by: Caleb White Earlier today I checked the roll to see who’d be absent from my history class in the last period of the day. Nuts. It looked like close to a full complement, and this particular class has some challenging personalities. You know, the stoner, the loner, the clown, the jock. There are a handful […]
middle school
Changing Schools: How do you know when it’s time to go?
How do you know when to leave? When to change your job, school, district, profession? There is only one thing that is unfailingly true: no matter what, someone will disagree with your choice. I am not talking about the obvious stuff: total misery, incompatible supervisor, burn-out, moving for love. I am talking about the times when […]
Mathematical Conversations Aid Problem Solving
Mathematical conversations are among the most important connections that make math about solving problems instead of just calculating answers. They include discussions of how a problem was solved and whether or not the answer makes sense. Often teachers shy away from mathematical conversations thinking they will lead to students talking instead of working. In this second […]
Teachers, National History Day Needs Your Help
This past week, the National History Day program announced that it lost one of its biggest benefactors. Though National History Day (NHD) doesn’t announce the benefactor’s name, it does reveal how much it’s going to hurt the program — a total net loss of $800,000, annually. If you don’t know what the National History Day […]
Using Literature to Teach Math: Five Great Books to Use in Middle School
I’m always trying to come up with different ways to teach math that will grab the interest of my students. If you’ve ever taught math or been taught math, you know there are some students that just don’t like math, but love reading. So, what if you incorporate literature in math instruction? I’ve got five […]
Have You Tried Socratic Seminars Yet?
Have you jumped into Socratic Seminars in your classroom yet? If not, I’ve got a few easy tips to help you get started – including a ‘real life’ demo video! If you’re already using Socratic Seminar, maybe I’ve got a way you can snazz yours up and take your students’ thinking a little bit deeper. […]
The Hardest Parts Of Teaching
These are the hard parts of teaching: Waking up from a nightmare where you’re out of breath and can’t find your classroom and are teaching in a foreign language to a group of kids who could care less about being there and you wonder, when you wake up, how that part of your fears will […]
Literature Circles in Middle School: Assignments & Assessment
Over the course of three articles, I have talked about doing Literature Circles with my 8th-grade students. For a list of the novels we used, check here. To read about the procedures I put in place for my students, check here. And for an explanation of how I used mini-lessons both as a full class […]