Nine years ago, the word rigorous was pounded into my head. I needed to make sure that my lessons were rigorous (challenging), but they also needed to be world based. In other words, the students needed to be able to apply this to the world around them. The principal who told me this started me down a road where I would constantly think about how to incorporate that into my lessons.

Socratic circles were incorporated into my lessons. Debates were incorporated. Research based on problems were incorporated.

Hands on activities were my students’ favorite. When giving them a project, it involved writing, research, and an output that allowed them to be creative. To keep things achievable, I let them know that being an artist was not the goal. If I saw them working diligently, using their time wisely, and producing a quality product, then they did what I asked them to do.

Prior to that time period, I was unsure how PBL would fit into an ELA classroom. There were plenty of ways for it to fit into a Science, Math, or even Social Studies class, but ELA? It took me realizing that utilizing a problem (an argument about pollution, overpopulation, and food choices in the cafeteria) fit into the curriculum. Reading a novel could provide students with an opportunity to create a project based on the reading. With Restart, they did a project around bullying. When I taught The Giver, they gave each other jobs based on their personality traits and researched those jobs.

In the past, we’ve created board games to teach grammar, movies to create book trailers of favorite books, and held character trials. These are all project based. The challenge isn’t in the what. It’s in the how.

The post Project Based or Problem Based Learning appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

I think I have tried everything possible with these students, and it had become clear that what had worked in the past would not work with these students. This is a different generation of student. One that has come through Covid. One that no longer has the intrinsic motivation necessary to become successful students, and extrinsic rewards do not appeal to them. Plus, behavior is horrible.

Now, not all teachers have the issues with the students that I have. Those teachers have either another teacher in the room with them, or they have taken on the role of a stern teacher from the beginning. My mistake is that my reputation precedes me. I have tried to be the one who seeks out the problem and take a kind approach, but what I’ve learned is that my reputation is one of a “pushover,” and you can do what you want in her class.

There was a change this week. My newly medicated self (thank you, ADHD meds that make me feel like I’m on top of my game) has taken a complete 180. I’m fully aware. I have my stuff together and organized. I am more than capable of pulling myself together rather than feeling like a tightly wound ball of anxiety.

I started on Tuesday reading and discussing Cisneros’s “Eleven.” It’s short enough to keep their attention. They can easily identify the fact that the teacher shouldn’t have pushed the sweater onto Rachel. They can also empathize with Rachel’s feelings about Sylvia who states the sweater belongs to Rachel. Plus, they can think about why Rachel states the fact that the teacher is right because she’s older. Later we will read an article on intentional and unintentional bullying by teachers and discuss that in reflection of this story. My biggest purpose is to make them think outside of the stereotypical bully by hinting at a teacher could bully or someone you don’t expect could bully.

Wednesday we talked about the problems around laws that address bullying. We also started a first glimpse at South Carolina’s Safe School Climate Act. They started talking about some of the forms of bullying, and I had them look into some vocabulary that they may not know. Friday we will completely unpack the law that addresses what schools need. From here on out, the SC law will be a frequent piece in the classroom as we read and discuss several text pieces. We have a Fall break coming up starting next week, and when we return from break, I am planning to start our novel study.

Today they started building a case for how they feel about the punishment for bullying and whether that should be more strict. I pointed out on Wednesday that an author who was interviewed on NPR stated that labeling a bully could be a stigma that they couldn’t get rid of. My hope is to help them understand that all of us tend to bully, and we don’t want to be labeled as a bully. We want prevention. We want conflict resolution. We want to change the climate within the classroom and school. Not just “Here’s a law and if you don’t abide by it you will be punished.” The Safe School Climate Act specifies that schools have a set of rules in place, but how do you teach them? Just saying don’t do it isn’t the clear answer. Because of this, I love to teach this unit. It makes them think. It makes them take ownership in what we are doing and why we are doing it.

With that said, I can’t do it if they are not willing to listen. I had to put students out of my class this week because they were disrespectful. Not just to me, but to each other, as well. And some had to learn that what they asked for is a two way street. You can’t say to me, “You never stop so-and-so when they say stuff to me,” and then when I deal with it, you say something rude to them. It doesn’t work that way. Me handing out a consequence to them doesn’t give you a free pass to do it back thinking you won’t have a consequence.

