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Categories You may have a specific grade level interest. We hope by organizing in the following categories, it will make it easier to find ideas that may be helpful to you. |
Middle School Best PracticesA club for girls to feel good about being a girl “What color do you feel like today?” That’s the first question of ClubGen, a club for girls run by GenAustin that is in 17 middle schools and seven elementary schools in the Austin area. (March 2013) Four Steps to Flipping the Classroom The flipped classroom, in which students watch a video explaining a particular lesson or topic at home and then come to school prepared to complete assignments related to that lesson or discuss the topic in class, is gaining ground. But how, exactly, can educators go about flipping the classroom? (January 2013) College students develop apps to help kids master algebra iPad apps that college students have developed soon could help high school and middle school students crack the code of algebra, often a gatekeeper to college entry. (January 2013) How One California School Uses iPads to Support Its PE Program The pressures of being a physical education teacher in today’s public school environment are mounting. (August 2012) Improving Mathematical Problem Solving in Grades 4 - 8 This practice guide provides five recommendations for improving students’ mathematical problem solving in grades 4 through 8. It is geared toward teachers, math coaches, other educators, and curriculum developers who want to improve the mathematical problem solving of students. (May 2012) Mooresville's Shining Example (It's Not Just About the Laptops) MOORESVILLE, NC - Sixty educators from across the nation roamed the halls and ringed the rooms of East Mooresville Intermediate School, searching for the secret formula. They found it. (February 2012) Student-centered math coming to Staunton middle school Almost three years ago Dori Walk, executive director of instruction for Staunton schools, wanted to change the way math was taught. The result: student-centered math. (February 2012) Dictionary Day takes place of Halloween costumes at East Coweta Middle School - Georgia School Fires Up iPads to Fine-tune Phys-ed Skills In Gregg Agena's physical education classroom at Ewa Makai Middle School in Honolulu, students are ready for the day's lesson on basic tumbling: mats on the floor, tennis shoes off - and iPads up and at the ready. (October 2011) Teacher brings math to kid level Jason Pound has loved math since he was able to count and initially thought it would lead him to a career in computer science. But he changed gears and switched. (September 2011) Wondering (worrying?) about graphic novels? I just can't buy into the mad-crazy-graphic-novel-as-a-legitimate-form-of-reading-worth promoting love that seems to be sweepign through middle school libraries. (August 2011) District turnd to IPAD to teach Algebra (New Jersey) One of the district's two eight grade honors classes will use HMH FUse, an algebra-based textbook, as part of its curriculum — a pilot program the district plans to expand. This is how you interest kids in STEM careers! Hands-on! (Atlanta) A local surgeon invited a group of school kids into the surgery center at St. Joseph's Hospital for an up close and personal look at the robots he uses in his work. Many left with the idea this might be a career for them. Lesson: let kids experience STEM fields first hand! (June 2011) Girls get a handle on science and technology (Pennsylvania) In a large classroom packed with girls, forensic chemist Antoinette Thwaites demonstrated how to use cabbage juice to determine whether several powders were acids or bases. (May 2011) Schools see rising scores with iPads (California) Want to improve student academic performance? There's an app for that. Hundreds of middle school students in the central San Joaquin Valley, Calif., and across the state - each with a school-issued iPad - are using curriculum appls for their classwork and homework. (May 2011) The Courage to Blog With Students This National Board Certified Teacher shares eight suggestions for successfully incorporating blogs into classroom lessons, which she says has academic and social benefits for students. (April 2011) Environmental Issues Inspire Children to Dig Into Science (South Carolina) Students in the science club at Pickens Middle School in Pickens, SC, had been planning a trip to swim with manatees in Florida when news of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico hit last year. (April 2011) Kineo: Like an iPad, but made for students As more school leaders look at using iPads and other tablet computers as learning tools, the Florida-based company Brainchild has developed an iPad-like device that is designed specifically for elementary and middle school students. (February 2011) Middle school class teaches research skills (Ohio) The name “21st Century Literacy Skills” makes the new class taught at Poland Middle School sound quite mysterious, but teacher Jan Kirns says the purpose of the class is quite simple, and also necessary. (February 2011) Teaching With a Tablet: One Educator's Experience She talks about the practicalities of forgoing the traditional textbook and seeing students find different ways of learning the material. (January 2011) An exercise to improve fluency One teacher's effort to help improve the writing fluency of her middle-school students is paying off this year (January 2011) School introduces origami to students (Louisiana) Teacher Hardy Davis brought the ancient art of paper folding to his school after finding it a successful way of keeping restless young minds — and hands — busy. (January 2011) Doing it Differently: Tips for Teaching Vocabulary Copying definitions from the dictionary we would probably all agree is not an effective way to learn vocabulary. Passive learning hardly ever is. (December 2010) Holiday Plans Should Include Reading Guidance (Texas) This week, my students and I participated in what has become a classroom ritual: planning for reading over an upcoming school break. (December 2010) Building Math Posivity Before children can become interested in math, they have to be comfortable with it. They must perceive their environment as physically and psychologically safe before learning can occur. (December 2010) Blueprint: Peer-led phys-ed classes helping students build strength, friendships (Georgia) Just passing by Isaac Wyatt in the hallways at Malcom Bridge Middle School, you wouldn't think he could do many sit-ups. But this month, a team of eighth-graders helped cheer him on as he went through 20 of them. (November 2010) Middle school students sharing opinions on their blogs (Pennsylvania) Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Poised at a keyboard in the upstairs computer lab, Elizabeth Pusateri was ready to share her thoughts about volcanoes. (November 2010) New math program a number theory (Washington State) The Yakima School District is hoping that new technology equals improved math performance among secondary school students — and 80 teachers and aides have been trained to make it work: ‘It was a huge undertaking.’ (Also posted in High School section - November 2010) Science teachers say being outdoors boosts student learning (Iowa) A framed, illustrated quote by botanist Luther Burbank sits on Ames Middle School life science teacher Nancy Kurrle’s desk. It reads: “Every child should have mud pies, grasshoppers, water-bugs, tadpoles. (October 2010) A reading culture (Georgia) When the electricity went out at Dalton Middle School recently, students in at least one seventh-grade science classroom knew exactly what to do. (September 2010) Students take photos of earth's curvature with help from iPad (Virginia) MS - At this Virginia school this past school year, 13 seventh- and eighth-graders signed up for a biweekly science elective that proposed this challenge: Take a photo of the curvature of the Earth and spend just $200 to do it. (July 2010) Class assignment evolves into essay contest, book (Georgia) MS - When Arnall Middle School social studies teacher Pamela Ridge assigned her seventh grade class a research project about someone in history they admired, it inspired one student and his mother to start a nation-wide essay contest. (July 13) 'Rap teacher' uses hip-hop to school L.A. kids in algebra - (California) MS - The class of eighth graders at a Los Angeles middle school tap their rulers and nod their heads to the rhythm of the rap video projected on a screen. It's not Snoop Dog of Jay-Z. (June 2010) School testing: Vocabulary, learning strategies are keys to success (Virginia) MS - Chalk raced across the blackboard in Linwood Jenkins' class as the sixth-grade teacher struggled to keep up with the barrage of answers students shouted at him. (April 2010) Bowie honors Spanish teacher for innovation in teaching (Maryland) MS - Pedro Gonzalez didn't grow up dreaming to be a teacher. There was no career epiphany when he graduated from Bowie High School in 2000. He even dabbled in studying theater while attending the University of Maryland. (February 2010) PBS Kids' teaches biology in an online game (Nation) MS - Parents and teachers looking for a way to make learning biology fun for kids can find it in an outstanding free online game called Lifeboat to Mars. (February 2010) Principal: Teacher teams lead to success (Texas) MS - Foster Middle School's principal plans to keep using a teaching model designed to create smaller classes. Teaming, or pairing core academic teachers so they have the same students throughout the day, is working. (January 2010) The 50 Best Inventions of 2009 (New York) MS - This past summer, in a sixth-grade math class, New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein piloted a small program in which individualized, technology-based learning takes the place of the old "let's all proceed together" approach. (November 2009) Teaching too-hard math concepts does students no favors (Maryland) MS - We are in the midst of a paradox in math education. As more states strive to improve math curricula and raise standardized test scores, more students show up to college unprepared for college-level math. (November 2009) Middle school students map road to success with new tool (Tennessee) MS - These students spent the first eight weeks of school learning eight different ways of organizing information. They are using organizational charts, called Thinking Maps, to master subject matter. (October 2009) New views on math help raise scores (Virginia) MS - Two teachers who do not teach math found a way to incorporate the subject outside the math classroom. It seems to be working! (September 2009) Literacy Accountability in a New-Media Age (Kentucky) MS - Walking through the hallways of the middle school where I teach, I inevitably hear students talk about music Web sites, blogs, Web-based photo albums, Facebook pages, and other forms of new media. (September 2009) |
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