The Meaningful Middle School Classroom: How to Spark Engagement That Fosters Deep Learning - Paperback
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Explore ways to spark engagement in the middle school classroom with this practical and inspiring guide.
Early teens face distinctive challenges. They are entering adolescence with new and more intense social and academic pressures. They are beginning to ask big questions and seek deeper meaning in all aspects of their lives-including what they're learning at school. Unfortunately, for many students at this unique
developmental stage, classroom engagement also begins to wane.
In The Meaningful Middle School Classroom, Jennifer K. Ciok draws on her more than 25 years of experience as a teacher and coach, along with insights and reflections from other educators, researchers, and students, to clarify opportunities and challenges teachers face at this level. She begins with an examination of the developing adolescent brain and how teachers can collect qualitative data to better comprehend the student experience. Then she highlights the following practices for connecting with students:
- Creating experiences that elevate students' own stories and backgrounds so that they feel seen, heard, and valued.
- Integrating art into the classroom to help foster self-expression and curiosity.
- Exploring authentic applications, passion projects, and service learning opportunities to connect classroom learning to the real world.
- Offering simple ways to infuse relevance and meaning into the curriculum.
With strategies across content areas, reflective questions to support teachers' implementation efforts,
and real-life examples of successful outcomes, The Meaningful Middle School Classroom will
help teachers keep engagement high, bolster academic outcomes, and give students the support they need at a critical life stage.
Jennifer K. Ciok is an educator with more than 25 years of experience in the field. She served as a classroom teacher for 15 years and since then has been supporting teachers and leaders at a systems level on school culture, climate, and classroom learning conditions.
As the manager of coaching and improvement for the University of Chicago's To&Through Middle Grades Network, Ciok works closely with school teams to create more equitable and supportive educational environments where middle schoolers thrive. In this role, she supports middle grade educators in Chicago Public Schools to help build these systems using qualitative and quantitative data and research to define problems of practice and implement change ideas to better support students.
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