Middle school finished out their research papers this week by utilizing peer review for revision and learning about proper MLA formatting for an English paper. They learned about proper margins, spacing, fonts, headers, and page breaks among other things. Peer review consisted of asking the author questions and compliments without making suggestions as to how the reviewer would have done it differently. This is designed to make sure that authorship and ownership remains with the person writing the paper.

Following that, each student shared out to the class their findings and what they found most shocking or interesting in their research. These topics ranged from Social Media and Mental Health, to The Paris Olympic Games, to Wildlife Conservation. Their research also served to change some habits as eye-opening statistics were discovered. One student, for example, chose to limit his interaction with social media to no more than 2 hours a day based on the statistics he found linking longer usage to depression and anxiety. It’s always rewarding when students learn to modify and adapt based on their own research.

Middle School will begin a new unit next week.