Article headlines
This is a collection of the "In This Issue" headlines from the first page of all of the Marshall Memo issues to make it easier for subscribers to locate articles.
Articles with red headlines are "Classics" - the best of the best.
Marshall Memo 1084 - April 21, 2025 | |
| 1. | Advice and insights from years of parent-teacher conferences |
| 2. | Do we need to rethink our approach to A.D.H.D.? |
| 3. | Some unhelpful beliefs about working with a boss |
| 4. | Principals being “productively present” in classrooms |
| 5. | Two approaches to grouping students in mixed-ability math classes |
| 6. | Timothy Shanahan on teaching sight words |
| 7. | Avoiding troubling nursery rhymes and seeking alternatives |
| 8. | Outstanding 2023 young adult books |
Marshall Memo 1083 - April 14, 2025 | |
| 1. | Six misconceptions about psychological safety |
| 2. | Five annoying, unhelpful pieces of advice for teachers |
| 3. | College for all? |
| 4. | David Brooks on the urge to explore and excel |
| 5. | Do Democrats and Republicans agree on the purpose of education? |
| 6. | Learning another language in the age of ChatGPT |
| 7. | One school’s guidelines for student AI use |
| 8. | A social studies AI platform |
| 9. | Resources for financial literacy education |
| 10. | Picture books on Jewish lives, families, and holidays |
| 11. | Covid’s impact in graphs |
Marshall Memo 1082 - April 7, 2025 | |
| 1. | Must grammar be the skunk at the ELA garden party? |
| 2. | Spicing up classroom discussions |
| 3. | How well do elementary students explain scientific phenomena? |
| 4. | An upper-elementary unit on the invention of the electric light |
| 5. | Strategies for students reading a poem for the first time |
| 6. | Questions to get students thinking before and after a test |
| 7. | The impact of a kindergarten and grade one literacy program |
| 8. | Looking outside one’s school for personal professional development |
| 9. | Recommended verse novels |
| 10a. | Political diversity in colleges |
| 10b. | Cross-age peer tutoring in literacy |
Marshall Memo 1081 - March 31, 2025 | |
| 1. | Emily Hanford on beat-the-odds schools in Ohio |
| 2. | Timothy Shanahan on teaching reading comprehension |
| 3. | Common problems when students get feedback from their teachers |
| 4. | Secondary trauma as teachers work with traumatized students |
| 5. | When a student is in trouble, effective tactics for calling home |
| 6. | The power and wisdom of face-to-face connections |
| 7. | Recognizing and dealing with toxic behaviors |
| 8. | Jennifer Gonzalez on the instructional effect of teachers’ gestures |
| 9. | A study of Indiana’s grade 3 retention policy |
| 10. | Recommenced multicultural children’s books |
| 11. | A physical timeline of the universe |
Marshall Memo 1080 - March 24, 2025 | |
| 1. | Jennifer Gonzalez on how to be a good listener |
| 2. | What makes professional development effective? |
| 3. | Using ChatGPT with high-school writers – within limits |
| 4. | Guarding against the “Red Queen effect” with artificial intelligence |
| 5. | A school psychologist’s reaction to being shouted at by a teacher |
| 6. | Developing “conflict resilience” |
| 7. | Dealing with students’ social anxiety |
| 8. | Notable verse novels |
Marshall Memo 1079 - March 17, 2025 | |
| 1. | Different feedback strategies to meet individual teachers’ needs |
| 2. | Thomas Guskey on planning professional learning with the end in mind |
| 3. | Audience-driven, in-class writing in high-school social studies |
| 4. | Getting a handle on aggressive behavior among students |
| 5. | Can we win the battle with distraction and interruption? |
| 6. | Notable poetry books |
| 7. | Graphics on Covid-19 |
Marshall Memo 1078 - March 10, 2025 | |
| 1. | How instructional leadership teams can catalyze effective practices |
| 2. | Mike Schmoker on three practices that produce dramatic results |
| 3. | Finding a happy medium between too much assessment and too little |
| 4. | A proficiency-based grading initiative in ninth-grade math classes |
| 5. | A study of grade retention in New York City |
| 6. | How to get helpful advice |
| 7. | Graphic novels about immigration |
| 8. | Embattled DEI |
Marshall Memo 1077 - March 3, 2025 | |
| 1. | David Brooks on building a better establishment |
| 2. | Letting go of widely embraced “neuromyths” |
| 3. | Jim Knight pushes back on common myths about PD |
| 4. | The debate on the role of knowledge in learning to read |
