Teaching Middle School ELA

In today's Teaching Middle School Podcast Episode, your prep period is getting stolen and it’s not because you’re “bad at time management.” Between emails, copies, surprise student needs, and drive-by conversations, that one small window becomes a catch-all and the work that matters most ends up in your bag at night. We’re breaking that cycle with a structure that helps middle school ELA teac...

In today's Teaching Middle School ELA podcast, We share a practical before-during-after feedback framework built from real teacher tips across our staff. Before grading, we require a structured self-assessment using a rubric and checklist, plus simple labeling or colour coding so students prove where the claim, evidence, and justification live. That one shift removes a huge chunk of surface-l...

You can look fine on the outside and still feel alone on the inside and that gap can get painfully wide when you’re a teacher expected to carry everyone else. Today’s Monday Mindset is a short reset built around a simple truth: you’re not the only one quietly struggling, even if it looks like everyone else has it figured out. We start with the idea of “three hearts” the self the world sees, the se...

April makes it hard to keep essay writing rigorous without burying ourselves in grading. We use graphic group essays to help students practise claims, evidence, and justification through a visual, collaborative process that keeps writing engaging and low stakes. • why April is the perfect time for a lighter essay structure • what a graphic group essay is and how it combines visual planning with gr...

Struggling to get your students to actually find the main idea—without guessing or copying random sentences? You’re not alone. In today’s episode, we’re sharing a simple, classroom-tested hack that helps middle school students confidently identify the main idea in informational text—without the frustration (for you or them!). If main idea lessons have been feeling like a struggle, this quick shift...

Today's Monday Mindset, We challenge ourselves to teach for the “May us” by making choices now that reduce end-of-year stress and strengthen student skills. We unpack why readiness and motivation rarely show up first, and how holding the line on routines builds future peace for us and a foundation for our students. • picturing the “May you” and making March and April decisions with the end in...

Today's episode is Part 2 of Episode 397. Your students can label sentence types on a worksheet, crush the grammar game, and still hand in an essay packed with run-ons and fragments. That disconnect is not laziness. It is transfer, and it is one of the biggest pain points in middle school ELA. Today we talk about the moment teachers care about most: when grammar moves off the quiz and into re...

If your grammar lessons feel like they’re going in one ear and out the other… You are not alone. In today’s Teaching Middle School ELA podcast episode, we’re breaking down why traditional grammar instruction just isn’t sticking —and what’s actually happening in your students’ brains during those lessons. More importantly, we’re diving into a simple, practical shift you can make that gets students...

In today's Monday Mindset, March and April can feel like the point where everything starts slipping at once. You’re running on fumes, your students are restless, and the pull of summer makes every small task feel bigger than it should. We’re talking about that exact moment and the counterintuitive fix that actually makes the rest of the year easier: leaning into structure instead of letting i...

In this bonus episode, we’re joined by our very own EB Membership Manager, Genevieve, to talk about one of the most powerful (and underrated) strategies in the classroom— silent discussions . If you’ve ever struggled to get every student engaged or wished for deeper thinking without the pressure of speaking out loud, this episode is for you. Genevieve shares how silent discussions can transform pa...

Want to honor Women’s History Month without adding another unit to your already packed schedule? In today's Teaching Middle School ELA podcast episode, Caitlin shares a simple five-minute writing routine that helps students practice essential ELA skills while learning about remarkable female athletes like Simone Biles, Chloe Kim, and Katie Ledecky. It’s quick, meaningful, and easy to fit into...

Hello, March and welcome back to the Teaching Middle School ELA podcast. So today, I shared five simple, whole-group strategies that make differentiation workable and sustainable without adding extra lesson plans. The focus stays on one learning target while offering many entry points so every student can think, speak, and succeed. • redefining differentiation as access to the same skill • using m...

March is not the month for reinventing yourself. It's the month for trusting what's already working. The routines feel heavy, testing looms ahead, and suddenly the urge to reinvent your classroom creeps in. But what if this isn’t the season for drastic change? In today’s Monday Mindset, we’re talking about why March isn’t about starting over — it’s about staying steady. If you’ve been te...

