REASONING WITH THE MIDDLE SCHOOL BRAIN

REASONING WITH THE MIDDLE SCHOOL BRAIN
http://snipurl.com/ms_brainresearch
Texas scientists think they’ve come up with a program that can accelerate the development of higher order thinking in adolescents, at a critical point in brain development. This story in the Dallas Morning News describes how the researchers have used their techniques to help teenagers with attention deficit problems filter out unimportant details and focus on main concepts to improve their overall reasoning skills. The scientists are now looking for funds to implement the program in all Texas middle schools.
A NEW TEACHER’S TOP 10 TO-DO LIST
http://snipurl.com/mr_ten_todo
We hope it’s not too late in September for the new teachers among us to gain from this Top 10 to-do list, prepared by veteran middle grades teacher Marsha Ratzel. She focuses on many practical matters and
offers tips that will serve new teachers well in the coming months by maximizing teaching time.

TEACHING THE OUTSIDERS
http://snipurl.com/blog_outsiders
Seventh-grade language arts teacher Mark Coward began this blog to document and reflect upon his strategies for teaching the popular middle grades novel “The Outsiders.” Somewhere along the way, Mark
decided to expand his reflections to include “the day to day life” of a middle school classroom. English teachers will of course find much of use here, but so will novice educators and teachers new to the
middle grades. A 20-year veteran, Mark has a funny and engaging writing style. Check out his recent post about the Raffle King, a random decision-making tool that Mark says is super-engaging to
seventh graders when “projected 8 feet high with the LCD projector.”

NEW MIDDLE LEVEL PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR
http://snipurl.com/msnpoy_boaz
Ray Landers, principal of Boaz Middle School in Boaz, Alabama has been named the 2009 MetLife/NASSP National Middle Level Principal of the Year. Landers, who’s been at high-poverty Boaz Middle for eight years,
says it’s his responsibility “to inspire and lead change” based on solid research, best practices, and teacher collaboration. The school’s journey from “good to great” was helped by the addition of an instructional specialist who supports teachers in more intensive professional development. To read a detailed report on the remarkable improvements at Boaz MS, download the Fall 2008 issue of “Working
Toward Excellence,” the journal of the Alabama Best Practices Center (page 7): http://snipurl.com/wte_fall08
EXPLORATOPIA: HANDS-ON SCIENCE
http://snipurl.com/exploratopia
It’s a standing rule here at MiddleWeb that we don’t promote products that are purely for sale. There has to be some content you can use without spending a nickel. So we were relieved to see the sample
activities offered as part of the Exploratorium’s sales pitch for its new hands-on science book “Exploratopia.” Why? Because we want to promote it! It includes more than 400 “kid-friendly explorations and experiments for curious minds,” drawn from the archives of the 25-year old San Francisco hands-on science museum. Check out the sample activities (we’re eager to try out the March of the Ants) and read the
details about the book’s content. Worth $30? We think so.

FACULTY BOOK STUDIES
http://snipurl.com/book_studies
Teacher book groups are gaining traction as a way for educators to reflect on ideas and create change in schools, says this story in the latest issue of Teacher Magazine’s Professional Development
Sourcebook. “On media-center couches and at conference-room tables, downing Cokes and sipping coffee together, teachers around the country are cracking open books to get better at what they do –and, often,
relishing the experience.” The article includes a list of some current books being studied by middle school faculties, including “Classroom Assessment for Student Learning” by Robert J. Stiggins.

CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER
http://snipurl.com/el_studentconvers
In his social studies and English classes, teacher Stephen Myers uses intentional, structured conversations to create and maintain trusting classroom relationships. ASCD thought enough of his methods to feature
his article “Conversations That Matter” as part of the September package of stories about “The Positive Classroom,” published in Educational Leadership (online). Myers offers three structures teachers can use to model and practice community building conversations with students in grades 6-12. “Relationships are like
breathing,” he says. “They aren’t the whole story, but without them, nothing else matters.”

MAKING MATH CONCEPTS STICK
http://snipurl.com/nassp_ahamath
Laurynn Evans says she’s “lost count of the number of times that I have watched a student have the thrill of an ‘aha!’ moment in a math classroom only to later discover that he or she forgot the skill, lost
track of the process, or couldn’t demonstrate their learning when assessment time rolled around.” In this recent article from Principal Leadership (May 2008), Evans has some ideas that could result in a few
Aha moments for math teachers. “Recent research and practice,” she says, “show that an instructional strategy called ‘reflective assessment’ is helping a growing number of students bridge the gap
between learning and retaining math information.” Evans summarizes the research and includes several strategies.