Middle School Matters

Author: Phyllis L. Fagell
Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
ISBN: 0738235091
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 343

Book Description
A counselor and popular Washington Post contributor offers a new take on grades 6-8 as a distinct developmental phase--and the perfect time to set up kids to thrive. Middle school is its own important, distinct territory, and yet it's either written off as an uncomfortable rite of passage or lumped in with other developmental phases. Based on her many years working in schools, professional counselor Phyllis Fagell sees these years instead as a critical stage that parents can't afford to ignore (and though "middle school" includes different grades in various regions, Fagell maintains that the ages make more of a difference than the setting). Though the transition from childhood to adolescence can be tough for kids, this time of rapid physical, intellectual, moral, social, and emotional change is a unique opportunity to proactively build character and confidence. Fagell helps parents use the middle school years as a low-stakes training ground to teach kids the key skills they'll need to thrive now and in the future, including making good friend choices, negotiating conflict, regulating their own emotions, be their own advocates, and more. To answer parents' most common questions and struggles with middle school-aged children, Fagell combines her professional and personal expertise with stories and advice from prominent psychologists, doctors, parents, educators, school professionals, and middle schoolers themselves.

School Matters

Author: Peter Mortimore
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520330374
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1988.

Class Matters

Author: Betsy Leondar-Wright
Publisher: New Society Pub
ISBN: 9780865715233
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 177

Book Description
A practical handbook for bridging class divisions, designed for the busy activist.

Teaching Matters Most

Author: Thomas M. McCann
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1452205108
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Book Description
A laser-beam focus on improving instruction to improve learning If we want to change how students write, compute, and think, then teachers must transform the old “assign-and-assess” model into engaging, coherent, and rigorous instruction. The authors show school leaders how to make this happen amidst myriad distractions, initiatives, and interruptions. Unlike other books that stop at evaluating teachers and instruction, this work demonstrates how to grow schools’ instructional capacities with a three-step process that involves: Envisioning what good teaching looks like Measuring the quality of current instruction against this standard Working relentlessly to move the quality of instruction closer and closer to the ideal

The Middle Matters

Author: Lisa-Jo Baker
Publisher: WaterBrook
ISBN: 052565285X
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
The best-selling author of Never Unfriended opens up about midlife and what it feels like to have outgrown those teenage jeans—but finally grown into the shape of our souls. “I want to give Lisa-Jo’s book a standing ovation.”—Aarti Sequeira, chef and TV personality Do you ever wonder how you woke up one day with all the responsibilities of a grown-up who secretly enjoys buying groceries in bulk, can no longer recognize the tween celebrities on the magazines at checkout, but is still surprised when a Starbucks barista calls you “ma’am”—because your inside self is frozen in time to about twenty years ago? So does Lisa-Jo Baker. In these intimate reflections on midlife, Lisa-Jo invites us to get a good look at our middles and gives us permission to embrace them—beyond what the media, the mirror, or the magazines say. Through gutsy, beautiful storytelling, she admits out loud what most of us are thinking about marriage, parenting, the bathroom scale, and how badly we all want to buy those matching Magnolia Market mugs. Her delicious stories come from not being afraid of who she is, because Lisa-Jo knows that the middle might be the best part of the love story of life, kids, faith, doubt, marriage, failure, wonder, and the muffin top—and that these are all good things. She’s not asking you to seize the day, just to make sure you actually see it for all its wildly ordinary glory. Welcome to the middle! Praise for The Middle Matters “What a thought-provoking collection of reflections and wisdom! Through personal stories about love, loss, and life in the middle, Lisa-Jo invites us to take a long look inside our own mind’s secret nooks and crannies, which aren’t nearly as dark, scary, or ordinary as we might think.”—Layla Palmer, The Lettered Cottage blog “With captivating wit, hard-won wisdom, and breathtaking honesty, Lisa-Jo has written a love letter to the delicious middle.”—Mandy Arioto, president and CEO of MOPS International and author of Have More Fun “With Lisa-Jo’s guts as our unfettered guide, may we finally learn the sumptuous truth of our years: that a grilled cheese sandwich without the middle is just toast.”—Erin Loechner, founder of OtherGoose and author of Chasing Slow “Thank you, Lisa-Jo, for reminding women everywhere how important it is to find meaning in the midst of the confusing middle.”—Joy Prouty, artist and educator

