If you are a middle school language arts teacher, then you teach reading skills.  There is a certain "finesse" that you will need to do this well at the middle school level.  This is the first in a mini-series on teaching reading skills to our middle schoolers, and we will begin with teaching plot structure.  Teaching plot structure will be a definite skill for kids to have in their reading arsenal for the rest of their academic careers. Listen here for tips on teaching reading skills, specifically plot structure, in middle school.

We will discuss: 

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It's December and you're a teacher. If these two things are true, I don't need to spend much time explaining why it is such a stressful time of year. You're busy at school and you're busy at home. The tasks never end. Instead of stressing, take a deep breath, grab a cup of coffee (or a glass of wine...no judgment), and listen for easy winter classroom ideas to not only survive December but crush it as well. 

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Vocabulary activities and vocabulary-learning strategies can be as boring as you make them. I will admit it…I KILLED vocabulary in the years past in my middle school language arts class. I inherited a list of disconnected words and was told to have kids write context clues sentences with them. Every. Single. Week.

Well, no more. If you are in a vocab rut like I was, read on to see easy ways to spark creativity in middle school vocabulary-building activities…I promise it can be done!

In this episode, we will discuss:

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We’ve all been there. We are ready to teach a fabulous lesson.  We know the lesson will engage our kids. And it does…but then they finish and there’s still a half hour left of class. Or, you plan another amazing lesson, and half of your kids are fast finishers while the other half need more time.

The fact is, it is nearly impossible to create a lesson in which all kids finish at the same time. And really, what would that say about the lesson if it were a “one size fits all”?  You need activities for fast finishers at the ready.   In this episode, we will discuss:

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Thanksgiving activities for middle schoolers can be tricky.  Thanksgiving, as we know, can be a really nice holiday and a way to make some good connections in class with meaningful activities.  As a language arts and social studies teacher, it is something that I incorporate every year.  It really is what you make of it, and I have some good ideas from my many years of experience that I’d like to share with you that go beyond doing a grammar sheet that has turkey clip art.  

We will discuss:

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Grading in middle school:  It is the bane of our existence as middle school language arts teachers.  But take heart, because I am going to be talking about what NOT to grade.   Sounds too good to be true, right?  And since I have over 30 years of experience, I have really come to understand what I don’t need to grade.  Unfortunately for me, I only really understood this in the last years of my teaching.  So I am hoping that my experience will help you sooner rather than later, and that you can free yourself of unnecessary work and anguish.

We will discuss not grading:

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We are going to talk about a really exciting concept:  GRAMMAR!  Grammar lessons are the best! Just kidding. But, we know kids need it,  so we must teach it.  Yet somehow we are all over the place in this country with how we should teach it, when we should teach it, and how much we should teach it.   I am hopeful that by sharing my many years of experience,  you will feel more confident and on track with some of the ideas that I have to offer.  We will discuss:

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Your teacher observation can feel dreadful.  But with a little shift in mindset,  you will see that it's just a great way to showcase your strengths as an educator and to show your administrator your worth.  Getting observed can be very stressful, but with some “no fail” tips, you will impress your administrators and score high.

In this episode, we are going to talk about selecting the perfect lesson for your observation.  We will discuss:

I am hopeful that through my experience, this podcast will get you to ace your next observation.

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This is the eighth and last part of a mini-series on reading workshop in middle school.

If you've started your reading workshop, I hope you are finding success and enjoyment in presenting your mini-lessons, having kids discuss in book clubs, and conferencing.  But like everything else we do, we have to find a way to purposefully assess what our students have learned.    Having some reading assessment examples might help. 

We will discuss: 

I am hopeful that through my experience, this podcast series will help guide and inspire you to either get started with a reading workshop model of teaching or to hone your skills further.

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This is the seventh part of a mini series on reading workshop in middle school.

Kids need a place to keep notes and do activities in an organized fashion in reading workshop. The answer is a well-organized reader's notebook.   But what is the best way to do this?   

We will discuss: 

I am hopeful that through my experience, this podcast series will help guide and inspire you to either get started with a reading workshop model of teaching or to hone your skills further.

Let's connect!

Links mentioned in this episode: