Author Archives: michaellcahill

Just prior to the December break, first trimester report cards were mailed home to parents. After approximately thirteen weeks of teaching and learning, each student is issued a grade that reflects, and incorporates, how well students have completed various kinds of educational tasks. One letter grade represents the totality of the academic experience, but IContinue reading “Grades Reflect More Than Just What Kids Do in School”

In an article in the education journal Middle Ground, The Magazine of Middle Level Education, author Rick Wormeli reminds his audience of teachers that “if we don’t teach students how to memorize, we make learning more challenging than it needs to be.” Most of the article is spent offering various techniques to help students toContinue reading “Memorization and Rick Wormeli”

Would you give your middle schooler the keys to your car? This question, posed by a police officer, set up the analogy for questioning why parents would allow middle level students to have social media accounts. The presentation took place at a workshop at the New Jersey Middle School Association’s annual state conference, and theContinue reading “Making “Friends” in the Digital Age”

October is known as the “Month of the Young Adolescent.” It is a time to acknowledge and celebrate the metamorphosis taking place in our 11-14 age group as they make their way to adulthood. I thought it would be a good idea to combine some thoughts about these middle level learners with the reasons whyContinue reading “How Middle Schoolers Resemble Mustangs”

I thought I would mention some of the changes that are coming the way of public schools in time for the opening of the next school year. The press has spotlighted new legislation about tenure laws, but in fact new rules about tenure actually changed the entire way that all teachers, regardless of experience level,Continue reading “Common Core Drives Reforms in Content, Testing, and Teacher Evaluation”

You probably have heard that a neighboring school system has decided to ban visitors to the main office of its district’s schools. Whether or not one agrees with how the district is responding to its concerns, the issue is a real one. All of our kids forget things from time to time, and I haveContinue reading “Preserving the Learning Environment”

It’s Monday morning and you are 12 years old and you walk into school, homeroom, the lunchroom, or the auditorium and everywhere you see so many of your peers wearing the same color sweat shirt marking the occasion of a bar or bat mitzvah from the past weekend. And the scene repeats itself virtually everyContinue reading “You Were Not Invited”

Millburn Township cherishes the fine reputation of its schools and the pristine image of a community which sets high standards and creates untold opportunities for growth, enrichment, and advancement. Yet the youth of this town are at-risk for a problem we as educators and parents must acknowledge exists in our community. The problem is alcoholContinue reading “Middle School Minors and Alcohol”

The release of the recent state report card has cast a spotlight on student achievement across the state as measured by the state standardized tests. Millburn Middle School continues to fare well on the eighth grade test, and I believe these results reflect the commitment of our teachers to provide effective instruction in the contentContinue reading “A State Report Card Does Not Tell the Whole Story”

Dialogue Night is our annual evening of intergenerational communication jointly sponsored by the Peer Leader organization and the guidance team. This year’s topic, while directly addressing cyberbullying, was more about connecting with character in cyberspace. I thought the topic important enough and the program so well organized that it was worth sharing with all ourContinue reading “The Bully with Remorse”