Young Adolescent Development

Leveraging the Science Behind the Middle School Brain in your Teaching Strategies

Young adolescence is recognized as the developmental period our students undergo between the ages of 10-15. This is the age where students develop the ability to expand their concrete knowledge to a more abstract way of thinking.  The connections in the brain are occurring often, and the skills learned become hard-wired.  Because there is so

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Digital Wellness in the Classroom: 5 Technology Habits to Support Mental Health

Middle school can be a difficult period for students, especially as they explore social media and the digital world. For children and adults alike, it is so easy to keep our eyes glued to our devices. Before we know it, several hours have passed by while we scrolled through Facebook or Instagram. Using social media

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Wayside Teaching Revisited

Revisiting the value of informal teaching beyond planned instruction. Wayside teaching was first introduced in the May 1987 “As I See It” column in the Middle School Journal—30 years ago. Here is a slightly modified version of it, particularly for all those educators who came to the middle school more recently. Formal, organized instruction is

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