Teaching Teens in the 21st

Last year I tried this, and it was amazing. I was totally inspired by The Literary Maven last year, and it was a massive hit with students! We had so much fun, and I really enjoyed having a more relaxed atmosphere in the classroom on the first day, so much so that I did stations for Open House, too (more on that in another post). This year, I'm changing it up a bit, but also keeping some things the same. Make sure to check out the above link to see my inspiration from last year, some of her items were freebies last year, not sure if they still are or not, but definitely take a look! Tips: 1. I will assign seats, even if they change after the first week. It will hopefully give some of my students, especially my sixth graders, a bit more reassurance than trying to just find a random seat on the first day. 2. I will likely extend this into TWO periods to get everything done, as we ran out of time last year! So my first station is the Syllabus and Classroom Scavenger Hunt. Th

Hi everyone!! This week I'll be coming at you with a whole slew of posts, including my classroom tour, scope and sequence, back to school night, and today's post, one of my favorite topics, Classroom Procedures and Organization! When I'm asked what my biggest issue is that I face with middle schoolers, you might expect my response to be, "The drama, the emotions, the unpredictability...", but it isn't. For me, my biggest issue is getting my students into a routine that works for them and me, so that our class can run smoothly. I've noticed that for the most part I can keep everyone happy when there's a set routine in place, at least for 42 minutes. I feel like middle school students are constantly stuck in this state of indecision and insecurity, that tends to manifest in all the negative traits we associate with tweens. It is SO important, repeat, SO IMPORTANT, to have classroom procedures and organization with middle schooler