Nine Back-to-School Ideas for Middle School Teachers

Heading back to school after the summer is exciting!  There are so many fresh ideas to try and ways to recharge your classroom and teaching.

The Middle School Mob has pulled together nine of our favorite back-to-school hacks, tips, and tricks.  We hope you'll find a few here that will get your year off to a great start!

Getting organized 

Michele of Michele Luck's Social Studies says that this is a must for new teachers. This bundle includes everything to get the year started and to keep it moving in the right direction! It walks you through classroom organization and helps you be prepared for dealing with classroom management, teacher evaluations, lesson planning, and more!

Do you need a seating chart?

Classroom organization is one of the first things that come to mind at back to school time. Desk or seating chart arrangement, along with ideas and planning for behavior management are priorities. A good seating chart template can be the saving grace for the middle or high school classroom.

Michele of Michele Luck's Social Studies shares some ideas about how to best use a seating chart.

Creative mini books

Lisa from Mrs. Spangler in the Middle says, "As a middle school teacher, I have to make 130 copies any time I need all of my students to have something. So if my syllabus is a couple of pages, that really adds up and I only get 2 cases of paper per year!

"This mini-book is just ONE sheet of paper for each student! And it gives the students something to do with the syllabus instead of just pretend to read it. ;) Not to mention it's creative and gives off a warm, fuzzy feel. :) "It's also completely editable so you can pre-print all the information from your syllabus on it or have students record the important information on it. Finally, it comes with a video to show you and your students how to assemble it."

You can find her paper-saving mini book here.

Poetry anyone?

Sharon from Classroom in the Middle says, "Poems make great short readings for the first days of school, and poems about school are a classic choice for beginning of the year activities in language arts classes. Here is a list of ten good titles, as well as a few links where you can find even more. The poems range from funny to serious. Some are about school and others are about perennial middle school topics."

Create an Escape!

Looking for a novel way to keep students thinking? Lyndsey from Lit with Lyns describes how she uses a digital escape room to engage her students at the start of the school year.

Are you going digital?

If so, Shana from Hello, Teacher Lady has some great tips for you.

Shana says, "Google Classroom has been the organizational hub of my classroom for the past few years, and I'm on a mission to share the love with as many teachers as possible. Since we're in the midst of back to school season, there's no better time to start saving time, paper, and sanity. If you've been wondering about the benefits of using Google Classroom, I've rounded up the top 12 reasons why Google Classroom should be your new BFF."

Flipping for this flipbook

Stephanie from The Marvelous Middle has a great idea for helping students keep track of their syllabus.

"The school year starts off smoothly with detailed classroom policies and procedures. A classroom syllabus explains how my classroom runs and the curriculum covered during the school year," Stephanie says.

"But, my students always seemed to lose this syllabus a few weeks into the school year. This flipbook syllabus solved this problem because it is sized to be glued right inside an interactive notebook. My students no longer lose this important information. It is always at their fingertips."

Building routines with task cards

Susie from Anchored in Reading shares this idea for how to use task cards to create routines in the classroom:

"This back to school resource proves valuable in many ways. Used as a bell ringer, these task cards help you build a routine while starting each class with students on-task and working. In addition, some of the concepts are review which may be beneficial for our students getting back into the swing of things! You could also use these task cards as exit slips or informal assessment."

Creating a yearlong plan

Marypat from Just Add Students shares this blog post with ideas of how to set up, create and use a yearlong plan for your ELA standards.

She says, "A yearlong plan will help you teach (all the) writing; it will save you time and energy — and help you remain accountable for what you’re expected to teach this year. When Sunday night rolls around and you're planning your week, a ylp is a lifesaver!  The lessons plans practically write themselves!  An additional bonus?  Great for Meet the Teacher night as well!"   You can find her free editable yearlong plans here.

So, what do you think?  What new ideas are you implementing this year?  Let us know in the comments below!

Here's to a fresh, new school year!

