Teaching

Integrating Global Education in the Middle School Math Classroom

Inspire student interest and positive attitudes toward math Four hundred years ago Galileo Galilei observed that “Mathematics is the language with which God has written the Universe.” The “unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics,” in the words of famous physicist Eugene Wigner, has been and continues to be incredibly successful in describing the world around us, from

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Memorization Still Matters

Benefits of quick access to working memory and 25 memorization techniques In a world in which we can always look things up, memorization still matters. Depending on the situation, engagement, meaning, progress, expediency, and safety are increased significantly if participants have the following information at their mental fingertips ready for immediate use: The alphabet’s sequence

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The Boy in the Middle

The social, intellectual, emotional, and physical needs of middle schoolers The Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) emphasizes that attending to the social, intellectual, emotional, and physical needs and assets of middle school children is central to their intellectual development. As middle level teacher educators, it has become apparent to us that there is great

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Triage, Not Emergency

Watching for even the small details can create a responsive culture that meets the social, emotional, and academic needs of students I bet you didn’t know that you signed up to be a triage nurse now did you? Meeting the social, emotional, and academic needs of middle school students is a lot like working the

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Reader Response in All Disciplines

Much of the writing we assign our students is public writing—writing to communicate with others. Writing-to-learn is personal writing, writing that helps students increase their comprehension of texts in all disciplines. The 2000 report of the National Reading Panel states, “Teaching students to use … writing to organize their ideas about what they are reading

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Help Your Students Combat Cruelty by Making Kindness Go Viral

Four ideas to encourage middle schoolers to choose kindness In recent years, there has been a renewed focus on intentionally fostering kindness and practicing peer respect. We don’t want youth to simply not do the wrong thing, but do what is right instead—treat their peers with respect, compassion, and empathy. To be sure, sometimes educators

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