Teaching Middle School ELA

Can reading more books help prevent burnout? This week on another re-air episode of one of the Monday Mindset Favorites, I explore how choosing the right books, like "Sustain Your Game" by Alan Stein Jr., can shift your perspective and reignite your passion for teaching. It’s about selecting literature that uplifts, challenges, and inspires personal growth.

Join me as I discuss how insights from personal growth books can transform both your teaching and mindset. Check out the show notes for a curated list of must-reads, and let’s embark on this journey of self-improvement together!

Here’s to another day of living intentionally.

Caitlin

In this episode of The Teaching Middle School ELA Podcast, Caitlin, Megan, and Jessica continue their Science of Reading series by tackling phonological awareness, a key component of the Word Recognition section of Scarborough’s Reading Rope. Join your hosts as they demystify phonological awareness for middle school teachers, explaining why it's vital for older students and how it can tie into the study of poetry. You'll walk away with ten simple, creative strategies to help students develop their phonological awareness through sound patterns, rhymes, and more. Whether you're new to the concept or looking to deepen your understanding, this episode is filled with practical ideas that you can use in your classroom tomorrow!

Let’s take a moment to revisit one of our favorite Monday Mindset episodes! In this episode, Can listening transform your teaching? Discover "compassionate emptiness," a concept from former Starbucks president Howard Baer, in this week's Monday Mindset podcast. Learn how shifting from problem-solving to truly hearing your students, colleagues, and administrators can revolutionize your classroom and foster a culture of empathy and understanding.

Join me as I explore tips for living with intention and creating spaces for open conversation and growth. Let's commit to listening with empathy and watch how small changes lead to big transformations.

Here’s to another day of living intentionally.

Caitlin

In this episode of The Teaching Middle School ELA Podcast, Caitlin, Megan, and Jessica continue their journey through the Reading Rope with a focus on literacy knowledge. Discover how understanding text features is key to comprehension, and why it’s crucial to teach these skills explicitly—even to older students. Your hosts will walk you through a cross-disciplinary Text Features Scavenger Hunt that’s simple to set up and highly effective in boosting students' awareness of how texts are organized. Tune in to learn practical strategies to enhance your students' literacy knowledge and make your ELA instruction even more impactful!

Decision-making can be very difficult as a teacher. We are constantly making decisions that will ultimately affect our students’ success. The constant stress of decision-making can be exhausting. Here’s an easy framework for you to consider to help with decision fatigue.

Always come back to your “why” and your values.

Don’t make decisions when you’re emotional.

Ask yourself questions.

What is my intuition telling me?

Remind yourself that you can learn from this decision whether it is “right” or “wrong”.

Don’t be afraid of the what ifs in life. They will only hold you back.

Here's to another great week, of intentional living!

On this episode of The Teaching Middle School ELA Podcast, Jessica, and Megan dive into the fourth strand of the Reading Rope: verbal reasoning. They’ll explore how this strand plays a crucial role in understanding and interpreting texts and offer a dynamic activity to help students sharpen their inference skills.

After listening, you'll have a clear strategy for guiding students through the process of making inferences with a mystery-based activity. This approach not only makes learning fun but also enhances students' critical thinking and comprehension abilities. Don’t miss out on these valuable techniques to enrich your teaching and support your students' reading development!

Today’s Monday Mindset is one of our listeners’ favorite past episodes all about discipline. I highlight the value of discipline in both our work and personal lives, discussing how our future selves will thank us when it comes to practicing discipline. I challenge listeners to identify areas in their own lives where discipline may be lacking, and I encourage you to make a commitment to yourself. By keeping promises to ourselves, we build self-confidence and begin to see positive results in our lives. 

Here’s to another day of living intentionally.

On this episode of The Teaching Middle School ELA Podcast, Jessica and Megan continue their series to help you navigate the essential strands of the Reading Rope. This episode focuses on language structures, exploring why they are crucial and sharing effective ways to teach them.

After listening, you'll know a fun and adaptable activity that uses drawing and writing to teach grammar concepts. This hands-on activity will enhance your students' grasp of language structures and help them apply these concepts in their writing. Tune in for this practical and engaging approach to strengthen your students' reading and writing skills!

Today we’re airing a past Monday Mindset episode where I discuss the concept of going above and beyond in our relationships and connections with others. Giving, not just in terms of time, but also in offering kindness, compassion, and support to others, is a powerful tool. When we give without expecting anything in return, we can positively impact our lives, experiencing deeper connections and meaningful relationships with others. 

Here’s to another day of living intentionally.

Caitlin

On this episode of The Teaching Middle School ELA Podcast, Jessica, and Megan continue their series to help you navigate the essential strands of the Reading Rope. This episode is all about vocabulary, why it's important, and a few ways to teach it.

After listening, you'll be able to implement a fun and engaging prediction activity focused on Tier 2 vocabulary words. This activity will not only enhance your students' vocabulary retention but also boost reading comprehension by encouraging students to actively engage with new words. Don’t miss this creative activity to help your students expand their vocabularies and deepen their understanding of the texts they read!