Making YOUR Classroom THEIR Classroom

Setting up a classroom before the kids arrive is fun – getting ready for the promise of a new year. But whether you go for the all-out look of a new theme with lots of new decorations brought from home, or whether you go for a the more basic, functional look, what really makes a classroom come alive is when you personalize it with little touches representing each individual kid.

It doesn’t have to be anything fancy; just small elements spaced around the room that refer specifically to this year’s kids can make all the difference in providing a room where kids feel at home and take ownership of the space. 

Here are a few favorites that I’ve seen many teachers use:

Banners or Pennants

I like the long skinny triangular ones that look like old college pennants. The kids can each choose a pennant (construction paper) in their favorite color, add a “logo” that they design for themselves, and add their name (in their choice of fancy lettering). If they have trouble coming up with a logo, show the class some examples such as logos from pro sports and nearby school teams.

Team Names and Logos

If you’re starting the year with groups, for their first assignment have each group come up with a team name and then design a team logo or choose a mascot. The team names and logos can be used on charts about group assignments and group progress throughout the year.

Student Work Display

Classrooms have included a bulletin board displaying good student work forever, and for good reason. Not only does it recognize students as they do well on specific areas, but it also provides good examples for the other students in the class.

Brag Tag Display

Brag tags work best when classmates see them. So a wall display where each kid can hang their collection of tags is not only a handy organizational tool, but also a positive motivator.

Chores Chart

We mostly think of a chores chart as purely functional, but some chores are especially popular, and seeing their name posted next to a coveted position can be rewarding for many kids.

Ongoing Contest

If you’re using any kind of reward system, such as awarding points or tickets that students save to spend on a prize or to enter in a drawing, post it on the wall too! Add some positive language and imagery to make the contest appealing.

Photos

If you have time to take a snapshot of each kid at the beginning of the year, kids will love looking at the pictures of their friends, and themselves. And the display of photos will be a nice touch for parents when they come in for visits too!

As the year progresses, photos of individual kids and groups at work on class projects are great to post too.

Door Decoration

Some schools do lots of door decorating and others don’t. But if door decorations are a thing at your school, who not make one featuring the kids who study behind that door! Team names, logos, photos – all can work here too. Or maybe have your kids come up with a class slogan for everyone to see.

For more about personalizing a classroom space, check out this blog post with more ideas especially for the language arts and reading teachers:

Pin to save:

Blog post by Sharon from the Classroom in the Middle Blog. 

College Pennant Activity for Back to School

We've shared this activity in the past with you, but we think it's such a great back to school activity, that we wanted to share it again! This is a fun and really easy way to create a collegiate environment in your middle school classroom. Our students loved doing this activity, and these pennants made for great classroom decor as well!

Using this College Pennant Activity (which you can download for FREE from our Teachers Pay Teachers store), we had our students design a pennant for their dream college. Then, on the back of the pennant, they had to include their dream job and three steps they could take right now to make that dream a closer reality. It was a really fun project and the kids came up with fantastic pennants for us to hang up!

That's it! A very easy, fun, creative, and engaging way to build community and hard work ethic in your classroom! We hope you enjoy using this activity with your students as much as we did :)

Setting Up a Middle School Classroom Economy

Last school year, I had very ambitious dreams about starting a classroom economy system in my room. I was desperate for a way to tie in the Personal Financial Literacy TEKS that are a part of our math standards in Texas. I was very nervous about starting one and it was a very large project to take on to ensure it fit my very own needs. I am going to give you an idea of how I set mine up so that you can easily copy for your own room. If you want to know my full-year review of the classroom economy, be sure to stay to the end.

I think the single hardest part was trying to figure out how to keep my money organized. I ended up getting this container from Dollar Tree and inserted index card dividers I already had lying around. This turned out to be perfect! I never had to guess or hunt for certain bills because they were already organized ahead of time.

This was the fun part. I let students buy things under the variable expense category using the money they had earned. If you notice, I also included restroom breaks and pencils. No more freebies! This allowed me to have students use their credit cards in emergency situations and learn about paying them off with interest. It also kept them from taking all of my pencils before they had even asked peers to borrow one. The kids took this very seriously because they wanted to spend their money on fun stuff, not pencils. For the first time in my entire career, I actually had pencils left over at the end of the year!! I had always run through around 500 by spring break before the classroom economy system!!

