2002-03
Read the ongoing diary entries by MiddleWeb's four middle grades diarists for the 2001-02 school year. Just click on the name of a diarist and go to the annotated index. If you'd like to peruse diary entries from earlier years, see our Middle School Diary Archive.
Our Diarists
Heather Migdon, Sixth grade self-contained
Ellen
Berg, Sixth grade language arts
Carolyn Beitzel, Eighth grade social studies
Ann Bianchetti, Grades 5-8
Chris
Toy and the Maine Laptop Initiative
Juli Kendall, Literacy teacher/coach
Heather
Migdon (sixth grade self-contained)
Washington D.C. Public Schools
#01
- No Time to Feel Sorry for Myself or My Kids
#02 - The Power of Positive Phone-Calling
#03 - A Troublesome Child Shines
in a New Light
#04 - A Classroom to Call Our
Own
#05 - Committing the Cardinal
Sin
#06 - A Hellish Week for Me and
My Kids
#07 - "Will This Be on the
SAT-9?"
#08 - Teacher's Quiz
#09 - A War Diary
#10 - Why I May Leave My School
#11 - Talking On-Line with My
Students
#12 - Comfortable in My Own Skin
#13 - Teaching for America —
and My Kids
#14 - The Power of a Post-It
Note
#15 - Rules Are for Our Favorites,
Too
#16 - FINAL DIARY: When Is It
Okay to Jump Ship?
UPDATE: I Find the Job I Want,
But the Price Is High (08/03)
Ellen
Berg (sixth grade language arts)
Turner Middle School, St. Louis MO
#01
- The Need to Build Trust
#02 - An In-Depth Reading Assessment
Leads to a New Diagnosis
#03 - The Mystery of the Misbehaving
Sixth Grader
#04 - We're Trying to Move Beyond
Laissez-Faire Learning
#05 - I Win the T-Notes War,
But Discover I Can Still Mess Up!
#06 - My Seventh-Year Growth
Spurt
#07 - Waiting for Technology
#08 - Why Our Character Sketch
Unit Worked (writing samples)
#09 - Why Is It That Our Best
Collaborations Begin at Payday Happy Hour?
#10 - Some New Discipline Strategies
Produce Great Results
#11 - Putting Some Spirit in
Our Team!
#12 - Our Kids Need Every Minute
of the Day
#13 - Getting Our Teaching Hands
a Little Dirty
#14 - So Far, a Successful Year
#15 - Falling in Love with Technology
#16 - New Hope for St. Louis
Schools
#17 - When Students Care, They
Ask for Help
#18 - The Power of One-on-One:
Three Student Stories
#19 - We Improve Our Practice
By Becoming Aware
#20 - Falling in Love with That
First Book
#21 - My Annual Panic Attack
#22 - Reflections on Teacher
Leadership
#23
- Failure Can Sometimes Be the Best Lesson
#24 - Toward Independent Readers
#25 - Rethinking Units to Create
More Immediacy
#26 - The Class That Just Won't
Work
#27 - Helping Students Zoom In
on Scoring Guides
#28 - We're Coming to Understand
the Dynamics of Change
#29 - Looking Past Our Perceptions
#30 - My Poets
#31 - Americorps Made the Difference
for Us!
#32 - My Test Scores Tell Two
Stories
#33 - FINAL DIARY: What We Learned
Together
Carolyn
Beitzel (8th grade social studies)
Beverly Hills Middle School
Upper Darby PA
#01
- Let's Go Fishing
#02 - We Can Hit a Curve Ball!
#03
- Nothing Uniform about Our New Uniform Policy!
#04 - Our Team Will Not Back
Down
#05 - How Do I Help My 'Low-Level'
Class Learn to Believe in Themselves?
#06 - I Have So Many Questions
About My Teaching Practice
#07 - Multiple Intelligences:
"Hey! What About Me?"
#08 - Calling All Parents
#09 - Some Bloom-ing Insights!
