MiddleWeb

Diary of a Would-Be Assistant Principal

Former teacher Chris Canter is now an administrator-in-training at McNair Middle School in Atlanta's Fulton County system. ASCD invited Canter to write regularly about his yearlong assistant principal internship at the organization's Inservice blog. He's also developing a project for his graduate school program license that will lead to "collaborative data-based suggestions to improve and polish instructional practices within the building." All this and admin duties too. Share his pain and joy.

 

Grade Configurations: Still Crazy After All These Years

A new report lamenting math performance of America's young adolescents set off the predictable calls for elimination of middle schools in favor of (take your pick): cutting edge K-8 or good old Junior High. The ASCD Inservice blog offers some perspective. We're reminded of a 2004 NSBA keynote speech by respected middle grades reformer Hayes Mizell, now the Distinguished Senior Fellow at NSDC/Learning Forward. Simply put, Mizell says grade configurations are a red herring. Read "Still Crazy After All These Years:Grade Configuration and the Education of Young Adolescents."

AVID: College Readiness for All

More and more middle schools are launching AVID programs -- Advancement via Individual Determination - as a structured way to help their students focus on the goal of college completion. This news story profiles an AVID program in Glendale CA that emphasizes rigor, boosts students' critical-thinking skills, and offers college field trips to students who may be the first in their families to consider higher education. You'll find more at the AVID website, including details of a national conference set for Dec. 9-11 with the theme "Delivering the Dream: College Readiness for All."

 

Teachers' Word Choice Matters

"PERHAPS THE MOST POWERFUL AND TEACHER-FRIENDLY BOOK EVER PUBLISHED."
--Richard Allington

The things that teachers say (and don't say) have important consequences for the literate lives of their students. CHOICE WORDS uses dozens of examples of words and phrases to show how "instructional talk" shapes intellectual development. $12. Order here.

Thanks to Stenhouse Publishers for their support of MiddleWeb and middle grades educators.

"Studio Days" Promote Creative Thinking

During most days at North Oldham Middle, students study the typical mix of subjects in a typical format where the teacher leads and students follow. But every third day, says this story in the Louisville (KY) Courier Journal, students head for a "studio class," where they pursue interests they've chosen, tying together skills and knowledge from related arts classes to design and carry out their own projects. Students who are used to being told what to do must think for themselves. "It's not easy for them," says a teacher, "but it's the best kind of learning."

 

Mathematics: Problems of the Month

At the Inside Mathematics site, you'll find most everything you need, and need to know, to start a schoolwide problem-solving project. Each problem is divided into five levels "to allow access and scaffolding for the students into different aspects of the problem and to stretch students to go deeper into mathematical complexity." You'll find two videos -- an overview and a classroom scene -- plus downloadable problems in geometry, number, algebra, measurement, data analysis and logic. Check out this eighth grade page.

 

Create a Classroom Culture of Risk-Taking

This article from Educational Leadership's "Meaningful Work" issue (Sept 2010) sums up 20 years of research by Carol Dweck and her colleagues, identifying two distinct ways in which individuals view intelligence and learning. The fixed mindset believes intelligence is simply an inborn trait, while those with a growth mindset believe that they can develop their intelligence over time. Dweck argues that not only does meaningful schoolwork promote students' learning of academic content, it can also teach students to love challenges, to enjoy effort, to be resilient, and to value their own improvement. She shares ideas about how to help students come to see that long-term growth and success depends on taking risks.

 

Return of the Middle School Model

  We recently shared a news article about some Illinois school districts that were abandoning the "fluffy" middle school philosophy and returning to good old junior highs. Now an Ohio district is heading in the opposite direction. Faced with chronic poor performance after years of functioning like junior highs, this fall the Columbus school system is going back to the middle school model. Then there's the new NYC study saying K-8 rules. Maybe it's not about grade configuration at all?

 

Teaching Time Management

We all understand and sympathize with the distractions of tween-hood, says middle grades teacher Heather Wolpert-Gawron, but "we still need to teach deadlines and responsibility." In an installment of her "Middle School Nuts and Bolts" series, the TweenTeacher offers ideas from her own classroom about helping students manage their minutes and their workloads. Wolpert-Gawron's blog post was a most-clicked story from the daily Accomplished Teacher SmartBrief newsletter for more than a week. Are we surprised?

