Teaching and learning in grades 4-8

Turn Up Your STEM Power This Year

Ready to power up your STEM instruction? STEM by Design blogger Anne Jolly will get you up to date with a collection of her posts on NGSS, Career and Tech Ed, math in STEM, and assessment insights. Joining her are veteran educators Marsha Ratzel and Susan Pruet.

4 Steps to Put School Data to Good Use

School and student data can be confusing and challenging to collect and use effectively. Ronald Williamson and Barbara Blackburn offer a four-step process to help educators and administrators collect and analyze data and support better teaching and student learning.

Propaganda Isn’t History – It’s Current Events

Most educators who teach propaganda use examples from the World Wars, says media literacy expert Frank Baker. “But propaganda is happening today—all around us.” Baker introduces a new resource that can help teachers and students exert their “minds over media.”

A Strategy to Structure Formative Assessment

Emphasizing that the most productive form of formative assessment is self-assessment by students and teachers, the authors apply these research-based ideas to the cultural change required to improve instruction at a school level, says administrator Brian Taylor.

How to Conference Well with Student Writers

Long-time middle grades teacher Mark Overmeyer brings his techniques for successful student writing conferences – one-on-one, peer, and small-group – to “Let’s Talk.” Drawing on the modeling Overmeyer provides, Tyler McBride plans to launch regular conferences this fall.