#10 - Welcome to My Pity Party
#11 - Our Class Constitution
#12 - They Are Not Putting Forth
the Effort to Learn
#13 - Second Year Teachers Need
Mentors, Too
#14 - Treading Carefully Through
the Holidays
#15 - Reflections: My Own Pajama
Party
#16 - A Field Trip Full of Lessons
#17 - Cartoon History
#18 - We Need Relief!
#19 - A Safe and Supportive Place
to Learn
#20 - Real People and Real Lives
#21 - My Civil War Unit –
Part One
#22 - My Civil War Unit –
Part Two
#23 - My Civil War Unit –
Final Drafts
#24 - Why Do We Beat Kids Down?
#25 - How Can We Have More Good
Weeks Like This?
#26 - If They Can't Read the
Content, How Can They Learn It?
#27 - Graphic Teaching
#28 - Why Shouldn't My Students
Be Apathetic?
#29 - My Quick Study of Gender
Bias
#30 - No Time for Discovery
#31 - FINAL DIARY: A Year of
Challenge and Growth
Ann
Bianchetti (Grades 5-8)
Academy of Performing Arts Middle School
Paterson NJ
#01
- New Year, New Hope
#02 - A White Teacher of Minority
Children
#03 - Where's the Reward in Teaching?
#04 - Teaching in the Midst of
a Violent City's Life
#05 - The Special Job of the
Social Studies Teacher
#06 - This Week I Failed My Students
#07 - This Week I Really Saw
My Students
#08 - Civics Education: Examining
Moral Dilemmas
#09 - How Should We Grade in
Social Studies?
#10 - What We're Learning from
Student Council
#11 - A Field Trip to Suburbia
#12 - Indirect Lessons
#13 - How We All Survive Heck
Month
#14 - Mid-Year Reflections and
Lessons Learned
#15 - Bullies and Cliques: The
Teacher's Role
#16 - Our Learning Community
#17 - How Should We Teach History
in Middle School?
#18 - What Am I Grading On, Really?
#19 - Choose Your Own Testing
Style!
#20 - Talking and Listening to
Kids
#21 - Comparing Math and Social
Studies
#22 - How Red Tape Tied Down
My Kids
#23 - Maybe It's Corny, But It
Works!
#24 - Student Fears in a Time
of War
#25 - What My Students Believe
about America
#26 - Our Wonderful School Is
Under Attack
#27 - Encircling the Textbook:
Literature Circles in History Class
#28 - Students Thrive Where Teachers
Care
#29 - Being Teacher of the Year
#30 - Every Class Has Its Personality
#31 - FINAL DIARY: Dark Clouds
and Sunshine
THE
GREAT MAINE LAPTOP EXPERIMENT
Chris Toy, Principal
Freeport (ME) Middle School
Background - The Maine Laptop Initiative
#01
- The Adventure Begins with Some Rules for the Digital Natives
#02 - Friday Afternoon Enthusiasm
Confirms Value of Laptop Initiative
#03 -Teachers Shifting into High
Gear
#04 - Goodbye, Overheads. Hello,
Powerpoint!
#05 - Speed Bumps on the Road
to Full Laptop Implementation
#06 - Getting Parents Up to Laptop
Speed
#07 - Getting Out Our Message:
It's Not the Technology; It's the Learning
#08 - Mining Gold in MLTI's "Uncharted
Territory" (Stephen King Visits FMS!)
#09 - It's Time to Prepare Our
Eighth Grade Teachers
#10 - NPR Drops By - and Michael
Offers an Insight
#11 - A New Year and a New Governor
#12 - A Quick, Powerful Conference
#13 - A Technology Potlatch
#14 - Making the Case for MLTI
#15 - Students Suffer Laptop
Withdrawal
#16 - A Digital Immigrant's Tale
#17 - Talking to the Politicians
#18 - A Critic Takes an Impromptu
Tour
#19 - A $500,000 Database Available
to Every Maine Citizen
#20 - Parents Get Their Hands
on the Laptops!
#21 - A Single Word Causes a
Huge Scare
#22 - A Visit from Down Under
#23 - FINAL DIARY: A Powerful
New Tool Is Changing How We Think about Learning
Juli
Kendall (Literacy teacher/coach)
Long Beach CA Unified School District
See
Juli Kendall's Writing Workshop Journal Index
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