I just hope that this new backbone holds strong. They’ve pushed me into a corner, and I don’t do corners.

The post New Unit and a Backbone appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

When Covid struck and schools were shut down in 2020, we had entire groups of students who suddenly were moved along with gaps missing in education and their social emotional development. The years that followed were about social distancing and maintaining a separate space, but we still failed to teach them how to interact with their peers.

Now that we are back to a somewhat normal schedule, we still have educational gaps and students who do not know how to deal with conflict in social environments. Their way of dealing with conflict is disruption in the classroom environment and screaming. Yes. Middle school students screaming across the room at one another in the middle of class. And it has happened on multiple occasions.

Dare I mention the addiction to TikTok? The app that so many became addicted to during the quarantine. They are so addicted that they forget they are in class and start dancing.

Our professional development was to adapt lessons to overcome the missed learning, but we did not have any on how to help these students adapt to a normal environment. I still have outbursts of “Corona virus” anytime a student sneezes or coughs to clear their throat. It is now a joke and form of bullying. Despite trying to teach students the right and wrong of being in the classroom, students still fail to understand the importance of an education. Their mindset is that they will be passed along regardless of knowledge, and because so many failed to turn in assignments when quarantined, but were allowed to do so, they don’t see the connection between assignments and success. They lack the intrinsic motivation to be successful. Even extrinsic rewards do not motivate them to do well.

Through this year, our admin has been trying to find ways to motivate students by having Honor Roll rewards and behavior rewards, but honestly, some do not care and would rather not have the rewards. Are these students problematic? Not all the time. They just refuse to do their work and at times, they can’t sit still or quiet in the classroom. Staying in when others get an extra recess? It’s nothing for them. They don’t care because they are getting their normal recess. Taking away canteen time? No big deal. They didn’t have money for it anyhow. Or they can just get a friend to buy for them. Now if the school decided to limit the amount that one student could purchase like they do with Elementary, that might change things, but I still doubt it.

What we need is how to motivate these students who give up completely.

What about you? What professional development do you wish you had?

The post The professional development we need appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

Sometimes I look back on my past successes and feel less than before. Am I still not the same successful teacher I was back then?

I suppose that I could blame this new climate of student learning on the missed learning moments during Covid, but surely after this long we should be reaching the end, right?

I had to take my son to the doctor last week, and I decided to leave them with a packet with guided questions, and I even provided them with an oral reading. Me reading to them.

I was very proud as I felt as though I had truly accommodated my students who needed more help, and I even gave those who didn’t need it access to the same. It should have been an easy assignment that they could finish up the next day if they needed more time.

What happened?

The entire day I was bombarded with emails stating that they didn’t understand the assignment (read and answer the questions provided in the document- a document that had even more specific instructions on how and where to find the answers). They stated the assignment was too hard. Too difficult. They needed more information on how to answer. They had other assignments to do, as well, so it wasn’t like they had nothing to do. They had 3 to choose from.

How did I feel? I felt like a failure. My good feeling dispersed into the wind like scattered ash.

On Friday, when I returned, I decided to give those students who needed it (mainly everyone except for my honors class) a thorough modeling of what I had expected (i.e. I did it for them). I gave them the answers to the questions. We did things as a class. They answered the questions with great details. They knew this! They did it.

When it came to building the essay, I modeled introductory paragraphs, a body paragraph, and a conclusion. Things that I saw they needed based on their last essay for me. I gave them the formula. I typed it out with their help. For the body paragraph, you do the same with a topic sentence, evidence, and an explanation. They were responsible for only TWO body paragraphs! They could use mine or use mine as a reference to build their own. I wouldn’t mark off points if they used MY paragraphs. Everything would be due on Thursday. Planner (which we did as a class on Friday and Monday) and essay (which I did 3 of their 5 paragraphs for them) should be submitted on Thursday. As of yesterday (Friday) I still didn’t have them all turned in.

I had students who didn’t even have one of the paragraphs written and their planners were empty. How? How does this happen?