| 5. | Should students with reading difficulties listen to audio texts? |
| 6. | The art and science of interactive readalouds |
| 7. | Policy Debate Team Competitions in Boston Middle and High Schools |
| 8. | Using artificial intelligence to craft high-quality lesson plans |
| 9. | A non-perfectionist approach to the first year of teaching |
| 10. | Ideas for supporting “floating” teachers |
Marshall Memo 1076 - February 24, 2025 | |
| 1. | A tribute to Roberta Flack |
| 2. | Getting shy students to raise their hands in class |
| 3. | The pressures felt by U.S. teens in the digital era |
| 4. | Principles of effective teaching |
| 5. | Not overloading students’ working memory |
| 6. | Integrating science and social studies with primary-grade literacy |
| 7. | Boosting high-school juniors and seniors into advanced courses |
| 8. | Should we measure school quality with downstream GPAs? |
| 9. | Recommended manga “romantasy” books |
Marshall Memo 1075 - February 17, 2025 | |
| 1. | A tribute to Christopher Jencks |
| 2. | Why were students cheating in a culturally affirming high school? |
| 3. | How accurately does a Facebook page portray local schools? |
| 4. | Effective induction for beginning teachers |
| 5. | Better ways to recognize excellence |
| 6. | Units to build data literacy in middle and high school |
| 7. | How are we using “time windfalls” from ChatGPT? |
| 8. | Books about Jim Crow and the civil rights struggle outside the South |
Marshall Memo 1074 - February 10, 2024 | |
| 1. | Do’s and don’ts for superintendents working with school boards |
| 2. | Pointers on managing difficult conversations |
| 3. | Jennifer Gonzalez on cooling down classrooms with neutral language |
| 4. | Using ChatGPT to design a high-school science curriculum unit |
| 5. | Douglas Reeves on working with and around new AI tools |
| 6. | When and how to teach print awareness |
| 7. | Three models of instructional leadership |
| 8. | Why the rise in suicidality among teenage girls? |
| 9. | The link between student absenteeism and teachers’ job satisfaction |
| 10. | Black history in living color, all year long |
| 11. | Children’s books on climate change |
Marshall Memo 1073 - February 3, 2025 | |
| 1. | Rethinking DEI |
| 2. | Breaking up with your cellphone |
| 3. | Can AI tools foster student autonomy and competence? |
| 4. | Using generative AI to boost the effectiveness of PLCs |
| 5. | Teachers working smart with chatbots |
| 6. | A parent wonders about banning “rude” books for a child |
| 7. | Sixth graders articulate their rights as math learners |
Marshall Memo 1072 - January 27, 2025 | |
| 1. | Applying the theory of comparative advantage to time management |
| 2. | Twelve questions for deeper strategic planning |
| 3. | What’s going on with college kids today? |
| 4. | Pointers for educating Generation Z |
| 5. | With word problems, looking beyond math vocabulary |
| 6. | Leisure reading, digital devices, and reading comprehension |
| 7. | Promising research on virtual tutoring |
| 8. | Help dealing with controversy |
Marshall Memo 1071 - January 20, 2025 | |
| 1. | The profile of an effective school from a different era |
| 2. | The challenges of coaching and teaching teens |
| 3. | AI bots for college and career advice – with human connections |
| 4. | Students writing in journals every day – is it manageable? |
| 5. | How to scaffold when students read texts above their leveln |
| 6. | Having students rate and review worked math problems |
| 7. | Multiple variations on think-pair-share |
| 8. | Ideas for difficult conversations |
Marshall Memo 1070 - January 13, 2025 | |
| 1. | David Brooks on young people becoming the best versions of themselves |
| 2. | Adam Grant on the limits of effort |
| 3. | Peter Liljedahl on giving students a “navigation instrument” |
| 4. | Can teacher evaluation be a positive experience? |
| 5. | How good are people at estimating population groups? |
| 6. | Intriguing technology tools for teachers |
| 7. | Look-fors in ed tech purchases |
| 8. | Recommended young adult novels about African-American kids in love |
| 9. | Integrating GenAI with literacy instruction |
Marshall Memo 1069 - January 6, 2025 | |
| 1. | Restorative justice in action in a New Jersey middle school |
| 2. | Building agency and initiative into kids’ lives |
| 3. | Using “lateral” reading to fact-check generative AI |
| 4. | The key to productive in-class work periods |
| 5. | Checking on the implementation of a new curriculum initiative |
| 6. | Getting meaningful feedback after PD sessions |
