Need to Know:

We are all looking forward to a fall where most students are expected to return to traditional schooling.  However, the mark of blended learning has already been imprinted- and it’s highly probable that features of remote and hybrid instruction are here to stay.  

Early middle school is an important transitional time in a young person’s academic life. “It bridges the gap between elementary school, where a child learns how to read and be a student, and high school, where [they] will take on the full responsibilities of being a young adult.” (Institute of Reading Development, 2019)

Successful students have a strong command of grade-appropriate language. The following research-based, cross-content, multi-grade strategies will help you support your learners in growing their vocab repertoire.

Just weeks after the start of the 2020-2021 school year, Amy Neilson made the agonizing decision to pull her 5-year-old son with special needs out of his distance learning Kinder class.  After experiencing a series of regressions in her son’s behavior and well-being,  Neilson consulted with friends, family, and school staff before reaching a decision to withdraw her son from school.  The toll had just been too much.

Student choice, combined with agency, results in learning. This is the summation of a 2016 report from the Buck Institute of Education. And the organization isn’t alone in its findings- studies from the 1970s to the present demonstrate that student choice has been linked to increased motivation, performance, comprehension, collaborative skills development, and socio-emotional well-being.