I gave them out grade reports for my class with a list of missing assignments. I warned them that progress reports come out in two weeks, and many of them had an 8 in my class. Most didn’t care. They knew we would be changing that to a 50 when report cards come out, and then to their parents it would look like they did so much to bring up that grade. (Except that some of us teachers now list the actual grade on the report card in the comments section)

Why the lack of motivation?

I feel like trying to motivate students is an exhausting uphill climb. Students are neither extrinsically nor intrinsically motivated to perform their best. They don’t care about anything other than their phones which they sneak to look at 30-40 times during a class. I’m not stupid. I know what they are doing. I really need to find a way to get them to perform to their potential. I need to get them to do their best each and every time. Trying to find a solution to this is going to be a long, uphill climb.

The post Challenges and Uphill Battles appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

In my usual scrolling on my phone through different news and articles, I came across an article written by Megan Quinn of Your Tango titled “10 Boys vs 10 Girls Were Left Unsupervised In A House For 5 Days and The Results Were Wildly Different.” Of course, being the middle school teacher that I am, I had to read it. I knew instantly my experience (as both a mother of sons and a teacher) would either agree or disagree with the article. I wasn’t disappointed.

The article by Quinn talked about a British TV show that placed 10 boys, and then 10 girls, in a house by themselves to see what they would do. It was more like a social experiment, but Quinn reported that the boys were unstructured, wild, and destructive while the girls were more organized in their stay by taking on the usual stereotypical female roles of cooking and cleaning.

I have to admit that I was not surprised by the outcome and had predicted the results prior to reading. Raising two boys myself, I realize that boys are noisy, messy, boisterous, and constantly moving. Even my grandson exhibits these same behaviors. As a teacher, I know that in the classroom, there is a different energy to boys and girls. Girls prefer quiet. Boys relish movement.

In Carol Kaufmann’s article in Readers Digest titled, “How Boys and Girls Learn Differently,” she acknowledges David Chadwell’s emphasis on the science behind segregating genders in the classroom. Chadwell, South Carolina’s coordinator of single gender education, states that science shows us that boys and girls do indeed learn differently. These learning differences are the reason why we see the behavior differences in the British TV’s social experiment.

What Boys Need to Learn

Boys tend to perform their best when they are allowed to move during learning. Even a teacher walking around the room while teaching is enough eye movement to provide the necessary kinesthetic and auditory stimulation necessary for learning. Having boys get up out of their seats and mime what they are about to write will provide them with the necessary information to put pen to paper.

This need for movement and hands-on activities explains why in the past there were so many male apprentices. Apprenticeships allow the males to learn their skill through a hands-on approach. They are immersed in the learning experience and they exit with the knowledge needed to begin their own businesses.

What Girls Need to Learn

Girls need warm and quiet environments to do their best. Girls also do not require a teacher circling the room. In fact, girls can work in circles facing one another and conversing. This in itself is the biggest difference between the two sexes. Talking in low tones allows girls to pay attention to the teacher whereas with boys, it is often necessary to raise ones voice to gain their attention.

Interspersing boys and girls throughout a mixed classroom can provide a buffer to the learning environment, but it may not solve all issues. Boys will still require movement. Always.

The post The differences in teaching boys vs. girls appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

Sometimes you have that group of students that no teacher seems to want. They complain about the students. They criticize their abilities and write them off as being unteachable. These are the ones that I seem to be drawn toward in teaching career as I was the mother of one of these students.

When I was out early in the year, my homeroom seemed to terrorize my substitute teachers. I arrived back to school after a prolonged medical leave to notes of students being unruly, out of control, and many having spent multiple days in detention. My first day back, the students were well-behaved and engaged. My assistant principal was flabbergasted. What is the difference between their behavior with me and other teachers?

Do I have a magical classroom management plan?

No.

Do I threaten and coerce?

No.

Many of their classes require at least 3 or more teachers to be present in the room with them due to behavior. In the morning, there is only me.

The class dynamic is 75% boys with 50% of the students having IEPs due to learning deficits and another 10% with IEPs due to disabilities that contribute to inappropriate behaviors and four students on varying ends of the Autism spectrum.

My boys are active. Extremely active. Most of my girls are not. Notice I said, “most.” At 8 a.m. in the morning, if you are not ready to go with plenty of patience, it can be a nightmare; however, one thing that I understand is boy behavior. I have plenty of patience to redirect multiple times. These students are – even when being overly active or misbehaving – respectable to me.

