The beginning of the year is the perfect time to encourage New Year’s student reflections and goal setting. Our students need regular reminders about not only our expectations of them, but the expectations they have for themselves. Here are 3 strategies that work for my students: Video Journals & Prompts After returning from the holiday break, I have my students…
Read More
Taking Middle School Collaborative Learning To The Next Level
Getting middle school collaborative learning to work at any level is a great feeling! When your students are able to work with 6th graders from a school in Pakistan, that’s next level. This was just the type of activity I wanted to pull off before Christmas break. Here’s how we made it happen… Collaborative Learning in Middle School ELA I…
Read More
Have Students Thrive in the Classroom with Tract
One thing all teachers can agree on is that we love to see our students thrive in the classroom. After implementing Tract this year, that’s exactly what’s happening! For those that aren’t familiar with Tract, it’s an online, project-based learning program for any subject area. You can learn more details in a previous blog post here. Since my students started…
Read More
December ELA Activities That Promote High Quality Student Engagement
It’s hard to believe we’re already in December! This year has been such a blur. Is it just me, or do you feel like you’ve been working harder than ever? In the weeks before the holiday break, it isn’t easy keeping students focused. My goal was to avoid hearing kids complain about doing school work. That’s when I decided to…
Read More
Empower Students by Using Tract
Teachers, including myself, constantly feel as though our hands are tied when it comes to promoting students’ creativity in the classroom. The overwhelming amount of standards we have to get through leaves little to no time for anything extra. Then I discovered the web-based program, Tract. Empower students to take ownership of their learning by using Tract in any classroom…
Read More
4 Middle School Halloween Reading Comprehension Lessons that Students Love
Although October is arguably one of the most stressful months of the school year, these 4 Middle School Halloween Reading Comprehension Lessons that I use with my students are some of their (and my) favorite of all! I teach a lot of siblings, and they ask every year if we’re going to do the “spooky lessons.” 1. “The Lift” Lesson…
Read More
3 Ways to Improve Student Organization Online & In Person
With middle school students, organization is key. They come in each year with the deer in the headlights look, and I think to myself, “Am I going to be able to get these kids where I want them without saying any bad words or letting the you know what hit the fan?!? These 3 strategies help improve student organization, whether…
Read More
Highly Approved: Best Selling Secondary ELA Resources Bundle Sale
Are you constantly spending time searching for updated ELA materials? Or, are you always trying to find ways for students to have FUN while learning the content? Is there an anxious feeling while trying to differentiate for each student? Don’t worry, you are not alone! It can be so hard to find engaging content that will work for all students….
Read More
Back to School Tips for New Teachers
Back to School Tips for New Teachers
Proven Back to School Activities & Strategies that Work
Proven Back to School Activities & Strategies that Work
Best Test Prep Resources for ELA End of Year Testing
As you know, this year has been unlike any other. Some of us are still teaching online, some are in person, and if you’re like me, you’re in hybrid setting– teaching both in person and virtual students at the same time. If you’re still having state testing like we are in Georgia, check out some of the best ELA…
Read More
5 Successful Activities for Teaching Sentence Structure
Understanding sentence structure can be a challenge for middle school students. Every year I see students start off struggling with correctly writing strong sentences as well as using sentence variety. They often don’t know that a complete sentence must have a subject and a predicate. I don’t know why this continues to shock me year after year, but it does….
Read More
