Ep. 92: Avoiding the Middle School Cliff

Marc and Nick welcome back Katie Powell, Director for Middle Level Programs at the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) and author of Boredom Busters and Frustration Busters. Katie unpacks the middle school cliff, the steep fall in engagement that shows up between elementary and high school, and why it predates phones. She explains why every technology panic, from the printing press to AI, is the same fear in a different costume, why she is wary of abstinence models for screens in school, and why attention is a finite bank kids spend all day long. Guest Links: • teachbeyondthedesk.com (https://www.teachbeyondthedesk.com) • X (https://x.com/Beyond_the_Desk) • Instagram (  / teach_beyond_the_desk  ) • TikTok (  / teach_beyond_the_desk  ) • Boredom Busters on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1949595684) • Frustration Busters on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/195630603X) • amle.org (https://www.amle.org) • middleschool.org (AMLE for parents) (https://middleschool.org) • AMLE Annual Conference (https://amle.org/annual) Follow Marc: • marcisseks.com (https://www.marcisseks.com) • X (https://x.com/marcisseks) • LinkedIn (  / marcisseks  ) • Instagram (  / edupyro  ) • TikTok (  / edupyro  ) • YouTube (   / @edupyro  ) • CAPTIVATE on Amazon (https://a.co/d/0fZcfNa3) Find State of Ed: • Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...) • Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/0hnEVDO...) • Amazon Music (https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f8d...) • stateofedpodcast.com (https://www.stateofedpodcast.com)