| 7. | Recommended comic graphic novels for the elementary grades |
| 9. | An infographic on how couples met |
Marshall Memo 1068 - December 30, 2024 | |
| 1. | What is the role of comprehension in literacy instruction? |
| 2. | A Massachusetts school juggles innovation and accountability |
| 3. | Six factors that discouraged budding teacher leaders |
| 4. | Integrating grammar and creativity in grade 3-12 writing instruction |
| 5. | Holocaust awareness education: does it work? |
| 6. | Lessons from classic children’s books |
Marshall Memo 1067 - December 23, 2024 | |
| 1. | Six steps to recovering from workaholism |
| 2. | A high-school student schools his father |
| 3. | Centering hope in the social studies curriculum |
| 4. | Using student interviews to probe kids’ mathematics thinking |
| 5. | Parsing the awful TIMSS math results |
Marshall Memo 1066 - December 16, 2024 | |
| 1. | A tribute to Nikki Giovanni |
| 2. | Peter Liljedahl on “Thinking Classrooms” |
| 3. | Timothy Shanahan on test prep in reading |
| 4. | Is calculus essential for getting into selective colleges? |
| 5. | Improving students’ writing without working all weekend |
| 6. | Re-establishing classroom management mid-year |
| 7. | Do students collaborate better with or without individual preparation? |
| 8. | Behavioral economics: common-sense ways to improve teacher PD |
| 9. | Recommended picture books |
| 10. | Notable books of 2024 for young people |
Marshall Memo 1065 - December 9, 2024 | |
| 1. | An English teacher stumbles upon a way to bring close reading to life |
| 2. | Reasonable expectations of student participation in class discussions |
| 3. | More on how generative AI affects how we teach reading and writing |
| 4. | Important education research of 2024 |
| 5. | Lessons from a California high school 50 years ago |
| 6. | Leading with emotional intelligence |
| 7. | Books about social activism for young readers |
Marshall Memo 1064 - December 2, 2024 | |
| 1. | The impact of generative artificial intelligence on literacy instructionn |
| 2. | Using word games and puzzles in elementary classrooms |
| 3. | Should phonics be taught in middle and high schools? |
| 4. | Improving students’ understanding of multitasking |
| 5. | How can young students understand numbers without counting? |
| 6. | Helping English learners start writing and build a writing identity |
| 7. | Fostering language-inclusive ELA classrooms |
| 8. | The highs and lows of school psychologists |
| 9. | Thought-provoking questions for educators |
Marshall Memo 1063 - November 25, 2024 | |
| 1. | David Brooks on rethinking the meritocracy |
| 2. | The state of the K-12 teaching profession since the 1970s |
| 3. | Key factors in teacher turnover |
| 4. | Helping students navigate information-rich material |
Marshall Memo 1062 - November 18, 2024 | |
| 1. | A tribute to Quincy Jones |
| 2. | Ten suggestions for living in a complicated world |
| 3. | Why is there an obesity achievement gap? |
| 4. | Should three-cueing be banned? |
| 5. | Do retention and remediation work for struggling eighth graders? |
| 6. | A straightforward, low-cost way to improve math achievement? |
| 7. | The humble document camera – a low-tech tool with great potential |
| 8. | What can happen when teens connect with seniors |
Marshall Memo 1061 - November 11, 2024 | |
| 1. | Strategies for dealing with adverse life experiences |
| 2. | Making worthwhile knowledge the heart of the curriculum |
| 3. | Fostering deeper classroom discussions |
| 4. | How to make cold calling less intimidating |
| 5. | With cellphones and social media, what works with middle schoolers? |
| 6. | Should students see the letters during phonemic awareness lessons? |
| 7. | Does Reading Recovery improve students’ phonics skills? |
| 8. | Is it helpful to retain failing English language learners? |
| 9. | Recommended books on the Native American experience |
| 10. | Media literacy website |
Marshall Memo 1060 - November 4, 2024 | |
| 1. | Dealing with the hobgoblin of perfectionism |
| 2. | Have Americans turned against higher education? |
| 3. | A synergistic writing partnership with artificial intelligence |
| 4. | Writing assignments that truly engage students |
| 5. | Tips for a first-rate school library collection |
| 6. | Being proactive with online student drama |
| 7. | Becoming an edtech minimalist |
| 8a. | Virtual visits to U.S. National Parks |
| 8b. | Classroom resources for AI |
| 8c. | What to ask school board candidates |