Fixed expenses were the not-so-fun part. And yes, I really did make my students pay rent. However, I did lower it down by a lot because the amount shown here was overly ambitious and the students were not reaching it. We changed rent to $100 after the first month equating $25 per week. This mean on months like December that were shorter, I only charged them the $25/week for however many weeks we were in school that month. If students could not pay rent, then they were required to bring their lunch into my room and clean my desks after they had eaten as a way to "work for hire" at $25/lunch break. So if a student was roughly $50 short on rent, they owned me 2 lunches as "work for hire." Almost all of my student figure out real quick to budget better and save up for rent before spending their money on the variable expenses!

The income was how students earned their money. You can tailor this to meet the needs of your classroom and what you would like the students to accomplish. The key with an economy system is to have some things that are predictable and all students can reach like being in your seat and working on the warm-up by the time the bell rings. Some are there for students to stretch themselves such as making an A on an assignment. It also needs some sort of teacher discretion where the teacher can give someone money just because they feel like it for going above and beyond on an assignment, helping a peer without being asked, etc. Teacher discretions are not meant to be given every single time, but randomly, so that students never get too complacent on their work.

Here is what the prices looked like set up in my classroom. It was very easy to see and reference for both the students and myself.

So now the part you are waiting for...how did it go? I truly felt like it was single-handedly the best idea I ever had. The students were completely committed to it till the very end. One of the major benefits was that it provided me with an easy way to give lots of positive reinforcement without much effort. My class behaviors also became almost non-existent. Students who misbehaved in other classes were angels in mine because they were so committed to working hard and earning money. I only had to send 1 student to the office the entire year (he went a lot, but he was the only one who wouldn't fully buy-in to the system). This is in stark contrast to the 5-6 I had to send the year before.

I also felt that it gave students lots of real-world application. It was common to hear "I hate paying rent! Being an adult sucks!" Many of my students come from families who are not good with budgeting themselves, so this was a new world for them. Yet, I feel confident that they gained some budgeting skills while with me this past year.

It also taught my students how to count money. So few of them are ever exposed to cash anymore since their families just use debit and credit cards, that they have no idea what to do with actual money. Teaching them how to count the bills from biggest to smallest was not an area I expected to have to teach going into this, but I was very excited to see them accomplish this by the end of the year. I may not directly tie to a standard, but at least the can handle money now.

If you are thinking about starting a classroom economy in your room this year or the next, be sure to check out my starter kit here. It has everything you need to get started and begin to tailor it to your own classroom needs. It has quickly become one of my best sellers for good reason. Have a fantastic school year!

How I Get My Ducks In A Row With Classroom Routines!

Ok, I'll admit it.  I love routines.  Why?  I think it's because they create stability and order.  And when you teach Middle School, that can be hard to come by.  After all, many of the students are characterized as "hormones with feet" and with their changing bodies and changing perceptions, their sense of security is definitely diminished.

So here is an opportunity for me to create a space where calm amidst the chaos can prevail.  Take, for example, my specific entering routine:

1.  I greet students at the door.

2.  Students pick up their materials.

3.  The bell rings and I play an inspiring song in the background.

4.  Students write in their planners and then begin the bell work.  (I take attendance.)

5.  I come around and initial planners and answer questions.

6.  The song ends and I announce that there are X number of minutes to complete the bell work.

7.  I come to the front of the room and welcome everyone.  Then we review the learning target and homework due date.

8.  Now we go over the bell ringer.

Believe it or not, this entire procedure takes only about 8 - 10 minutes once we get into the routine.  But you can see that for me, bell ringers are a necessary part of getting everyone in and settled.

I generally use bell ringers as an opportunity to review and practice.  If you use bell work for this too, then you might be interested in these Middle School Mentor Sentences that are all ready to go and focused on perseverance using an original text about Walt Disney.

