Middle School Walk & Talk

We want to teach our middle schoolers important social skills, including how to be kind. But what does that really look like in practice? Houston Kraft joins Phyllis and Joe  talk about practical ways to infuse compassion into the schools we serve and our daily personal routines.  Middle School Walk & Talk is a production of the Association for Middle Level Education. Learn more at amle.org.  

In this episode, Phyllis and Joe are joined by Todd Brist, principal of Watertown Middle School in South Dakota and author of AMLE's forthcoming book Successful Middle School Advisory to talk all things advisory. Why should schools have them? What should they accomplish? And how do you convince reluctant teachers its worth the time?   This episode was recorded LIVE at the AMLE22 Annual Confer...

Recording LIVE from the #AMLE22 Annual Conference, Phyllis and Joe are back! In this first episode of the season, they talk with the middle schoolers and educator sponsors whose project on saving the bee population won the grand prize in the 2022 Solve Together Digital Career Exploration Challenge. The team talks about the importance of student choice and exploration in the middle grades, and some...

Middle schoolers are undergoing an incredibly important and significant developmental phase meaning...they're going to make mistakes from time to time.  Phyllis and Joe talk about helping kids come back from mistakes and creating school structures that support students learning from them. They also talk about staff burnout and what administrators and teachers can do to boost morale as the sch...

Phyllis and Joe are joined by Jae Lee, a principal in Maryland. Jae shares his own experience as an English learning middle school student whose family had recently immigrant to the United States, and how that informs his approach now as an administrator to creating capacity for empathy within his school community. Jae works from the assumption that all students want to be liked and want to learn...

Phyllis and Joe are joined by educational psychologist and best-selling author Michele Borba to talk building agency and resiliency with middle schoolers. They share a wealth of simple, easy-to-implement strategies to support students struggling socially and emotionally amid another challenging school year. Michele also offers insights on how educators can partner with parents to amplify the resul...

Special guest Brooklyn Raney joins Joe and Phyllis for this episode to talk about One Trusted Adult, a movement to ensure that every young person has an accessible, boundaried, and caring trusted adult. They discuss why this concept is so important in the middle grades and share resources and strategies to help educators and parents build strong connections and healthy boundaries with middle schoo...

Omicron…finding joy at school despite disrupted learning…social media challenges…Phyllis and Joe asked students about some of the challenges schools face right now. As usual, middle school students had a lot of insightful things to say about how educators can best support them, and vise versa. Middle School Walk & Talk is a production of the Association for Middle Level Education. Learn more a...

Joe and Phyllis are joined by special guest Ned Johnson as they discuss how to use our understanding of young adolescents' development to help drive intrinsic motivation, develop executive functioning skills, and promote positive behavior. Ned Johnson is the founder of PrepMatters, a tutoring and educational advising company in Washington, DC, and the co-author with Dr. William Stixrud of Wha...

Delta Variant...devious licks...quarantines, mask policies, and more school closings...a school year that we thought might bring a return to normalcy has instead presented new challenges for school communities. In this episode, Joe and Phyllis set out to normalize the feelings of stress and burnout being felt by educators around the world and talk about strategies they're using to address it...

What do students have to say about how good they're feeling about school - and overall? How can we foster a sense of belonging for all students in our schools? Phillis and Joe chat with Phillip Marcus, Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Wellness at Chappaqua Central School District. The results of their student voice survey showed some surprising trends that have informed their culture buildi...

As we head back to school, Phyllis and Joe are back! Joined by special guest Annie Murphy Paul, they discuss how to empower students to employ their bodies, spaces, and relationships in the service of intelligent thought and learning. Annie offers a few lessons we all can learn to take better advantage of the world outside our brains to improve the way we think and help our brains reach their full...

In the last episode of the season, Phyllis and Joe celebrate the end of an unprecedented school year. They talk about how they're wrapping up at their respective schools,  reflections on the past nine months, and plans to recharge for the coming school year.  Middle School Walk & Talk is a production of the Association for Middle Level Education. Learn more at amle.org.  

Phyllis and Joe enjoy the nice weather as they talk about a range of topics, including: Strategies for effectively transitioning middle schoolers into the summer after this unprecedented year of schooling What are students show us on the surface versus how they're really feeling, and how to support them wholly  The impact of burnout and how to finish the year with strength and resiliency  Mid...

Special guest Katie Hurley, author of No More Mean Girls , joins Phyllis and Joe as they talk about how to support students who are struggling socially during this year of constant change.  Middle School Walk & Talk is a production of the Association for Middle Level Education. Learn more at amle.org.  

For students still learning fully virtually, and those with anxiety about returning to the classroom, how can we ease the transition back to in-person school? Phyllis and Joe walk while they talk strategies to help these students effectively return to the classroom.  Middle School Walk & Talk is a production of the Association for Middle Level Education. Learn more at amle.org.  

Middle school students are hungry to know what's happening in the world around them. Amid the recent violence targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S., educators continue to grapple with how to talk about race with students and families. In this episode, Phyllis and Joe discuss the imperative nature of addressing these issues with students and  provide strategies educators...

Jessica Lahey, best-selling author of The Gift of Failure, joins Joe and Phyllis as they talk strategies to connect with and engage middle grades students to promote their healthy development. Jessica shares insights from her newest book, The Addiction Inoculation , to help educators understand the roots of substance abuse, identify who is most at risk for addiction, and be empowered with practica...

Teachers are being vaccinated around the country! This exciting development hopefully points to the return of some pre-COVID normalcy.  But we know that the challenges still loom large as we tackle the emotional, physical, and psychological toll the pandemic has taken on ourselves, our students, and our school communities. In this episode, Joe and Phyllis talk about their own vaccine experiences a...

This was  not a normal school week. Educators face the immense challenge of supporting your students as they grapple with yesterday’s riots, even as we collectively continue to endure a school year filled with stress and trauma. We know this will not be easy, as you attempt to process an event with students that many of us are still trying to make sense of ourselves. Phyllis and Joe discuss the ev...

Students are facing incredible uncertainty and social disruption this school year. Some may be missing friends and experiencing the fear of missing out while learning remotely.  Others who were still adjusting back into in-person learning are returning to virtual setting in the midst of rising cases. Students’ sense of loneliness or lack of control can have serious deleterious effects on their soc...

During a divisive election, it can be challenging to approach this and other political topics with students. Hosts Joe Mazza and Phyllis Fagell discuss strategies to help students process this event, digest information effectively, and develop media literacy skills.  Middle School Walk & Talk is a production of the Association for Middle Level Education. Learn more at amle.org.