I recently had a guest teacher who came in to demonstrate a writing workshop lesson. She bragged on my class in our meeting that afternoon and said, “Your honors class was wonderful this morning.” I looked at her and stated, “That was my lowest class.”

She was shocked by what she saw. My class was on task. They answered questions and asked questions which reflected great thought on the subject. They were engaged during the lesson. I even had a few who helped others discretely when they fell behind getting their notebooks set up at the beginning. My principal and assistant principal seemed shocked by my class’s behavior. Of course, that was on Wednesday. On Friday, I had a student who never left my side. They needed one-on-one attention. They wanted to talk. I sat and talked with them. I listened to what they had to say.

When it comes to teaching students who seem to be unreachable or unteachable, we as teachers need to understand how to reach these students. Too often, they are given no voice. They have no one to turn to and no one who will stop what they are doing in their busy day to take the time to build a relationship. As a mom, I know how busy lives can cause us to overlook our children’s need to communicate. As a grandmother, I see the behaviors that manifest when a child feels ignored. Any attention, even negative, is attention. It’s the same in the classroom. Misbehaving gets you the attention you crave.

Remember the student who needed to talk? He sat and talked about things that had been happening in his life. Things that were coming up. Soon we were surrounded by four of his female classmates who had finished and were looking for teacher time, too. They took my hair out of its ponytail and proceeded to braid it while telling me about their memoirs they wrote. I could have fussed. I could have complained. We had five minutes left in class, and they needed to share, although two of them are the type who need to be doing something hence the braiding.

When it comes to classroom management, I have learned that forming a relationship with students is more important than anything a book will teach you. When you start to know these students, you will quickly recognize smaller details that tell you that someone is having a really bad day before they become big problems. Subtle things. The way they are walking. The way they’re fidgeting. If you know your students, you begin to know what is normal and what is not. You will also know when students just need to stop and take a quick brain break to get back on track.

The post Teaching the Impossible is Possible appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

Finding a way to make learning fun and engaging can be difficult the older students become. Add to that the issue with technology, and teaching becomes more challenging.

One of the problems that we have in middle school is that students who have never had a personal laptop are suddenly presented with one, and with no supervision, they have to navigate this new world and all that it provides: constant access to games and entertainment.

Learning seems to take a backburner in this situation. The sudden ability to play online games, to watch YouTube, and to stream movies is too tempting. Teaching during this can be a nightmare. Even though you tell them that they are not using their laptops, five minutes into your lesson you find that someone has opened their laptop and are now playing an online game. The addiction to technology is too great to ignore. The best thing to do is to embrace this need and use it to your advantage.

1. Classcraft

I’ve discussed the use of Classcraft before in my article, “Using Classcraft to appeal to your students’ need for competition.” Classcraft has been a lifesaver for me in my classroom. Not only do I use it to time our Independent Reading, but I also use the Noise Meter to allow students to gauge the level of talking in the room during Independent or Group work. Plus, the Formative assessments in the form of Boss Battles is a great way to constantly review concepts, vocabulary, and provide them with incentives to learn. The extra bonus to this is that once the learning activities are over, students get to go in and spend the gold that they’ve won on pets and clothing for their character.

2. Kahoot

Kahoot is an online trivia game that the kids can access from their laptops and compete for points. There are many Kahoot trivia games that are already created. You simply need to go in and search for your topic. Or you can go in and create your own questions. Many of our teachers use this as a review of concepts, and I’ve even seen the kids go in and do this on their own when they are bored just to challenge one another.

3. PowerPoints

Students can utilize features they already have on their computers. For some who have not taken a basic computer technology course, you may have to help them (in our school they do this in the 6th grade). PowerPoints allow them to be creative and express their learning in a way that they can then pass on to others. I have my students create PowerPoint storyboards for plot, to share their research, and even had one that used this as the platform to tell their short story.

4. Book Trailers

Book reports can be given using the iMovie creator on an iPad or have them use PowerPoint and save the PowerPoint as a movie format. Students enjoyed this. I even had some who created a script, filmed parts of it on the iPad, and then plugged it in to their Book Trailer. Some even went so far as to use their phones to film themselves acting it out and inserted that into PowerPoints. They enjoyed this much more than writing a plain old book report, and we even shared our book trailers.