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It takes several days to completely teach a routine like this, but I think Bell Ringers are essential to creating a classroom community.  Why?  They become part of a routine that satisfies a need for safety that comes from order.  

So, how do I do this?

A little bit at a time.

Last week, I modeled coming into the room with my own book bag and materials.  I actually pretended to be a student and even sat at a student desk.  The kids chuckled, but instead of me just explaining it, I showed it to them.  Then, the students practiced.  

They practiced the routine, you ask?  Yes!  This is how we all learn, right?  This applies to routines too!  After we have the coming in part down, then we add in planners.  Once the students can come in and write in their planners, then we add in the bell work.  One step at a time - I think I can, I think I can.  :)

Now here's my full disclosure:  I've been doing this for 22 years.  So I know how this will turn out.  Entering the class using this routine will become a habit.  So much so that when there is a new student, they confidently show it to that student - or an administrator - or anyone who asks.  They are confident because they know they can depend on it.  And in a world where change is the norm, it's nice to have a little bit of predictability in one's life.

Do you have routines in your classroom?  Join in the conversation in the comments below!

Student Learning Inventories

Mandy from Caffeine and Lesson Plans here, excited to share with you a little tidbit about student learning inventories- one of my absolute favorite back to school activities!

As a teacher, I have always struggled to maximize the limited time I have with my students. No matter how much time I get, I always feel like I could use more! There is just so much learning to do, and so little time to do it in. One of the best ways I have found to get the most out of my instructional time is to really try to tailor the teaching to my students in every way possible. Yes, it's true that I can't change the curriculum... no matter how much I want to at times. However, I can modify my instruction to include different styles, activities, and assessment to best suit their needs. How can I found out what their needs are? Student learning inventories!

The learning inventory is a short questionnaire designed to help teachers identify the learning style of their students. It's a simple "check the box" type of assessment which is pretty quick to administer. There are about a million versions out there to try, based upon the grade level you teach and if you have technology available to you or not. Here are a few favorites of mine:

Multiple Intelligences Survey (available printable or as a self-calculating excel document)

Learning Style Survey (online)

VARK Learning Questionnaire (online)

Learning Inventory for Older Students (printable)

Mathematical Learning Inventory (printable) *one of my favorites!!

To be honest, most years I pick and choose questions from each of the available tests and create something that I think will appeal to my kiddos the most. Definitely make it your own!

Once we finish assessing ourselves, I have the students determine their learning style based upon the answers they gave. The directions are included in each of the linked inventories. Then, I give the students a short presentation on what it means to be each learning style and what they can do to learn best. Here is an overview of what I use with my kiddos, compiled from several websites:

Visual Learners:

• use visual materials such as pictures, charts, maps, graphs, etc.
• have a clear view of your teachers when they are speaking so you can see their body language and facial expression
• use color to highlight important points in text
• take notes or ask your teacher to provide handouts
• illustrate your ideas as a picture or brainstorming bubble before writing them down
• write a story and illustrate it
• use multi-media (e.g. computers, videos, and filmstrips)
• study in a quiet place away from verbal disturbances
• read illustrated books
• visualize information as a picture to aid memorization

Auditory Learners:

• participate in class discussions/debates
• make speeches and presentations
• use a tape recorder during lectures instead of taking notes
• read text out aloud
• create musical jingles to aid memorization
• create mnemonics to aid memorization
• discuss your ideas verbally
• dictate to someone while they write down your thoughts
• use verbal analogies, and story telling to demonstrate your point

Kinesthetic Learners

• take frequent study breaks
• move around to learn new things (e.g. read while on an exercise bike, mold a piece of clay to learn a new concept)
• work at a standing position
• chew gum while studying
• use bright colors to highlight reading material
• dress up your work space with posters
• if you wish, listen to music while you study
• skim through reading material to get a rough idea what it is about before settling down to read it in detail.

As a teacher, I use this info to help guide me through lesson planning. Of course, I can't meet every student's individual learning style every lesson, but understanding where my kids are at helps me break down my planning and tailor as many lessons as I can to as many kiddos as I can.

So, there it is- one of most informative and useful back to school activities!