In today's Teaching Middle School ELA podcast episode, we break the myth that informational text requires a massive unit and replace it with a quiet, repeatable five-minute Friday habit. One short passage, one clear skill, four or five questions, and clean data you can act on without extra planning. • Shifting from big nonfiction units to small weekly habits • Five-minute Friday routine with...

March can bring some unpredictable classroom energy… but what if you could channel it into something that boosts engagement and hits reading, writing, and discussion standards all at once? In this week’s Teaching Middle school ELA podcast episode, we’re walking you through exactly how to run a March Madness Poetry Bracket in any classroom. From choosing poems and setting up your bracket to buildin...

For today's Teaching Middle School ELA podcast episode, I share the Friday whiteboard planning system that moves next week’s decisions out of your head and onto a public board, cutting mental load and Sunday dread. A simple grid creates clarity, closure, and accountability for you and your students. • naming the Friday whiteboard planning system • why visibility beats memory for planning • th...

In today's Monday Mindset, We call out the myth that you must fill your cup before you care for others, and replace it with a practical plan to refill while you pour. Simple, repeatable habits make space for rest, boundaries, sleep, and help so you can show up steady and human. • naming the soul-level exhaustion many teachers feel • why “fill your cup first” becomes an impossible standard • s...

Virtual field trips don’t need to be fancy to be powerful. In today’s Teaching Middle School ELA podcast episode, I have once again, Pat from Team EB, we're walking you through five simple steps for creating a virtual field trip that actually builds skills—using nothing more than a purposeful slide deck. We’ll talk about choosing a destination, pairing it with the right reading skill, keeping...

Today’s Teaching Middle School ELA episode is all about grammar games that actually work. Not the chaotic, overcomplicated kind—but the print, pass out, play, done kind. I’m sharing two of my favorite low-prep grammar games that feel like recess to students while secretly delivering serious skill practice. Easy to reuse, simple to set up, and engaging enough that kids forget they’re doing grammar....

Today's Monday Mindset episode, we explore how to quiet outside noise and trust our professional judgment, especially when admin directives and social media trends collide with what we know works. We share a simple pause-and-align framework, a real classroom example, and a weekly challenge to build self-trust. • why trusting our own decisions matters • how social media erodes confidence • rec...

We trade cram-heavy test prep for a focused plan that teaches test literacy so students think clearly under pressure. You’ll learn how to coach two-part multiple choice, structure short answers with EBW, decode vocabulary in context, and spot direction and critical words that change meaning. • why spiraling everything can backfire • what test literacy is and why it matters • two-part multiple choi...

We share a station-based routine that keeps rigor high, lowers stress, and makes ELA test prep engaging with short passages about sweets from around the world. Students rotate, gather evidence, and solve an acrostic puzzle using a traveling candy journal while we model test-aligned questions. • why drill-and-kill test prep hurts engagement • what students actually need for test readiness • how Swe...

The belief that “more equals better” can quietly run your classroom and your life. We challenge that script with a fresh, practical look at simplicity—how lean lesson plans, streamlined grading, and tight routines can boost learning while giving you back time and calm. If January feels heavy, this is your nudge to stop feeding the plan book and start focusing on what truly moves the needle. Ready...

If you’ve ever felt like you’re being told to “do more writing” without anyone actually showing you where it fits , this episode is for you. Today, Caitlin is joined by a familiar voice—our membership manager, Genevieve and a real classroom teacher using a district-mandated curriculum and EB Academics side by side. We share a simple, three-layer framework for using EB resources with district-manda...

Today’s Teaching Middle School ELA podcast episode is all about turning chaos into calm. If transitions in your middle school classroom feel loud, rushed, or all over the place, this episode is for you. We’re breaking down one simple, repeatable procedure you can put in place to bring clarity, consistency, and calm to your transitions—without adding more to your plate. Small shift, big impact. Let...