 

The Power of Positive Relationships

Some educators discount relationship-building in middle grades and high schools as "fluff," writes Tara Brown in the August issue of Middle Ground, the NMSA magazine. But for "middle grades kids who are trying to gain some independence and figure out which way is up, relationships with classmates and teachers are crucial to success." Brown offers seven relationship-based strategies "that can transform your classroom into a positive learning environment."

Effective Principals Embrace Collective Leadership

What do effective principals do to make schools successful? A major new study from the University of Minnesota, commissioned by the leadership program of the Wallace Foundation, reports that high student achievement across a school is linked to ""collective leadership" -- the combined influence of principals, teachers, parents and others on school decisions. Effective principals, the researchers say, encourage others to join in the decision-making process in their schools. Read a summary of the study at Education Week, where you'll find a link to download the complete report.

Get Your Ed Policy News Here

If you enjoy keeping up with education reform and other state and national ed policy news, you will definitely want to add the no-cost PEN NewsBlast to your collection of email newsletters. The weekly report includes meaty analytical summaries of roughly 10 newsworthy developments each week, plus brief notes on 4-6 others and a popular list of "new grant and funding information." Follow the link above for a sample and subscriber info. If you have the stamina for a daily newsletter (M-F), I'd also recommend the ASCD SmartBrief, which stays abreast of the national ed-news scene.

The All Important Home & Middle School Partnership

MiddleWeb newsletter subscriber Susie Merrick, an educator and middle grades parent, offers these ideas aimed at strengthening the all-important bridge between professionals in the school and the parents, guardians and community members they ultimately serve. Susie’s article first appeared in the Burlington (VT) Free Press and is used with permission here. 

Students are heading back to school. It’s an exciting time of transitions and fresh starts. As families, we maneuver through the hallways of our communities’ schools as our children get to know their teachers and connect with peers.

In elementary school, the role for parents and guardians is usually well defined. Teachers open their doors, encouraging volunteerism, offering opportunities for daily communication with the classroom teacher.

As our children transition to middle and high school, however, our role as parents and guardians in the schools is not as clear. Often the doors to our children’s schools feel closed to us.  We get mixed messages: Never has your role in your children’s lives been more important as well as You need to back off and give your children their independence.

I believe our most important role in our children’s lives is to empower them to launch to responsible and compassionate independence as adults. I further believe that partnership between home and school allows us to create a solid foundation from which our adolescents may launch.

According to the National Middle School Association (NMSA) and their “Characteristics of Exemplary Schools for Young Adolescents,” “Family and community play a central role in the successful education and development of young adolescents (Jackson & Davis, 2000; Muir, Anfara, Andrews, Caskey, Mertens, & Hough, 2006).” The NMSA goes on to cite the potential outcomes of this partnership:  increased academic achievement, decreased high-risk behavior in adolescents.

The question for parents and guardians becomes:  How do we support our students and staff within the walls of middle and high schools?  How do we do all this and still honor our children’s growing independence, our school staff members, and our own limited time?

Ask Our Adolescents. Listening to our teens and pre-teens is a respectful place to start. They may have a sense of where volunteers are needed (field trips, library), and they will also have their own opinions about the role they want parents and guardians to play in their schools: visible or behind-the-scenes.

Ask the Schools Themselves. When we reach out to the principals, administrative teams, and staff members, we extend an invitation for partnership and allow them to see our genuine intent to support the schools.

Connect with the Parent-Teacher Organization. Most schools already have a PTO in place and a list of volunteer opportunities within the schools.  These opportunities ideally reflect the diversity of families present in the school community. An opportunity exists here to (re)create and/or join a PTO that honors students, staff, and families.

Increase Communication. As parents and guardians we often wait to receive communication from the school, but we can play a significant role in opening the doors of communication to the school. When we communicate in a positive and authentic way to school staff, we begin to build a foundation of trust and respect between home and school.

