How to Use Your School Garden Effectively throughout the Winter

middle schooler stirring broth

A recent trend in schools is to turn part of their campus into a garden and use it as a teaching tool.  Whether its a sensory garden, vegetable garden, or livestock program, integrating farm work into their classrooms provides teachers with a plethora of experiential learning opportunities. In the spring, students can use seeds and […]

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How to Teach Middle School Art with Studio Time

middle school girl sawing wood

As a middle school art teacher, I am often inspired by my students.  Middle schoolers are knee deep in the messy process of trying to figure out who they are, what they stand for, and what makes them unique as people.  They ask the big questions.  They begin to rebel against the constant adult monitoring […]

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High Peaks Makes For Great Community Service Idea for Middle Schoolers

group photo of middle school and adult volunteers

This past Saturday, Arthur Morgan School joined the NC High Peaks Trail Association to create  a new hiking trail at the Mayland Earth to Sky Park. It was a cold, wet miserable morning with harder rain on the approach.  The students and staff huddled in their rain jackets and used mattocks and shovels to clear a […]

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Why Is Middle School Important?

Students in a leaf pile.

This is the question two towns in Connecticut are asking themselves right now. Due to funding issues and low enrollment, the communities of Easton and Redding are deciding whether to close their middle schools. If they do, their fifth and sixth graders move to the elementary school while their seventh and eighth graders move to […]

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How to Build Success in a Middle School Wood Shop

student showing off tool box she built in a middle school wood shop

As anyone who has ever visited a middle school wood shop can attest, young adolescents are amazing at starting projects. At Arthur Morgan School, the current contents of project shelf include a half-finished jewelry box, five pieces of miscellaneous cut wood, a large, possibly abandoned sandbox, a small wall of glued-together dowels, and something that […]

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