You’re entering the final stretch of teaching your 2017-18 students. The school year is more than halfway through, winter vacation breaks are over, and you might be feeling a tinge of burnout. Jenny Grant Rankin shares strategies to help you thrive before summer arrives.
Attitude Adjustment / Meaningful Math
by Michelle Russell · Published 01/07/2018 · Last modified 11/23/2019
At the end of last semester, math teacher Michelle Russell found herself discouraged. A month-long battle with pneumonia left her without much joy or enthusiasm. “I realized I needed to reflect and make some adjustments.” Read the four 2018 resolutions she came up with.
Restorative Justice / Two Teachers in the Room
by MiddleWeb · Published 10/31/2017 · Last modified 03/04/2024
Restorative justice practices put students in control of behaviors, writes Elizabeth Stein. Rather than being separated from peers in punitive ways, students gain a collaborative perspective and feel more accepted, supported, and capable of making positive decisions.
Book Reviews / Social & Emotional Learning
by MiddleWeb · Published 10/12/2017 · Last modified 11/16/2019
Moment to Moment helps educators empower students to recognize what may “trigger” a behavior problem and how to react positively in that moment. Linda Biondi says teachers will benefit from the case studies of several student types that are followed through the book.
As new teachers develop routines for their classrooms, Class Tech Tips founder Monica Burns says it’s important to plan how they will check for understanding each day to gather information and inform future instruction. She shares three simple class assessment tools.
Fads are an integral part of the adolescent social fabric. Middle schoolers “embrace each passing fancy with a zeal we wish they brought to their school work,” writes Laurie Lichtenstein, leaving teachers at their mercy. Unless, of course, you turn the table.
Anna Roseboro’s Teaching Writing in the Middle School can serve as a practical handbook to support the work of beginning English Language Arts teachers. Literacy coach Cynthia McKenzie says those new teachers will find many helpful ideas in the year-long guide.
It's Not Easy Being Tween / Teacher Collaboration
by Cheryl Mizerny · Published 03/12/2017 · Last modified 11/24/2019
Noting the barrage of criticism educators face from beyond the classroom, Cheryl Mizerny recommends that teachers across the generations unite to build the profession through full collaboration, rejecting the current widespread stereotyping of rookies and veterans.
The fully developed strategies and techniques Susan Edwards offers in Active Learning in the Middle Grades Classroom are simple to use and will have students engaged in active, purposeful learning across content areas, says teaching consultant Anne Anderson.
James E. Harlacher presents useful strategies based on “decades of research” for instructors to directly teach behavioral expectations, effectively preventing some inappropriate behaviors. And there’s a chapter for responding to misbehavior, says teacher coach Glenda Moyer.
