Full Description
Imagine a place where passion for learning, authentic connection with colleagues and community, and strengths-based middle grades education thrive. Imagine places of learning and inspiration for teachers, administrators, teacher educators, and teacher candidates. Imagine a Place: Stories From Middle Grades Educators, a new anthology of teacher-written narratives, focuses on educators' stories that have the power to offer hope, ignite creativity, and provide practical ideas for middle grades teachers.
Imagine a Place is filled with stories of joy, stories of relationships, and stories of finding the treasure in challenging situations that provide powerful insight into the world of teaching young adolescent learners. Along with teacher narratives, the editors of this book provide questions and exercises for thoughtful reflections on the themes and issues raised in each story as well as guidance for the reader to write his or her own account of their middle grades teaching experiences. We invite you to join these teachers in their classrooms as they reflect on their experiences with young adolescents in the place we call school.
Contents
Preface.
Acknowledgments.
Section I. Welcome to the Imagine a Place Classrooms; Jay Casbon and Linda Samek.
Section II. Stories of Joy, Meaning, and Deep Connection Through Curriculum and Instruction; Jan Carpenter.
Chapter 1. It's All About Relationships; Michelle Bond Copelin.
Chapter 2. Mathography: A Tool for Fostering Mathematics Identity; Kasi Allen and Kemble Schnell.
Chapter 3. Re-Imagining Our Identity: How a Sustainability Class Merges School, Community, and Environment; Ryan King and Margaret Perrow.
Chapter 4. The Most Important Lesson; Teresa Denney and Allison Eitzen.
Chapter 5. Going Out and Going Within; Marcia Ososke.
Chapter 6. Discussion Questions; Jan Carpenter.
Section III. Stories of Relationships and Young Adolescent Development; Micki M. Caskey.
Chapter 7. Mateo and the Field Guide Manual from Afghanistan; Jennifer Robinson.
Chapter 8. So Much More than Teaching; Katy Turpen.
Chapter 9. Is Luke Here Today? Michelle Schwartze.
Chapter 10. Conversations from the Middle; Janolyn Jones King.
Chapter 11. The Starfish Effect: It Matters to This One; Casey Gilewski.
Chapter 12. What It Takes to Win; Lynette Elwyn.
Chapter 13. Discussion Questions; Micki M. Caskey and Jan Carpenter.
Section IV. Finding the Treasure in Challenging Situations—Stories of Students Who Remind Us Who We Are; Younghee M. Kim and William L. Greene.
Chapter 14. Pieces of Work: Seeing Beyond Behavior; George Roberts.
Chapter 15. A Vulnerable Stanza; Bobbi Kidd.
Chapter 16. Humility from a Hubcap; Rebecca A. Hendrix.
Chapter 17. Something About Those Eyes; Jan Carpenter.
Chapter 18. On Being Ms. Lutz; Amy Lutz.
Chapter 19. Finding Myself with Teen Writers; Mary Sawyer.
Chapter 20. All in a Day's Work; Gail Anderson.
Chapter 21. Discussion Questions; Younghee M. Kim, William L. Greene, and Jan Carpenter.
Section V. Exploring Stories—Recommendations and Resources; Micki M. Caskey.
Chapter 22. Writing Your Story; Karen Hamlin.
Chapter 23. An Exercise in Reflection for Teacher Candidates; Younghee M. Kim and William L. Greene.
Chapter 24. Bibliography of Online and Print Resources; Micki M. Caskey.
About the Editors.
About the Contributors.