5. Act it Out

When teaching character traits, I find it easier to have students act out character traits. Many identify certain traits such as nice, mean, or bad, but they lack the vocabulary necessary to identify other traits that may be identified in a text. I provide them with a list and have them define them before having them act them out. This provides them with the necessary skills needed to understand and identify traits when they are reading.

6. Poems

Have students respond to a text by creating a poem about the text or the character(s). For example, when teaching Romeo and Juliet, students wrote double voice poems to tell their story.

7. Board Games

Have students create board games to learn about a novel, vocabulary, or grammar. They can be as creative as they would like, and the game must be easily taught to others with a clear set of rules for the game. Students can use their drawing and thinking skills to create their board games.

8. Ball Toss Reviews

Sports is always in and when you teach a large number of boys, you will appreciate the students being able to stand up and toss a ball. It not only helps with concentration, but it provides them with a nice brain break. Toss a foam ball around as you ask a question. They love to be able to catch the ball to answer the question with the opportunity to toss the ball back.

9. Music

Find ways to incorporate music into learning. When teaching poetry, have students bring in the lyrics to their favorite (clean version only) songs. Students can decide what soundtrack would go best with a novel they are reading and provide the why. Of course, you can always go out on a limb and have students rewrite songs to go with whatever it is that you are teaching. I have even used that last one during the week before Christmas break when students are antsy. Students rewrite Christmas songs into Scrooge type carols. We have a lot of laughs on that day.

10. Chunk It

Sometimes subjects are much too difficult to sit through the entire thing. Chunk it into smaller parts and provide more transitions. Technology has given students the sense of immediate gratification. Often they will become bored with longer tasks. Instead of having them write in longer spurts, I have them write in shorter ones. I provide a timer. When the timer goes off, we transition to something new or we take a brain break. I’ll teach a mini-lesson, and then have them practice before repeating the process.

What about you? Do you use something in the classroom that always keeps the students engaged? Feel free to share in the comments below.

Did you use one of these strategies? If so, how did it turn out?

The post 10 Ways to Make Learning Fun appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

Finding books for boys that they find interesting and that will engage them in reading can be difficult. So many times, especially in middle school, boys tend to move away from books.

Last year, I challenged my students to read. They kept a reading log, and we started off with 15 minutes each class period of Independent Reading. There was no pressure to read a certain level or Lexile. Students were allowed to choose any book that they wanted to read, even if they wanted to bring something from home.

My expectations during Independent Reading was that they read quietly. To time them, and monitor the noise, I used Classcraft. Before Covid, I allowed them to read anywhere in the room.

During their reading time, I observed their reading habits and took note of those books that boys tended to fight over because I only had a few copies. When opportunity allowed, I asked them what books they wish I had, and then I surprised them by purchasing those books.

Top requested books for boys

The Bone books by Jeff Smith are really popular among boys. With boys being so visual, it’s no surprise that graphic novels were at the top of their list. For your struggling readers, these books provide enough pictures with the narrative to provide your readers with the context they need for comprehension.

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books by Jeff Kinney are generally fought over. They want to read them in order and they want to read them multiple times. They are funny and engaging.

Dog Man by Dav Pilkey was requested by the majority of the guys, and even some girls. These books keep them engaged. They will want to share what they are reading with other students in the class.

The I Survived… book series has been well loved by my students, especially the boys. In fact, I had to replace many of my books after a year because they had been read so many times that they were starting to fall apart. (Think about 90 students, at least 10 each class period for 4 class periods, for 180 days)

The post Books for Boys appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

I ran across Classcraft by accident two years ago. I signed up and thought that I would use it and test it out, but I still held the ultimate decision of whether I would utilize it fully.  

Last year, I had a small group of students who were addicted to role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons, and I decided to use Classcraft to see if it would appeal to this group of students. The result: They loved it! Not only did those students love the quests, I had other students who loved the idea of training pets and dressing their characters up.

I realized then that I was on to something, but how could I convince colleagues that it was useful for education?

