Co-editors John Norton and Susan Curtis highlight 15 of MiddleWeb’s most popular posts for middle level educators during the past 12 months. You’ll find articles that were new in 2021 or rediscovered and shared widely in this second “weirdest year ever.”
Frank Buck revisits the Wild West movie days in his quest to help educators defy the daily deluge of unsolicited or redundant email that steals their time. Get the details on how to circle the wagons, energize the pony express, and deny those emails entry to your inbox.
Middle grades teacher Kathleen Palmieri shows how Google’s Applied Digital Skills videos and lesson plans can help students in grades 5-12 tap the power of Google Docs and the Google Drive to learn portable skills like digital collaboration, file sharing, and organization.
Instructional Coaching / My AP Life
by DeAnna Miller · Published 12/20/2021 · Last modified 01/09/2022
When administrators use their instructional coaches effectively, writes AP DeAnna Miller, they can watch the culture in their buildings shift to one of positivity and engagement. Without clear guidelines and indepth PD for coaches AND leaders, expect mistrust and dissent.
Language specialist Tan Huynh explains how to use short teacher-made video tutorials to ‘duplicate’ yourself so you can be ‘in 20 places at once’ – responding to students’ questions during class and providing support at home and in study hall. A real help to multilinguals.
Educators are exhausted and under attack, and faculty and staff need school leaders to take their frontline challenges seriously, write Ron Williamson and Barbara Blackburn. The leadership authors detail seven steps principals can take to offer real help and support.
John Hattie, Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey and Shirley Clarke show how we can help kids develop as independent and inter-dependent learners through Collective Student Efficacy. Consultant Helene Alalouf praises the authors’ detailed guidance supported by many classroom examples.
Student trauma is widespread in schools today. School psychologist Katelyn Oellerich explores several actions we can take to help alleviate its ill effects – from deliberate steps to strengthen adult-student relationships to systemwide planning to improve trauma support.
Bradley Witzel and Barbara Blackburn share research-supported strategies proven effective for students with special needs and mathematics challenges. They model the concrete-visual-abstract sequence of instruction (CVA) and schema-based instruction (SBI) for word problems.
Whether his soon-to-be teachers are spending an hour or all day with students, the question teacher educator Curtis Chandler most often hears from them is this: “How can I better support my students who are English language learners?” His 2022 resolution – prepare them better.