Acknowledge the Risk. Parents and guardians are sometimes reluctant to contact the school with a concern because they worry that this may come at a cost to their family or to their child. If we acknowledge this roadblock for families, we may then address and change it.

I believe reaching out to our schools and to those within our school communities on a consistent basis is worth fitting into our busy lives. If and when we do, we build bridges between our schools, our homes, and our communities to more effectively honor our young people, support our school staffs, and give us all opportunities to learn from one another.

Susie Merrick lives in South Burlington and is the co-chair of PACT, Parents and Adults Celebrating Children and Teens. Posted at MiddleWeb in August 2010. Click here for more articles about schools, parents and communities.

Teaching Secrets: Cultural Competency

What is the most effective path for working with students who come from backgrounds different than your own? Middle grades instructional coach Elena Aguilar offers her ideas in this recent Teacher Magazine article titled "When the Kids Don't Share Your Culture." Aguilar's 13 tips will be of interest not only to new teachers but to all who work with children in multi-cultural classrooms.

Designing a Middle School for the Whole Child

If a school were designed from the ground up with the whole child in mind, what would it look and feel like? This recent article in ASCD's Education Update newsletter tells of a rapidly growing Illinois community that seized the opportunity to create a second middle school that addresses "the unique challenges of grade 6-8 students' entire learning experience." From structural layout to instructional design, Carriel Junior High is doing things differently.

Some Districts Giving Up Middle School Ideals?

A recent story in the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported on some nearby Illinois school districts that are "reverting to the junior-high model, rather than the middle-school model, in an effort to save money." Others, the newspaper says, are adopting hybrid models but abandoning enrichment programs, smaller class sizes and team teaching that were signatures of the middle school concept. The switch will allow districts to eliminate teaching positions in the face of state budget shortfalls. Says one district business manager: "Educationally that's a mistake, but financially this is a requirement. The state has no idea the damage they are doing to these kids."

Balancing the Teacher-Student Relationship

What is the relationship balance in a classroom? Where is that exact point at which students feel cared for but also know that they must respect the teacher and they are expected to learn? Middle grades educator Cindi Rigsbee, a 2009 national teacher of the year finalist, shares her insights about "The Relationship Balance" in the new summer edition of Educational Leadership. It's a web-only issue with the theme "Good Teaching in Action," that includes interesting articles for newbies and veterans alike. Another must-read: "The Best Teachers I Have Known."

English Language Learners: What Principals Need to Know

"When schools are set up with teams, professional learning communities, and block scheduling, a great deal can be done to ensure the success of ELLs," says this article from a recent issue of NASSP's Middle Level Leader. Providing ELLs and their teachers with an effective program, writes teacher and clinician Courtney George, "requires that school leaders understand some of the basics about second language acquisition theory as well as how structural changes at the school level can provide teachers and kids with the support they need and deserve." George summarizes the current research and program approaches and offers two student scenarios to frame her message.

Collective Practice, Quality Teaching

A 2009 study in North Carolina, looking at more than a decade of data, found that peer teacher collaboration has a notable effect on student achievement. So this latest issue of VUE magazine, published by the Annenberg Institute, is timely indeed. "Collective Practice, Quality Teaching" offers important articles by Susan Moore Johnson, Milbrey McLaughlin and others, including a trio of teachers from a K-8 charter in Rhode Island who describe a "pioneering collaboration" to grow student readers. Don't miss the thoughtful summary article about ways to sustain collaborative teacher practice. And if you'd like to check out that NC research, click here.

Sustaining the Spirit of Advisory All Day Long

Quality advisory programs consist "of much more than a period of time filled with activities," says veteran middle grades educator Theresa Hinkle in this recent article for NASSP's Middle Level Leader newsletter. As more middle schools abandon dedicated periods for "affective education," it's important for principal and teacher leaders to consider ways they can "incorporate the attitude of advisory" throughout the school day. Hinkle writes: "(W)e must look to establish a culture that supports young adolescents in their development as well-rounded young adults. In order to do this, we must be aware that truly listening to the voices of our students is crucial."