In this article, the author first explains what an authors gallery is and suggests additional uses and modifications. Next, readers are taken through a day-by-day description of creating the gallery while having the theory behind this pedagogical choice explained. The step-by-step discussion is supported with student examples and concepts drawn…

For six weeks, middle school students gathered information about peanuts from a variety of text and media sources to create an original informative book, thereby combining goals in both technology and language arts. By conducting authentic research about one topic for a concentrated period of time, students were able to develop and fine tune their…

During the fall 2005 semester, an eighth grade teacher in a Laramie, Wyoming, middle school made an urgent plea for more progressive tools for a beginning computers course. Janet Johnson, a veteran teacher returning to the classroom after a hiatus of 10 years, was frustrated with the apparent lack of motivation and engagement by the students. She…

In his book "The World Is Flat," Friedman (2005) argued that people have under-appreciated the role that humiliation plays in terrorism. If it is true, that humiliation plays a role in terrorism, what role might this under-appreciated emotion play in middle school? If terrorists act, in part, based on humiliation, how do middle school students act…

The social world of young adolescents comes into the classroom with them. It can cause kids to sit with blank or glum faces while teachers present their most fascinating assignments. It can drive them to make inappropriate comments at moments that should elicit serious thought. Although teachers tend to think of middle schoolers as risk-takers,…

This article reports a small-scale study on young adolescents in understanding what they think, feel, and experience as young people and as middle school students. Approximately 2,700 young adolescents who attend middle schools in diverse communities across the United States and North America responded to the question: "What should middle school…

This article describes how parent communication across an urban school district was improved through student-led, teacher-supported conferences. According to "This We Believe," student-led, teacher-supported conferences empower young adolescents to accept responsibility for their own learning. Such conferences invite parents into the learning…

Building strong bonds between home and school is one of National Middle School Association's (2003) 14 characteristics for successful middle schools set forth in "This We Believe". Getting teachers to actually believe in the value of parental involvement is not always easy. This article examines a range of key issues in the literature on parental…

While middle school educators are faced with No Child Left Behind's demands for improving students' literacy learning, it is also wise to incorporate family and community involvement into the curriculum. In designing activities that meet such demands, middle school educators should consider allowing their students to write profiles on family and…

The purpose of this article is to provide middle level educators with an orientation to the theoretical constructs and tenets of Choice Theory (Glasser, 1998) as both a preventive and remedial framework for supporting the development of students exhibiting school disciplinary behavioral problems. The following three topics are addressed: (1)…

The struggles and often compelling social dramas of middle school may be either long-forgotten or intentionally blocked by adulthood, but many middle schoolers could benefit from guidance during this difficult period of their lives. This article presents the rationale, along with the basic contours, of a six-session program that has been developed…

O'Brien (2003), when redefining the competencies of struggling students, said it makes sense to provide opportunities for at-risk or struggling students to explore topics of interest including, but not limited to, inquiry into popular media. This use of popular media should be a welcomed addition of the use of technology to improve students'…

The purpose of this article is to probe teacher beliefs about the cultures and curricula of mathematics classroom. By examining the case of a teacher in New York City--his teaching practices and the resulting learning environment fostered there--certain pedagogical and epistemological beliefs can be highlighted. The author first examines some…

Time on task, with its twin elements of purposeful use of "time" and rededication to ensuring the quality of the "task," presents educators at all levels with the opportunity to effect change through relatively straightforward means. The purpose of this article is to highlight several aspects of using time effectively through a series of…

Students and teachers at Hand Middle School in Columbia, South Carolina, were in the midst of a two-year, comprehensive renovation and construction project in which some sections of their 75-year-old, historic building were being renovated and new sections added. When parts of the school were boarded up and oversized machinery first moved onto…