Former middle grades teacher Daniel Fountenberry says his experiences struggling to organize group reading sessions among students with varied reading skills led him to develop adaptive technology that tailors the “same” book to different readers.
Moving beyond the five myths of rigor to incorporate true instructional rigor in the classroom is critical in light of the Common Core, says expert Barbara Blackburn, who advocates scaffolding and differentiation to help all students achieve more.
Working Draft / Writing assessment
by Kevin Hodgson · Published 01/15/2014 · Last modified 12/11/2019
MiddleWeb’s ELA blogger Kevin Hodgson is “almost loathe to admit it,” but offers kudos to his state education officials for creating a meaningful resource to help analyze student writing in the context of both classroom and high stakes assessments.
In her new book Teaching in High Gear, middle school teacher Marsha Ratzel describes a transformational journey, marked by a gradual shift toward student-driven learning and energized by a global network of collaborators. In this excerpt, Marsha describes how her development of a “coaching mode” helped students become more self-reliant learners.
Family & Community Outreach / Kids on the Cusp
by Mary Tarashuk · Published 12/10/2013 · Last modified 11/15/2019
A Thanksgiving visitor (a student from 16 years past) offers our Kids on the Cusp blogger – 4th grade teacher Mary Tarashuk – a good hook for her latest look at New Jersey’s mandatory self-assessment rubrics for teachers. This time she reflects on what Family and Community Outreach means to her teaching.
Future of History / Student writing about history
by Aaron Brock · Published 12/08/2013 · Last modified 11/22/2019
Inner city middle school teacher Aaron Brock describes how he scaffolds the writing of a thesis-driven history essay with good results for students.
Guest blogger Carolyn DeCristofano shares ways that she and her curriculum writing colleagues have put math square in the middle of the STEM action.
If you are interested in transforming your classroom, engaging students and becoming an outrageously effective teacher, read and apply Teach Like a PIRATE right now, says our reviewer Laura Von Staden. “I took the risk at the beginning of this school year,” she writes. “I have to say, it went phenomenally well. I am committed to a pirate’s life.”
Are there components that must always be in place for something to earn the STEM program label? STEM curriculum expert Anne Jolly identifies two essentials.
Media literacy consultant Frank W. Baker considers some of the ways that media arts intersect with STEM and present STEAM learning opportunities.
