Try These Brain Boosting Strategies to Lock In the Learning
By Sharon Ratliff What do you do when your lesson ends and you have extra minutes left over? Many teachers would argue that we should let kids “chill” once our…
A Must-Have for Every ELL Teacher’s Toolbox
By Larry Ferlazzo and Katie Hull Sypnieski Larry If we teach and work with multilingual students, we often hear about translanguaging. But just what is it? Translanguaging can have different…
Behind-the-Scenes Stars of the Learning Process
By Kelly Owens Do you ever anxiously watch the clock waiting for students to finish? We’re often unpleasantly surprised by the time a task takes. I’ve stretched due dates for…
Humanizing the Past with Historical Fiction
By revealing and humanizing stories from the past, historical fiction fosters curiosity, inspires empathy, stimulates critical thinking, and helps develop understanding of complex issues. Kasey Short shares questions, activities and…
Why Does Parenting and Teaching Middle Graders Feel So Hard?
Why does parenting and teaching middle graders feel so hard right now? How can we show up for them and for ourselves? Insights from a middle level school leader. By…
SEL and Executive Function Make an Ideal Learning Partnership
By Marilee Sprenger In today’s classrooms Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and executive function skills are critical components of student success. While SEL builds emotional awareness and self-regulation, executive function skills show…
When Students’ Attention Wanders, Switch It Up
By Stephanie Farley So this always happens in February: emboldened by the success of previous lessons or routines, I fall into the habit of keeping that routine in place. Structure!…
Leave the Phone Behind: Help Schools Become Phone-Free
By Katie Durkin I have been teaching for the past decade, and while I don’t always think about it, so much has changed for my middle school students during that…
The Recharging Power of Relationships
Effectively managing resilience has never been more important for educators. In the third of her five-part series Resilient in the Middle, Julie Schmidt Hasson looks into the power of building…
Teach with More Peace, Joy & Energy Inside Zone of Tolerance
Effectively managing resilience has never been more important for educators. In the second of her five-part series Resilient in the Middle, Julie Schmidt Hasson looks into how educators can expand…