Guest posts by expert educators
Math students in the middle grades want the truth: “Why should math matter to me?” To show them, curriculum leader Christian Polizzi suggests making real-world connections, asking students for examples in their own lives, and having them create “personalized” math problems.
If we do not invest more of our school time and resources in creating well educated citizens, there will be dire consequences. Educators Shawn McCusker and Tom Driscoll offer educators five steps to make civic education more meaningful and help contribute to a healthy democracy.
Teaching guru Dr. Barbara Blackburn’s MiddleWeb articles – often written with new and novice teachers in mind – are crisp, succinct, practical, filled with examples, and respectful of teachers’ time and the challenges they face. We’ve gathered a dozen of her most popular posts.
Rather than label just some kids talented, we need a new approach that serves all children, writes performance coach Lee Hancock. Among his strategies: embracing failure as progress, spending time in deep practice, and fostering in kids a love for their own special interests.
Whether it’s our students or our colleagues, the mentor relationship is a win-win for mentor and mentee. As mentors, we can realize a unique personal fulfillment and grow as a listener, a coach, a friend, a leader. And one day, our mentees may decide to “pay it forward.”
Effective class management begins with dynamic planning and engagement, writes instructional specialist Miriam Plotinsky. Teachers who focus not just on delivering information but responding to student feedback in the moment can avoid “helicoptor teacher” syndrome. Here’s how.
Want a fun way to turn student talk into deeper learning? Teacher Kelly Owens serves up tips and resources for Café Conversations, showing how students’ need to talk can become on-task, productive, and reflective when they encounter this welcoming cross-curricular strategy.
Be ready to share nonfiction graphic novels with your students this fall. ELA teacher Kasey Short outlines reasons such novels expand kids’ knowledge and appreciation of reading. She also provides questions to ask as kids approach the novels and includes suggested titles.
Community-centered instructional coaching reflects the idea that we all deserve to feel competent, confident, and fulfilled in our daily work, writes Pam Koutrakos. Ongoing, job-embedded professional learning that capitalizes on the spirit of community yields more buy-in.
By putting strong relationships at the fore, you can cultivate an environment in which each of your students can grow. Through her many years in the classroom Stephanie Farley has hit upon keys to encourage kids to thrive. At the center – kindness and getting to know each one.
