Do you have a class that is struggling with attention and motivation? Try this easy incentive for a burst of excitement in your middle school classroom.
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I’m not sure if it’s all students across the country, or if it is just my little corner of the world, but I have noticed that my middle schoolers struggle to think on their own.
As soon as we start an assignment, hands go up across the classroom, and each student seems to want a personal explanation of what to do and how to do it.
It seems as if they have a hard time trusting themselves to think through steps on their own.
In order to teach my students how to think independently, I came up with something called The Pop Challenge!
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If you’re a parent to a school-aged child, then you know the struggles of the first day of school paperwork.
After a long day, we sit down with our favorite drink, open the bulging brown envelope, and pull out the thick stack of papers the size of a law student’s dissertation. We are faced with a mountain of information and forms that have to be filled out before the next day.
I know the pain of parents, so in order to make life somewhat easier, I created a concise one-page welcome letter that contains everything parents need to know about the class and gathers all of the information I need from the parents.
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There have been many research studies that have shown that academic success depends on positive relationships between teachers and students.
I think one of the first steps we can take to build those positive relationships is with Getting to Know You activities.
And not just ones that focus on the students.
It’s important that students get to know some of our interests outside of the classroom, so I’m here with three engaging and interactive teacher introduction activities.
Click to read more!
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I always look for ways to provide timely feedback and simplify grading. Because nobody has time to sit around and go through hundreds of papers along with all of our other responsibilities as teachers.
And friends, I have just found a great way for students to get immediate feedback for grammar practice using Google Forms!
Check it out here…
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There is no doubt that communication is changing, but some of those shifts have not made their way into academic writing yet.
Because of this, I want to make sure my students know exactly what I expect when they are writing in my classroom.
Here are my four basic grammar expectations for the classroom:
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We want our students to be good students, but might fail to tell them exactly what that means to us. Sometimes we assume students know what we want.
In order to make sure everyone is on the same page, I lay out these five expectations on the first day of school.
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Through the years, I’ve learned structure helps you avoid burnout since you are not constantly battling your students, and it allows room for your creative juices to flow. I truly believe teachers like you want to make a difference, and effective and consistent routines and procedures will help you to fully embrace your passion for why you started teaching.
Here are the routines I teach in my middle school classroom the first week of school-
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I am not one that likes to teach to a test, but just as an athlete prepares for game day with a scrimmage and a dancer for a performance with a dress rehearsal, I understand the value of practicing for game day.
This weekend I sat down with my calendar and came up with a plan that is going to help my students review the power standards and concepts before the big test.
If you’re in the same boat with me and are looking for a last minute review plan, get ready to take some notes! We are about to hash out our last couple of days!
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Do you ever wonder what poems to read with your middle schoolers that will keep them engaged while taking a deep dive into meaning, form, structure, and theme?
While I’m still on the hunt for “The Perfect Poem” that will check all of those boxes, I have compiled a list of poems that I do like reading with my middle schoolers.
Here are 6 poems that are perfect to read with your middle schoolers…
If you’re looking for a jumping off point for poetry or a way to review figurative language, then this post is for you!
Before we start reading and analyzing poetry as a class, one of the things that I have to make sure of is that my students know how to identify and analyze the meaning of figurative language.
In order to ensure my students have a strong foundation, I developed a week-long plan to review the basics of figurative language.
Click to read about what I do each day!
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The other day, I asked my students to compare and contrast three of the characters in our book.
I was expecting really insightful answers like how they respond to conflicts is different even though they all have taken on an adult role.
However, what I got was, “Ummm….two of them are boys and the other one is a girl”
As I find myself doing sometimes, I expected my students to already be an expert in the concept.
In order to teach my students how to dive deep into the story and characters, I came up with two activities to practice comparing and contrasting.
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I think almost every teenager knows how to argue.
At least, that has been my experience with my personal teenager and the 1,000+ I have taught throughout the years.
However, when they are asked to locate an argument in a text, they are suddenly not the experts we thought they were.
Here are the 4 steps (plus one bonus step at the beginning) I use to teach my students the basics of how to identify and analyze arguments and claims. 👉
Raise your hand if teaching central idea makes you want to bang your head against the wall?! 🤦♀️
I have found that when you ask students to tell you the central idea of an article, there are two types of responses: The one where they retell every single detail from the article and the one where they just respond with one or two words related to the topic. You might have that rare unicorn of a student who knows how to drill down to the central idea, but more than likely your students can use some help with this concept.
If so, I’m here with 4 steps you can follow to teach central idea to your middle school students!
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One year I asked my students about their resolutions, and was shocked at how many of them didn’t even know what I was talking about. I made a commitment right then that I would incorporate goal setting into our classroom. It’s a valuable skill to learn how to analyze where you are and visualize where you want to be. Click to read the activities I do with my students to help them with goal setting and motivation.
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In order to breathe some life into my inference lessons for my students who show an understanding of inference, I came up with three activities that require students to apply their knowledge of inference and text evidence.
If you have students who are bored and need something engaging and fun, check out these three ideas.
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After all of our relationship building activities, one of the first things I teach is how to write a constructed response using text evidence. There are a lot of strategies you can use like RACE or ACES, but my favorite way to teach this is the RTQT method. In my experience, students are able to remember and expand on the different components with quality responses.
Now you might be sitting there wondering, What exactly is RTQT? Click through to read about this fun strategy!
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Are you struggling with trying to figure out how you’re going to structure your ELA class?
Did you check out the pacing guide and wonder how to fit all the things into one period?
Or, do you just want to check out how someone else organizes their day to see if there is something new you can add to your class?
This Structure Secrets video takes you behind the scenes and shows exactly what I do on a daily basis-down to the minute.
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