![\"\"](\"https:\/\/teachersfirst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/2022-MAR-22-Middle-Level-Education-Mth-Bower.png\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe middle-level grades present many challenges and are a particular time in a student\u2019s development. Physical, intellectual, and emotional developments underlie the unique experiences middle-level students encounter. Early adolescents also bring a different energy and enthusiasm to the school day. As a middle-level educator for almost 20 years, people often ask me, \u201cHow do you do it? I could never teach the middle grades.\u201d My reply is always, \u201cIt\u2019s an amazing experience, and I try to match the energy and enthusiasm of my students!\u201d Middle-level students are special, and this period contains some of the most critical years of a student\u2019s educational journey. Listed below are ideas and resources for recognizing middle-level educators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Social Media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n AMLE (Association for Middle-Level Education) is the only international organization for middle school educators. Explore\u00a0AMLE content<\/a>\u00a0and social media resources. Use Microsoft Sway (reviewed here<\/a>) to create a slideshow to amplify your favorite middle-level administrators, educators, and school employees. Include the hashtags #MLEM on your posts, and make sure to follow @AMLE on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Middle-Level Advocacy <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Establishing a positive school climate is critical for all students, but especially for our middle-level students. Highlight students on Middle-Level Monday to motivate and celebrate student success, or celebrate the energy and enthusiasm middle-level educators bring to engage their students each day. Check out\u00a0AMLE’s Middle-Level Education Month resources<\/a>\u00a0to inform your school community about students ages 10 to 15. Use Canva (reviewed here<\/a>) to create infographics, posters, and presentations.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Daily Dedications<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s essential to structure a climate that helps middle school students through this developmentally complex time in their lives. Foster social and emotional development through a daily dedication. Invite students and teachers to begin classes with a short dedication to an influential person in their life. Students and teachers may choose anyone, real or fictional, that inspires them. Read more about daily dedications on\u00a0Edutopia<\/a>. Use Adobe Creative Cloud (reviewed here<\/a>) or Google Slides (reviewed here<\/a>) to create a dedication presentation.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Middle-Level Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Finding age-appropriate middle-level resources to help focus and engage our students is a challenge.\u00a0Middle Web<\/a>\u00a0is a fantastic resource for middle-level educators that includes book reviews, interviews, blog posts, and themed resource collections. All of our resources on TeachersFirst include grade levels to help you find appropriate middle-level resources (don\u2019t miss our\u00a0Middle School Do’s and Don’ts<\/a>!). PBS Learning Media (reviewed here<\/a>) also has a section with games, videos, and activities for middle-level educators<\/p>\n\n\n\n Use the month of March not only to celebrate middle-level educators, but as an opportunity to provide families and your school community with strategies and resources to enhance and empower middle-level educators. Adolescents and middle-level educators are unique, but that\u2019s what makes them special. How do you celebrate Middle-Level Education Month? We\u2019d love to hear your ideas in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every month of the school year is essential to a student\u2019s development. The month of March is a time to celebrate the fantastic middle-level educators that empower students to reach their full potential. The middle-level grades present many challenges and are a particular time in a student\u2019s development. Physical, intellectual, and emotional developments underlie … read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-6063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-classroom-application","tag-middle-level"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6063"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6097,"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6063\/revisions\/6097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}