MiddleWeb

Promoting Sensitivity to Student Diversity

As the school year begins, we are likely confronted by some students’ insensitivity to challenges of diversity. Sometimes that social blindness also occurs among faculty and staff.

• Writing for the AMLE magazine Middle Ground, University of Florida professor Colleen Swain outlines ways to develop sensitivity to racial and class discrimination and to make classrooms welcoming to diverse students in Addressing the Achievement Gap Through Cultural Responsiveness.

• Countering the ostracism which often greets special ed students requires a consistent effort, according to elementary principal Peter DeWitt in an entry from his Finding Common Ground blog at Education Week. Several of his blogs over the summer are also helpful for understanding the fear and suffering of LGBT young people and for helping them.

• Annamarie Urso, PhD, who has worked in K-12 special ed and now teaches at SUNY in Geneseo, urges educators to go beyond teaching about intolerance and to actively support kids who are targeted by bullies. Writing for Leadscape, the cognitive coaching site, she lists recent examples of racist bigotry and suicides among LGBT youth and provides links to resources to build support for targeted students. 

• LGBT students speak for themselves in “Queer Youth Advice for Educators: How to Respect and Protect Your Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Students” by Abe Louise Young and 30 LGBT teens. Available online in PDF format, the booklet from nonprofit What Kids Can Do also offers extensive links to materials and ideas to help GLBT youth survive and thrive.

Resources for Teaching about 9-11

Facing the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001 will be difficult for many people, in the United States and across the world. For teachers the challenge is to help students understand that day and our country’s response to it. Among the online resources for educators, we have found these to be the most helpful:   The “September 11: Teaching Contemporary History” website provides lesson plans and activities from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, the three memorial organizations, and others. The site now offers recordings of the early August online conference sessions for EL, MS, and HS teachers.

Materials are also available to help parents talk about 9/11 with their children. Access education services company Pearson’s free September 11 resources. The two Pearson collections, one for K-6 and the other for 6-12, include lesson plans, audio of survivors, and a booklet to share with secondary students. This week the NYT’s Learning Network offers thoughts on how to use the anniversary of 9/11 to help students understand history, and why it is essential for them to see that history is more than chronology.

Edutopia’s Suzie Boss suggests several 9/11 resources in her August 29 blog. Especially helpful are brief guides from the National Association of School Psychologists. The advice can help educators,  parents and young people face the pain and questions which memories of 9/11 provoke.

If you decide to use video of people’s responses to the attacks, the History Channel provides interactive maps with linked video clips. Finally, the Associated Press has created a free style and reference guide.

Philosophy for Children

The recent passing of philosopher Matthew Lipman recalls his notable contribution to K12 curriculum, "Philosophy for Children." A MiddleWeb subscriber writes that it was "one of the most compelling curriculum packages for middle grades kids I ever came across. I loved it because it treated kids and their ideas seriously. And because it valued diverse ideas, heterogeneous groups were an asset in classrooms where it was taught." The NYT story linked above tells of Lipman's life and work. To find out more using the philosophy curriculum, which he hoped would not only teach logic but address some of life's big questions, visit this university webpage.

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."

 

Bullying: Help Students Get Proactive

"Most of the time, 6th graders arrive in middle school feeling lost and scared, and it takes some time before the bullies and troublemakers have the nerve to separate themselves out from the pack. But last fall at our Los Angeles middle school, trouble was brewing almost from the start." So begins literacy teacher Kathie Marshall's frequently recommended story at Teacher Magazine about the strategies she used successfully to help her students put bullying in its place. For more tips about bullying, download this toolkit from Eyes on Bullying.

Oil Spill Crisis: Kids at Work

Many middle school students are deeply concerned about the Gulf oil spill crisis and are becoming acutely aware of the need to become environmental activists. Edutopia, the excellent education site supported by the George Lucas Foundation, has put together this page of resources  , highlighting many ways that young people are (or can) get involved with scientists and others committed to protecting the environment. Lots of ideas for the next school year -- or summer programs.

Place-Based Learning (and Podcasting)

Middle grades students at an Oregon school combined place-based learning with some 21st century skills development when they created podcasts as part of their study of a local streetcar line that used to operate near their school. The student recordings, says this news story, are posted on the website of the regional transportation planning agency, which is considering reviving the original line.

What Does It Take to Get Really Good?

At the Fires in the Mind site, sponsored by What Kids Can Do, young people are sharing stories about their own efforts to get really good at something -- from ballroom dancing and skateboarding to developing mathematical thinking and good study habits. As always, WKCD provides the authentic voices of a diverse cross-section of American youth -- a precious commodity. And they've included mindful ideas for teachers and parents to start some fires of their own. The site asks: "Do kids have to be born with talent to shine at math or chess or debate or cello? What draws them in, and keeps them going when things get harder? What's happening at school--or not happening--to light the fires in young people's minds?"

History: The Struggle for Justice

Teachers will find resources and inspiration at this online companion to the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery exhibition "The Struggle for Justice." Included are six video clips narrated by CNN's Soledad O'Brien highlighting six areas in which Americans have struggled for rights over the last century -- and a gallery section featuring portraits of many individuals who were instrumental in fighting for justice and equal opportunity in the United States. There's also a lesson plan with a list of useful outside materials.

Attracting Urban Youth to Afterschool Programs

This research report, first published by the Teachers College Record, uncovers several qualities of after-school programs that help them not only attract urban youth but keep them coming back. These qualities, the authors say, are critical factors in positive adolescent development: supportive relationships with adults and peers; safety, and opportunities to learn.

