Middle School Sessions

How can we cultivate a healthier emotional climate in schools? This session shares ASM’s middle school pilot of Marc Brackett’s RULER framework—a research-based approach to building emotional intelligence that supports our strategic goals for mental health and wellbeing. By intentionally embedding EI into daily interactions and classroom culture, the team is helping students develop greater self-awareness, empathy, and connection. Attendees—teachers, leaders, families, and humans alike—will gain a baseline understanding of the RULER skills and explore simple, powerful ways to nurture them across the learning community. 

Can engineering practices help students deepen their understanding of science while learning skills that last a lifetime? In this session, two middle school teachers share how their students explore scientific concepts through hands-on STEAM projects—designing, building, and creating with real-world purpose. As students collaborate, persevere, and problem-solve, they also gain practical life skills like woodworking, sewing, cooking, and design thinking. Attendees will see how engagement increases when students take the driver’s seat in their learning and how balancing content and skills builds confident, capable young scientists.

How can advisory practices be transformed to foster belonging and give students greater ownership of their learning and community experience? This session explores how reimagining advisory can build stronger connections and empower students as active participants in their learning journey. By transforming advisory into a space for meaningful relationships, reflection, and student leadership, this project focuses on ways learners can co-create experiences that reflect their values and voices. Through our focus on belonging and agency, students develop empathy, confidence, and purpose, skills essential for thriving in a diverse, interconnected world.

This session presents an innovative framework for modern language teaching that moves students beyond memorization toward authentic communication and lifelong learning. Using real-world tasks and authentic materials, the curriculum builds global awareness and appreciation for diverse cultures. Through thinking routines, self-reflection, and student choice, learners develop autonomy and critical thinking—transforming the language classroom into a space for creativity, connection, and intercultural understanding.

Are you wondering which professional development model yields the most meaningful learning experience and fosters your intellectual wellbeing? In this case study research, we explored the PD of ASM Visible Thinking Routines Club compared to the framework suggested by P. Alexander and J., O., Perche in order to reflect on elements of intellectual wellbeing and ways to cultivate intellectual wellbeing of the teachers. 

This session welcomes teachers, school leaders, PD coordinators, and educational strategists. 

In this session, join us as we explore how the merger of English and Social Studies into a unified Humanities model has transformed the Middle School experience at ASM. Students are no longer navigating isolated subjects—they are engaging with rich inquiries that cross literary, historical, and cultural lines, strengthening their ability to communicate, think critically, and reflect. This shift has enabled more meaningful, connected learning where students investigate enduring questions, craft evidence-based arguments, and draw connections between past and present. Together we’ll surface how this interdisciplinary approach equips young learners with the skills, mindset, and agency to thrive in our ever-changing world.

This session presents an innovative framework for modern language teaching that moves students beyond memorization toward authentic communication and lifelong learning. Using real-world tasks and authentic materials, the curriculum builds global awareness and appreciation for diverse cultures. Through thinking routines, self-reflection, and student choice, learners develop autonomy and critical thinking—transforming the language classroom into a space for creativity, connection, and intercultural understanding.

Can engineering practices help students deepen their understanding of science while learning skills that last a lifetime? In this session, two middle school teachers share how their students explore scientific concepts through hands-on STEAM projects—designing, building, and creating with real-world purpose. As students collaborate, persevere, and problem-solve, they also gain practical life skills like woodworking, sewing, cooking, and design thinking. Attendees will see how engagement increases when students take the driver’s seat in their learning and how balancing content and skills builds confident, capable young scientists.

How can advisory practices be transformed to foster belonging and give students greater ownership of their learning and community experience? This session explores how reimagining advisory can build stronger connections and empower students as active participants in their learning journey. By transforming advisory into a space for meaningful relationships, reflection, and student leadership, this project focuses on ways learners can co-create experiences that reflect their values and voices. Through our focus on belonging and agency, students develop empathy, confidence, and purpose, skills essential for thriving in a diverse, interconnected world.