Assessment / The Flexible Classroom
by Amber Chandler · Published 01/08/2017 · Last modified 11/24/2019
Amber Chandler is pondering testing. Not big league, high stakes exams but the run of the mill end-of-unit kind. When 20 percent of her students stumble over literary terms on The Giver unit test, she opts for a flexible (but controversial) “point buy-back” offer.
Helping students believe in themselves is a critical part of teaching. Consultant Barbara Blackburn shares strategies to help encourage students to reach beyond the limitations they sometimes feel and pursue their dreams. One idea: Write a personal “theme song.”
“Equal parts how-to and shopping list,” teacher Amy Estersohn says Ruth Culham’s Dream Wakers will help any middle grades ELA or social studies teacher add more Latino voices and mentor texts – especially in classrooms with a writer’s workshop teaching approach.
Barbara Boroson offers a useful, comprehensive, summative guide providing positive and proactive strategies to educators who are not familiar with or may not be comfortable yet working with students on the autism spectrum, says SpEd veteran Carrielynnn O”Reilly.
Weber, Crane and Hierck provide many charts, examples and resources that can be instantly adopted, adapted, or enhanced for a school or district RTI process in middle school math. Instructional coach and interventionist Kim Schneider offers her highest praise.
When students blend multimedia elements into their writing projects, interest and engagement can zoom up, writes teacher-author Sean Ruday. Ruday highlights a five-step process he uses in PD workshops to help teachers make the tech meaningful and not maddening.
Meaningful Math / Student-Teacher Connections
by Michelle Russell · Published 01/02/2017 · Last modified 12/11/2019
As Michelle Russell revisits her start-of-school teaching goals, she decides to focus the New Year on building deeper connections with her students. Her strategies: use personal surveys and follow-up chats; glean more from parents, and confer to set challenge goals.
Now that the blizzard of late semester papers has (probably) diminished, do you feel the need for a quick fix to your class organization regimen? Author/educator Roxanna Elden avoids excessive precision in structuring a practical 5-tray process to get you started.
BRAVO Principal, with its reflection questions and support exercises, is an effective resource for keeping school leaders centered on what matters most to promote the success of each of our students in our learning organizations, writes MS principal Dennis Schug.
During 2016, each of these featured MiddleWeb posts enjoyed at least 10,000 reads by middle grades educators. Some were visited by as many as 60,000. We’re sure you’ll find something useful here as you “learn forward” and prepare yourself for the new year.
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