The Classcraft Breakdown

Classcraft has a lot to offer. Students create characters and work in Teams. Classcraft offers teachers a way to create a classroom management plan within the program. You can create consequences and rewards for select behaviors. Plus, you can have students go on Quests and have Boss Battles.

Among these, Classcraft also offers several other tools that are great for teachers, such as a Timer, a Volume Meter, a Stopwatch, and a Random Name Generator. I use these tools in my class often. Gone are the days of picking popsicle sticks or drawing from a deck of cards. I can click on a button, and the program randomly chooses a student or a team. I can then reward students for their answer to a question. As an ELA teacher, having students read aloud in class is no longer a struggle because students like getting a reward of XP (Experience Points that they need to level up to the next level).

Quick and Easy Formative Assessments

Classcraft makes it easy to give fun formative assessments. Boss Battles serve as both reviews and formative assessments for me in class. For a Boss Battle, students must answer a certain number of questions correctly to defeat a “Boss.” You can choose to have the questions as multiple choice or short answer. For each correct answer, students deliver a striking blow to the Boss. If students get an answer wrong, they receive damage in the battle. If students fail to win a Battle, then I know where or what we need to work on.

I have used Boss Battles for vocabulary and reading comprehension. The students love the idea of battling each other or battling the Boss, and they do not feel as though they are learning or being assessed. The only thing that concerns the students are that they are receiving XP to level up, and Gold to purchase new gear.

It’s all about the gear

 The students love to show off their gear! They can edit their character on their end, and when class time comes, they want you to show off their character! When you pull a student up on the screen, it pulls up their fully decked out character. The students are proud of their characters. Plus, when I create the storyline for the quests, I try to include things about the Warriors, Mages, and Healers so that the students feel like they are truly participating with their teammates.

Teams are important, too!

Teams in Classcraft are important for keeping community and management. I provide opportunities for them to work in the Teams, and I usually group these myself. I try to make sure that each group has a variety, and I keep them small. For example, in one class I had enough students to have 6 groups of 3 which allows for me to do Jigsaw Reading activities. Plus, the smaller groups allow for a quieter work environment.

One more thing about Teams: Each Team is responsible for each other. Teams share in rewards and consequences. If someone falls in battle (they run out of Health Points (HP), all Team members sustain damage. Mages can protect someone from falling in battle or taking too much damage; however, they can only do so much; therefore, the Team must hold each other accountable for their actions. When you have a class that is fully committed to the game, this is easy, but if you have a class that is not fully committed and invested in the game, you run the risk of Team members not wanting to hold each other accountable. Out of the 4 classes that I teach, I only have one that does not care, so I have to step up the rewards. I’ll let you know how that goes later.

Trying Classcraft for your classroom

Classcraft offers a free version that you can test out, but to get the full experience, you will need to get the premium version which is $12/month. This allows students to upgrade their characters and gives you access to extra tools, such as Quests, Boss Battles, and the noise monitor.

**Disclosure: If you decide to click on the link in this article, note that I will get a free month for you trying it out.

The post Using Classcraft to appeal to your students’ need for competition appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

For the last two days, I have stressed about today’s activity. We were putting a character on trial, and the students had to prepare over the course of several days for the trial. Each one had a role they were to play with strict instructions to stick to the text. I stressed so much because during the time that the students were to be preparing, they were disengaged or off task. It didn’t seem like learning was taking place.

The engagement results of that seemingly lack of preparation?

My first period class. My strugglers. I worried most about them and the ensuing chaos that might take place if they couldn’t handle the task. Somehow, in that messy-looking preparation, those students had prepared. In the middle of our court session, I looked around the room while one of my defense lawyers was questioning a student on the stand, and my eyes filled with tears. Every single student was quiet and attentive. They were hanging on every word spoken. Engagement in the activity was taking place. It was beautiful! These students were usually loud and talkative when they didn’t understand. Now, they were paying attention and receiving a different view of the story we had read. We had simplified Edgar Allan Poe and made him accessible.

My other class?

Well, I received that chaos. Students were unprepared and lacked what they needed to play their role. Unfortunately, it was my largest class with 26 students in it, and with only 12 spots for active participation in our trial, I had 14 jury members who were bored, and they were not afraid to vocalize that boredom.

C’est la vie!

The post When Engagement Happens appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.