Back to School w/ Student Interest Surveys

This is Lyndsey here from Lit with Lyns, and I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that it's back to school time again!  As a matter of fact, in the Metro  Atlanta area, we started back this week, and I must admit, this is the way I was feeling at first.  It's always hard to leave my kids after having the summer together, but we all have to do it!

As I began to plan for the upcoming school year, I started to think about the most efficient way to get to know my students, while also being able to update their likes/dislikes, changes that they may experience, etc. throughout the year.  I didn't want to glance through the mound of papers and hope to remember a small fraction of information about a student.  With that in mind, I created a Digital Back to School Student Interest Survey on Google Forms.  When students answer the questions on Google Forms, it saves automatically.  Then their answers are also automatically put into a spreadsheet-- also saved on your Google Drive (see the steps below for exactly how to do this).  How awesome is that?!? 

Throughout the year, I can refer back to all of the info I have stored, and I can add to it if necessary.  This year I also plan to have my students complete the same survey during the middle of the year.  This will allow me to see if there have been any changes.  Another plus is that you can modify the form if you need to make changes to questions or if you need to add new ones.

I also have a FREE back to school survey that you can check out here! 
How do you use the beginning of the year surveys?  Tell me all about it in the comments.

Back to School Activities: Getting to Know Your Students with Google Forms & Kahoot!

Hi all, It's Shana from Hello, Teacher Lady here. Today I'm going to share with you one of my favorite back to school activities -- it combines my trusty Google Forms/Sheets with everyone's favorite techie game, Kahoot!

In the past, I've had students fill out short little "inventories" at the beginning of the year -- which have been helpful to a certain extent, but I found that I didn't look at them as closely or as often as I should have. Stacks of paper usually don't survive long with me and ultimately end up tucked away in the filing cabinet of doom.

Since I started drinking the digital Kool-Aid and had been using Google Apps for Education for just about everything else in my classroom, last year I decided to nix the paper and create a Google Form for my students to fill out instead. That was a pretty good idea on its own, but then I had a lightbulb moment: why not turn the obligatory getting-to-know-you form into a class game! And that's where Kahoot! came in.

On the Google Form, I asked students to list three "fun facts" about themselves and made sure to note that some or all of the information collected would be shared with the class. I also mentioned that we will have to guess who's who during a Kahoot! game in a later class period, so I encouraged students to be creative and try to list things that aren't super obvious or that others might not know about them.

The results of the Google Form were then displayed nice and neatly in a Google Sheet, and it was a lot of fun reading through these facts and seeing what each student wanted to share about themselves. It also provided some unexpected insight, as I had one student write that he was a "good liar" who is "very lazy" -- yeah, definitely expect that one; we had an interesting year together. Anyway...

This next part was a little time consuming, but totally worth it. I took the information shared and compiled them into statements about each person (without using their name, of course) in a Kahoot! game for each class period. Sometimes I used all three facts, sometimes I only used one or two; it just depended on the type of information. For my smaller classes, I created extra statements based on some of the unused information, so some students' names appeared more than once.

Below are a few screenshots of statements from one of my classes last year:

In the answer section, I included the correct student's name and then chose three other names at random. I also included a statement for myself and sprinkled my name in some of the choices throughout the game as well. So not only was I getting to know my students, but they were getting to know me too! Pretty sure no one expected to learn that their teacher is a Star Trek nerd who played Rugby for 5 years. :)

Guys... we had SO. MUCH. FUN. playing this game!  I can't wait to play it again this year with my new students. It can get a little rambunctious, but again -- so worth it. 

For the record, since I'm an ELA teacher, I also gave students a separate reading/writing interest survey, which was crucial in getting to know their interests and habits on a more academic level. However, this year I am going to utilize Google Forms for that as well. I just don't seem to get along with paper, and Google Sheets can be accessed from anywhere! 

Tomorrow's post by Lyndsey from Lit with Lyns will go into more detail about using digital student interest surveys, so stay tuned!

Psssst -- there's a giveaway happening on my blog right now. Come on over to check it out. :)