
Class Meetings for BIG KIDS
When I had the good fortune of teaching 75 fourth graders every day, we started every day with a class meeting. It is an excellent strategy when you have minimal class transitions, but it is not something I can utilize with my current 7th graders

ELA Sub Plans (Made Easy!) for Middle School
Emergency sub plans are one of those must-have resources for your ELA teacher toolbox. This is especially true if you are also a parent, because, as teachers, we know better than anyone how quickly unexpected events can unfold! Here are the emergency substitute strategies and

The Digital Daily 5 in the ELA Classroom
With Common Core standards and with so many of our assessments moving to an online format, it is essential that students are able to navigate technology resources successfully and effectively. If you incorporate the Daily 5 framework into your ELA classroom, the Chromebook is one

5-Ways to Prepare for your Classroom Observation
Now that the first weeks of school are in the books, principals will begin scheduling classroom observations. On a full-cycle evaluation year, I am observed three times throughout the school year. This includes two scheduled observations and one that is not scheduled in advance. Despite

50 Best Books for Middle School
Every summer, I get a few emails or texts from parents and students asking for book recommendations. I typically know these readers well, so I can fire off 5-10 book recommendations that I think their middle school readers will love. In hindsight though, I should

Differentiated Instruction with Novel Units
As a middle school ELA teacher, I am always in search of resources that best meet the needs of my readers. Having a good selection of novels and a diverse set of reading comprehension activities are two ways I incorporate differentiated instruction into my language