Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

What Drives Your Spirit And Commitment To Middle Level Education? Exploring A Middle School Mindset, Nancy B. Ruppert

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

Over the past two years, middle school advocates have been sharing their thoughts on the following prompt: “What drives your spirit and commitment to middle level education?” The purpose has been to capture ‘the spirit’ of middle school* educators?’ From these stories five characteristics emerged that can help us consider how to promote the next generation of middle school leaders. Perhaps using the findings from this exercise can help us advocate for the next generation of middle school leaders. * For the purpose of this study, middle school refers to those who work with 10-15 year olds and includes intermediate …

Curriculum Integration: Walking The Walk, Taylor A. Norman, Amanda Wall

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

Curriculum integration is a hallmark of middle level education. This approach to education involves blending topics across content areas as a way of studying topics and problems of interest to young adolescents. Approaches to curriculum integration and interdisciplinary curriculum overlap with concepts like democratic education, place-based learning, student agency, and student-designed curriculum. Here, two teacher educators report on a recent initiative in which we co-designed integrated curriculum along with middle level teacher candidates. We drew on place-based instruction and models of collaboration to develop this project. Candidates then developed integrated units appropriate for middle school classrooms.

Collaborating With The European League For Middle Level Education, Nancy B. Ruppert, Deborah Mcmurtrie, Bridget K. Coleman, Gary J. Senn, Sarah Ellyson

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

Collaborations between the National Association for Middle Level Education (NAPOMLE) and the European League for Middle Level Education (ELMLE) can be mutually beneficial. This article reflects on NAPOMLE’s past experiences with our global affiliate ELMLE and promotes future partnerships expanding our commitment to supporting the development of middle schools and middle level leaders. We advocate a global approach to preparing and empowering the next generation of middle school leaders.

Introduction To The Issue: Preparing The Next Generation Of Middle School Leaders, Amanda Wall, Nancy B. Ruppert, Bridget K. Coleman, Jeanneine Jones

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

The articles in this issue of Current Issues in Middle Level Education are based on a Symposium that did not take place as planned. In May 2020, middle level educators and researchers from across the Southeast and beyond would have gathered in Asheville, NC, for a Symposium sponsored by the Southeast Professors of Middle Level Education (SEPOMLE). Due to COVID-19, however, the in-person Symposium was canceled, and accepted authors were invited to submit manuscripts based on their work for this issue.

These articles represent ideas on the Symposium theme of “Preparing the Next Generation of Middle School Leaders.” Across the …

Read, Write, Rhyme: Increasing Reading Performance With Hip-Hop Texts, Crystal Monique Lavoulle

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

This presentation describes the Harlem Renaissance to Hip Hop Movement, a literacy program that uses best practices in literacy instruction to improve reading comprehension, critical thinking, and writing. Moving beyond educational hip-hop songs and videos, this presentation offers insight into effective ways to increase Georgia Milestone Assessment scores in both English language arts and social studies using a variety of hip-hop texts.

Effective Instructional Practices For Students With Mild Disabilities: Cognitive And Meta-Cognitive Strategies, Crystal Roberts, Andrea Scandrett, Jessika Washington

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

General Education Teachers, Special Education Teachers, and School Administrators will be able to gain information needed to support students suspected of or identified as experiencing learning disabilities. The presenters will discuss cognitive and meta-cognitive high leverage instructional practices that can be used to improve student engagement and academic achievement by strengthening executive functioning skills to enhance memory, attention and self-regulation.

Practical Strategies For Regulating Students’ Brains, Kathy Van Horn, Joshua Macneill

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Knowing your students are impacted by trauma is only step one. It is more important to know what to do. This session will cover interventions such as brain breaks, fidgets, student curriculum and service dogs. We will share how we transformed four schools to meet the needs of struggling students. Whether you are an academic, clinical, or administrative staff, you will leave with tangible interventions you can implement immediately.

Databases Are Like Box Stores: Teaching Information Literacy With Analogy, Kory A. Paulus

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Teaching information literacy (IL) often requires instructors to explain and explore abstract concepts. This feat is never easy, as novice students often need a bridge between concrete and abstract thinking. Current research on the topic suggests one effective way to teach new, abstract concepts to students of any age is by using an analogy. However, it’s difficult to come up with effective analogies on the fly. In fact, Rick Wormeli has stated in Metaphors & Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching Any Subject that “what may need to change in many of our classrooms is the purposeful pursuit of metaphors and …

Instructional Scaffolding Of The Acrl Framework For Information Literacy For Developmental Learners., Fabio Montella

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Information literacy has become a necessary set of abilities for community college students to possess in this age of digital distribution. The plethora of information that is generated at an almost instantaneous rate has brought about the need for an information-literate student body with the ability to both decipher and utilize viable and valid information. However, the attainment of such abilities requires the comprehension of information literacy core concepts. These concepts, while instrumental, may be difficult to grasp without a foundation of practical familiarity, especially for students in developmental education courses.

In this presentation, Fabio Montella, Assistant Professor of Library …

Introduction And Remembrance, Amanda Wall

Becoming: Journal of the Georgia Association for Middle Level Education

Introduction to the issue and remembrance for Dr. Lounsbury

Best Practices In Middle Level Quaranteaching: Strategies, Tips And Resources Amidst Covid-19, Christi Pace, Stacie K. Pettit, Kim S. Barker

Becoming: Journal of the Georgia Association for Middle Level Education

School closings resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have forced teachers across the world to scramble to shift their face-to-face classes online. This rapid transition to what we call “quaranteaching” has left teachers little time to prepare for virtual teaching and learning. Acknowledging this challenge, in this article we share steps, strategies, tips, and resources to support and empower middle grades educators to successfully continue the online instruction (more accurately called “crisis teaching) they have begun. We offer approaches to implementing collaboration, differentiation, and personalized learning, as well as approaches for authentically assessing student learning in a virtual learning environment. Issues …

Quaranteaching In The Time Of Covid-19: Exemplar From A Middle Grades Virtual Classroom, Amanda Woods, Stacie K. Pettit, Christi Pace

Becoming: Journal of the Georgia Association for Middle Level Education

The COVID-19 pandemic dropped educators across the world straight into remote learning with little time to prepare. As some have inevitably struggled, other middle grades educators have overcome beginning hurdles to not only survive, but thrive amidst this new challenge. One teacher in particular, despite being in her first year, has found innovative ways to connect and motivate her middle grades students in a virtual environment. This article extends the steps, tips, and resources article (Author 3, Author 2, & Barker, K. S. also in this issue?) to provide a personal example of the successes (and yet still challenges) that …