Middle Level School -- Middle school teachers offered a variety of answers to the question: "What's the critical ingredient found in the best middle level schools?"

What Is Pi? -- A math professor offers Middle-L listserv members a simple lesson that allows students to explore the meaning of Pi.

"Parents Have Homework, Too" says this teacher-authored, back-to-school handout.

Teaching the Holocaust - teachers share ideas and concerns

Why not skip teacher certification & let writers be teachers, asks the US Poet Laureate.

Teachers Talk about Job Interviews

Some schools have an open house the first week of school. Here's a discussion.

Praise vs. Encouragement: A conservation about self-esteem and learning.

Discussion about Junior Great Books and literature circles

Establish a connection with your kids, this middle school veteran advises a new teacher. "You may be the only real relationship to an adult that some of these kids have."

Ideas about math journals -- It's do-able, teachers say. One suggests a useful book.

How some middle grades teachers introduce the scientific method.

One teacher's comments about teaching adolescents -- advice to a new teacher.

Suggestions for teachers looking for novels about science and the environment.

An e-mail discussion about Block Scheduling

A middle school teacher's how-to description of the perfect Washington field trip.

Planning a middle school science fiction unit.

The standards that matter are student performance standards, says the president of the New Mexico Geography Alliance, who adds that standards are one important mark of a "profession." Her comments started a lively conversation.

A little story for those principals who can't quite manage the control-freak within.

"An Uncloudy Day." Teacher Alix Peshette discovers anew the power of high expectations when Sean H., her 'solid F' social studies student, lands in her art class.

Managing writing in a standards-based classroom. Some e-mail thoughts from an English consultant for the Minneapolis public schools.

A Middle-L discussion on advisor-advisee programs, posted at Jerry Taylor's website. Also see this article by Howard Johnston.

Detracking a school may require whole-school change: An exchange between a middle grades teacher and a detracking expert.

Want better professional development? Add a month to the teacher work year, says a Minnesota state teacher of the year.

Some teacher research on grading practices in her middle school

"Teaching to the Generals" -- education on the frontlines

Let's worry more about assessing students and less about grading them.

Does Retention Work? -- A discussion from the Middle-L listserve

Is interdisciplinary teaching worth the investment?

Eight Ways to Make Sure Teachers Won't Use Computers