Why Rural Schools Matter

Author: Mara Casey Tieken
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469618486
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 247

Book Description
Why Rural Schools Matter

Middle School Makeover

Author: Michelle Icard
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351861328
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 138

Book Description
Middle School Makeover is a guide for parents and educators to help the tweens in their lives navigate the socially fraught hallways, gyms, and cafeterias of middle school. The book helps parents, teachers, and other adults in middle school settings to understand the social dilemmas and other issues that kids today face. Author Michelle Icard covers a large range of topics, beginning with helping us understand what is happening in the brains of tweens and how these neurological development affects decision-making and questions around identity. She also addresses social media, dating, and peer exclusion. Using both recent research and her personal, extensive experience working with middle-school-aged kids and their parents, Icard offers readers concrete and practical advice for guiding children through this chaotic developmental stage while also building their confidence.

Why Knowledge Matters

Author: E. D. Hirsch
Publisher: Harvard Education Press
ISBN: 1612509541
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 287

Book Description
In Why Knowledge Matters, E. D. Hirsch, Jr., presents evidence from cognitive science, sociology, and education history to further the argument for a knowledge-based elementary curriculum. Influential scholar Hirsch, author of The Knowledge Deficit, asserts that a carefully planned curriculum that imparts communal knowledge is essential in achieving one of the most fundamental aims and objectives of education: preparing students for lifelong success. Hirsch examines historical and contemporary evidence from the United States and other nations, including France, and affirms that a knowledge-based approach has improved both achievement and equity in schools where it has been instituted. In contrast, educational change of the past several decades in the United States has endorsed a skills-based approach, founded on, Hirsch points out, many incorrect assumptions about child development and how children learn. He recommends new policies that are better aligned with our current understanding of neuroscience, developmental psychology, and social science. The book focuses on six persistent problems that merit the attention of contemporary education reform: the over-testing of students in the name of educational accountability; the scapegoating of teachers; the fadeout of preschool gains; the narrowing of the curriculum to crowd out history, geography, science, literature, and the arts; the achievement gap between demographic groups; and the reliance on standards, such as the Common Core State Standards, that are not linked to a rigorous curriculum. Why Knowledge Matters makes a clear case for educational innovation and introduces a new generation of American educators to Hirsch’s astute and passionate analysis.

Creating the Balance

Author: Louise Diamond
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 142

Book Description
Creating the Balance: Parenting Through the Middle School Years is an essential read for parents of ten through fourteen-year-olds, providing insights from a school counselor who has guided students through the challenging years of middle school for decades. It serves as a reference guide for navigating topics including: staying connected to your child; choosing the right school; guidance about social issues and peers; countering negative influences; bullying; managing cell phones and other screens; handling learning and behavior problems at home and school; coping with grief, divorce, and blended families; talking to kids about sex; preparing for high school; recognizing at-risk behaviors; when to seek professional help and more. It gives understanding to middle school behavior and suggests practical tools to nurture and encourage adolescents to be successful learners and emotionally healthy.

Teacher Education Matters

Author: William H. Schmidt
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 356

Book Description
Based on a major international teacher education research project—the Mathematics Teaching in the 21st Century Study (MT21)—this book investigates the preservice preparation of middle school mathematics teachers in the United States, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany, Bulgaria, and Mexico. The study was funded by the National Science Foundation and the participating countries. William Schmidt (co-author of the influential TIMSS study on student test results in science and math) and Maria Teresa Tatto (director of the Teacher Education and Development study, or TEDS-M) led a collaborative team of international researchers in this study. Using the results of more than 2,500 surveys, the authors examine the differential contribution of the six countries’ teacher-education models to the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of their future mathematics teachers. Case studies and detailed analyses of the teacher education curriculum across the participating countries provide rich contextual information to explain the survey findings. This study is the first to examine the resource allocation and economic support in teacher education vis-à-vis other mathematics-related professions, and it shows that differential investment patterns are consistent with the level of teaching knowledge found in each country’s new teachers. The book includes a chapter on policy implications, with a special focus on teacher preparation in the United States.