Book Reviews / Social & Emotional Learning
by MiddleWeb · Published 10/12/2017 · Last modified 11/16/2019
Moment to Moment helps educators empower students to recognize what may “trigger” a behavior problem and how to react positively in that moment. Linda Biondi says teachers will benefit from the case studies of several student types that are followed through the book.
The framework Jennifer Abrams develops in Hard Conversations Unpacked focuses on professional growth, and ultimately on positive outcomes for student learning. Principal Mike Janatovich will never again attempt a challenging conversation without this guidance.
Regardless of where educators land politically, it can sometimes feel like tiptoeing through a minefield to facilitate a balanced discussion of current events, writes teacher Sarah Cooper. Are there times when it’s appropriate for teachers to reveal their own views?
As new teachers develop routines for their classrooms, Class Tech Tips founder Monica Burns says it’s important to plan how they will check for understanding each day to gather information and inform future instruction. She shares three simple class assessment tools.
Shirley McPhillips’ non-traditional book about teaching poetry is both insightful and fun to read, says retired principal and former California senior poet laureate Mary Langer Thompson. She predicts teachers will not be able to read for long without writing poetry themselves.
In the 2nd edition of Joyful Learning, Alice Udvari-Solner and Paula Kluth provide a great resource to promote teacher collaboration and move inclusion classrooms beyond the superficial and toward more meaningful engagement of every student, says Erin Corrigan-Smith.
Reading is reinforced when students have hands-on experience with the ideas they find in informational texts. ELA teacher Brian Cook’s after-school drones program helps students explore flight, consider privacy and safety issues, and learn more about new careers.
Debbie Silver’s worst mistake? She managed to teach middle level science classes for too many years without ever fully embracing the practice of pre-assessment. See how her teaching changed and how yours might too with her simple go-to pre-assessment tools.
Noting that high quality classroom discussion fosters content learning and critical thinking, social studies teacher Michael Yell reports that Challenging Learning through Dialogue is a powerful resource to help make middle grades discussion more thoughtful, engaging, and real.
Book Reviews / Response to Intervention
by MiddleWeb · Published 09/28/2017 · Last modified 11/18/2019
Catherine Collier’s strategies for building a multi-tier system of support (MTSS) fit into the planning, implementation, and monitoring of interventions to meet the needs of all students. Educator Rita Platt finds the RTI-focused book a useful addition to teachers’ resource shelf.
