Articles by Topic

How Can We Use Dialogue to Empower Our Students?

Helping students understand themselves so they can understand the world Allowing students to see perspectives other than their own is a critical component of transformative learning. In my current teaching environment, I get to see the results of this as students encounter other cultures through experiential travel and grapple with new perspectives in real time.

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Teaming in Middle School

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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What Does Social Responsibility Mean to a Middle Schooler?

Asking—and listening—to our students pays off Last night I saw the play Dear Edward Hansen with my 14-year-old eighth grader, Zoey. It’s amazing, of course, but one thing that really struck me was the audible sobbing during the show. This is a play about a suicide, social media, mob mentality, and absolute loneliness, so tears were inevitable.

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Bring on the Dog-and-Pony Show

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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After-Reading Response: Taking Readers Back to the Book & Sharing What We Read

Returning to the text invites deeper learning and understanding 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 comprehension of texts—fiction and nonfiction—in all disciplines. Reader response compels readers to interact with the text and makes visible for readers and

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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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