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Revisiting the Interview Chair: Insights from Jimmy Casas on School Culture and Leadership

In a recent episode of the Middle School Walk and Talk podcast, hosts Phyllis Fagell and Jessica McGuire discuss school culture and leadership with award-winning principal and best-selling author Jimmy Casas. Listen to the podcast episode now, or enjoy the recap of five key takeaways here: Revisiting the Interview Chair: Casas introduced the “Interview Chair”

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Leveling Up your Team Meetings: Five Strategies for Effective Teaming at the Middle Level

In The Successful Middle School: This We Believe, we learn that interdisciplinary teaming is “a signature component” of a middle school (p. 51). The benefits of these smaller groups of students within a larger school include easing the transition from elementary to middle school and helping students feel a sense of belonging. However, creating a

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The power of scheduling in middle school teaming: Flexibility, creativity, and student-centered learning

At Mayfield Middle School, as we sought to create personalized and more meaningful learning experiences for our students, we realized that a typical, traditional schedule was not always conducive to the types of learning experiences we wanted to create. Teachers had great ideas for projects and practices that would incorporate more critical thinking, communication, and

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Unlock Your School’s Potential: January is Master Schedule Month at AMLE!

As we step into 2025, we’re turning our focus to the future by making January Middle School Master Schedule Month at AMLE. Based on your feedback, we’ll spotlight critical middle school topics each month, starting with master scheduling, and equip you with the resources you need to succeed.  Here are the top five highlights for

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Productive Noise: Elevating Student Voice in Middle School

In a recent episode of the Middle School Walk and Talk podcast, hosts Jessica McGuire and Phyllis Fagell sat down with Sandy Cameli, a seasoned middle level educator and author with more than three decades of teaching experience from Honolulu, Hawai’i, to explore the transformative concept of student voice in middle grades education as highlighted

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Come Learn With Us As We Answer: Is It Worth It? Can I Do It?

How Site Visits Have Continued Our Focus On Professional Development As principal of South View Middle School in Edina, Minnesota, I’m proud that our school has been selected as the first AMLE School of Distinction from Minnesota and has also achieved recognition as a National Banner Unified Champion School. These distinctions reflect South View’s progressive

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AMLE Celebrates Inaugural Schools of Distinction

AMLE recognized its inaugural class of Schools of Distinction earlier this month, in conjunction with the organization’s 49th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. The twelve schools were selected for their fervent commitment to implementing the essential attributes and characteristics of successful middle grades schools. In addition to being celebrated during a special awards ceremony, each

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Reimagining School – What should it look like and who is it for?

Cornelius Minor and Kass Minor help #AMLE22 attendees find their bottom lines as educators Cornelius and Kass Minor believe that kids don’t just learn in school. They become. It’s an attitude reflective of what we know about middle grades best practice, making them the perfect keynoters for #AMLE22 and our return to in-person conference. We

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Kindness is harder than it looks.

Houston Kraft reminds #AMLE22 attendees that connection doesn’t happen by accident. Houston Kraft, author and co-founder of CharacterStrong, took the main stage at #AMLE22 yesterday for his keynote address on Deep Kindness. From the outset, he made clear that he had a mission for those in attendance. “If we want more kindness on our campus,

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