Powerful Thematic Teaching and Learning
Middle school advocates have long championed thematic curriculum design & project learning. Now is the time to actually do it, say Nancy Doda & Mark Springer.
Middle school advocates have long championed thematic curriculum design & project learning. Now is the time to actually do it, say Nancy Doda & Mark Springer.
Kids on the Cusp / Teacher Evaluation
by Mary Tarashuk · Published 10/14/2013 · Last modified 11/15/2019
Mary Tarashuk is working on the Classroom Management domain of NJ’s teaching self-assessment rubrics. Some words are a bit hard to digest.
Look no further than Invent to Learn, by Sylvia Martinez and Gary Stager, for information on promoting the Maker Movement in your school, says reviewer Kevin Hodgson. Among many other useful ideas: How to involve students in staging a Maker Fair.
Magazines about popular culture are an effective tool to teach media literacy and “a host of Common Core standards,” says expert Frank W. Baker.
Anne Jolly doesn’t claim she knows the magic formula to produce a “perfect” STEM lesson, but the starter pack she shares here will get you well on your way.
Education publishers are sharing new books about professional practice with MiddleWeb, and we’re looking for educators who’d like to select a book & write the review. Get the details here.
Learning Styles / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 07/29/2013 · Last modified 01/05/2022
Learning styles theory is not an effective way to design lessons for diverse learners, says special educator Elizabeth Stein. Teachers need better glue.
STEM By Design / STEM Teaching Practices
by Anne Jolly · Published 06/30/2013 · Last modified 12/15/2019
MiddleWeb’s STEM Imagineering blogger Anne Jolly applies her expert knowledge about effective professional learning teams to STEM PD.
STEM & the Makers Movement / STEM By Design
by Anne Jolly · Published 06/23/2013 · Last modified 11/23/2019
The authors of “Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom” share an exciting guest post at Anne Jolly’s STEM Imagineering blog. The tools and ethos of the maker revolution offer insight and hope for middle schools and for science and math studies, they say. “The breadth of options and the ‘can-do’ attitude is exactly what students need.”
Book Reviews / Professional Development
by MiddleWeb · Published 06/20/2013 · Last modified 12/14/2019
Reviewer Laura Von Staden finds the sessions in The Ten-Minute Inservice: 40 Quick Training Sessions that Build Teacher Effectiveness succinct & informative, useful to teachers as well as administrators.