Redesigning the classroom experience to promote success in the middle grades When it comes to student success, a positive school culture can be as important as the curriculum. When students are engaged, motivated, and empowered, academic success will almost always follow. This is especially true in the middle grades. The experiences students have during the
18 elements to keep in the forefront to create a strong, sustained, celebrated school culture Building and sustaining a positive school culture is the all-encompassing factor of a successful school. It is not a system. It is not a program. It is a way of being. And even when putting time, money, and energy into
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Mastering standards at a deeper level with project-based learning John Dewey (1959), a great philosopher and educational theorist of the 1950s, had already warned us about the importance of an educational focus on the student rather than on the teacher. He argued that classroom methodologies should be reviewed since young people learn through experimentation. Dewey
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Three team approaches that respond to students’ unique needs From the inception of the middle school movement, team approaches to instruction were considered the preferred way to organize a school housing grades 4-8, 5-8, or 6-8. Today, educators see teaching teams as a key to achieving the full potential of a dynamic middle school, one
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Approaching teacher evaluation from a variety of perspectives The term dog-and-pony show, in reference to teacher evaluation, frequently denotes a false presentation by a teacher to demonstrate instruction that is only done for the sake of the evaluation. I understand the perspective of Marshall in the article “Let’s Cancel the Dog-and-Pony Show” (2012, Phi Delta Kappan,
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Take time to develop leaders in your school Welcome to another epic year. I figured it out, and I want you to figure it out, too. Happy people outperform unhappy people. How do I get to that happy place? Climate and culture have a profound impact on student and teacher performance. Leadership has a profound
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