Voices of Latino Middle Schoolers

In this collection of writing and media from middle school Latino/a students in Austin, Los Angeles, and Oakland, the concepts of "place, identity, and culture rule." Brought together by What Kids Can Do and the National Council of La Raza as part of a service-learning project, the young authors fight stereotypes, share what makes them who they are, explore their communities, and imagine some facets of the world they want to help create. "From start to finish," says WKCD director Barbara Cervone, "students talked about the key concerns they want to address as leaders. Safe families in caring communities. Respect and equity for their ethnic groups. High expectations. Healthy food options. A passionate desire to contribute in positive ways." An excellent launching pad for your own school or classroom projects.

An Archive that Stores Hope

We've highlighted the Middle School Archive Project in Dallas TX several times since it launched in 2005. It's a "stay in school" strategy that's the brainchild of Bill Betzen, a tech teacher at Quintanilla Middle School. The idea is simple: eighth graders write letters to themselves to be opened 10 years in the future, which include imagined achievements in their lives. At a 10th-year class reunion students will revisit their archived letters and reflect on the course they've taken. Although the project is only in its sixth year, Betzen has data to suggest it's already influencing graduation rates. During a visit to Dallas, National TOY Tony Mullen wrote about the Quintanilla project, which he called "an archive that stores hope." Mullen's evocative writing style is always a pleasure to read. And here's a direct link to the Archive project site.

Field-Test a New Heath/Science Game

Drug Scene Investigators, an online science/heath game for grades 7-10, engages students in solving mysteries "caused by unknown illegal drugs as they search the library, take notes, link discovered information with facts, and reason from the evidence to form conclusions." The game, developed with a grant from the National Institutes of Heath, not only educates students about drugs but promotes critical thinking and inquiry skills, the authors say. DSI is currently undergoing a national evaluation and the designers are looking for teachers to take part. Eligible teachers receive $50 for their first participating class and $25 for each additional class. Visit the link above to find out more and try out a demo of the game.

Morning Meetings in Louisville

Edutopia Magazine has a good story about a homegrown school district initiative in Louisville KY called "CARE: Community Autonomy, Relationships & Empowerment." Initiated by system superintendent Sheldon Berman, the K-8 program grows out of a view "from the trenches" that social and emotional learning are key to cultivating successful schools "and essential to any mission to educate children." CARE targets core social skills through the "Morning Meeting," a 20-minute daily encounter between students and teacher. Good news: the Edutopia story has the kind of detail schools might need to pursue a similar program of their own.

Over-Prescribed Students Losing Sense of Freedom

Thanks to NMSA's April Tribbles for sharing this thoughtful article from the December issue of Middle E-Connections. Chris Doyle, a secondary teacher in Connecticut, makes the case that middle and high schools are failing the next generation of adults when they provide too much curriculum structure and not enough freedom to learn. Students' lives are so "over-prescribed," he says, that they have few chances to play "outside the rules and supervision" of adults. This not only has health consequences, Doyle believes, but it also contributes to a deficit of self-awareness and an inability to understand the concept of "freedom" that has held America together for 200 years. Doyle has some ideas about how to change all that.

A Dollar's Worth of Teaching Memories

Sixth grade teacher-author Bill Ferriter has a soft writing touch when he puts his heart into it, and his recent post at The Tempered Radical – "Small Tokens Equal Big Memories" – illustrates this well. For many years Bill has been giving a silver dollar to students with whom he had a coaching or special classroom relationship. "Ten years from now," he would tell them, "when you find your silver dollar on your bookshelf or in your box of special things, I hope your coin will remind you of our team and the time that we spent together." Some of those silver dollars are beginning to work their magic.

Science & Health: Kids Focus on Smart Eating

In this story on the What Kids Can Do website, seventh grader Yamile points out that "Knowing the food pyramid is just the beginning." Middle-schoolers at Lighthouse Community Charter have set out to make teen nutrition a real cause. The subject of healthy eating is actually part of the curriculum at this Oakland CA public school, where many students and their families come from neighborhoods where it can be difficult to find affordable and nutritious food. This tale of the connections between a healthy body and an active mind is one in a series from WKCD, an organization dedicated to increasing student ownership of learning and decision-making.

The Counselor's Room

No counseling experts here in the MiddleWeb Resource Center, so we'll leave it to our colleagues who have expertise in this area to judge the usefulness of The Counselor's Room. But we like their emphasis on jargon-free, research-based lesson plans and the fact that they've been listed as a resource on half-a-dozen state school counseling sites. Creator Catherine Taintor notes that there's no cost (a few Google ads but not in your face), and you'll also find downloadable therapeutic games and group activities. Mr. Ditto be warned: "All of the resources are hands-on activities (not) worksheets."

Making Sense of Oral History

Ever considered an oral history project as a history, social studies or community service project? This website offers some general discussion about what oral history is, how students and scholars might approach it, and its place as "historical evidence." For practical ideas about doing some oral history yourself or with your students, here's a huge resource page at About.com that's sure to have the answers to most of your questions.

Help Students Develop a Work Ethic

It is essential, says Alan November, to restore the dignity and integrity of children as contributors to our communities and society. In the past, the education futurist says, "children were essential to the very survival of the family... (and) jobs taught children the value of hard work, leading them to become more productive citizens." With the coming of the industrial economy, "students were required to attend school where teachers became central figures and where children took on more passive roles." Some pioneering teachers are now working to help children regain their active involvement in work and learning, says November. He describes six meaningful jobs that students can do as schools seek to achieve this goal.