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Teaching Middle School ELA

Welcome to the Teaching Middle School ELA Podcast, where we help English Language Arts teachers create dynamic, engaging lessons while balancing the everyday responsibilities of teaching middle school.

I’m Caitlin Mitchell, a longtime ELA educator and curriculum creator, and I know firsthand how challenging it can be to manage grading, planning, and student needs—while still trying to have a life outside the classroom. That’s why every Tuesday and Thursday, I bring you practical strategies, curriculum inspiration, and innovative teaching ideas to help you feel confident, prepared, and energized.

Whether you’re looking to revamp your writing instruction, streamline your planning process, or engage even the most reluctant readers and writers, you’ll find actionable support here. You’ll also hear real classroom stories, fresh lesson ideas, and occasional interviews with other passionate educators.

If you teach reading and writing to middle schoolers and want to stay inspired and up-to-date with best practices in ELA education, you’re in the right place. Tune in every week and let’s transform your teaching—together.

Latest Episodes:

Three Ways This Rockstar Teacher Delivers Engagement in the Classroom with Monica Genta - 120 May 06, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Caitlin and Jessica interview Monica Genta and discuss the challenges of engaging students in those last, long weeks of the school. Monica, who has been there before with distracted and disengaged students, offers up 3 easy tips for giving students what they need by also giving them some of what they want. These suggestions just may be the game changer you’ve been looking for to keep your students learning!

In this episode, Meredith takes us back to the beginning of her career when she almost quit her seventh grade teaching position. She candidly shares what it took for her to survive some really challenging moments in the classroom, and she offers wisdom for teachers everywhere who are struggling to get by this year. Meredith brings honesty, humor, and compassion to the conversation as she pulls back the curtain on what life is now like as a principal, and she tells us all about her book, The Overly Honest Teacher.

Links mentioned in this episode:

ebacademics.com/book

https://www.instagram.com/monicagentaed/?hl=en

https://monicagenta.com/summer/

Are you enjoying the podcast?
Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're listening to!

Make sure to Subscribe and leave us a Review!

Your review helps us reach even more middle school ELA teachers just like you! It would mean so much to us. To leave a review in iTunes, click HERE and scroll down to Rating and Reviews. Click on "Write a Review" and let us know how this podcast is helping you in your ELA classroom!

Other episodes you might enjoy:

Why You Don't Need to Teach to the Test - 119 May 04, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Caitlin and Jessica discuss the drawbacks of focusing too strongly on testing skills in lessons: boredom, poor confidence, and lack of retention. Using their own experiences, they explain how engaging, rigorous, fun lessons reinforce skills that will actually improve test scores. Yes, ironically, throwing out the “teach to the test” mentality doesn’t just create a happier classroom, it also helps students to build confidence and remember their lessons. Listen to learn more!

Links mentioned in this episode:

https://app.ebacademics.com/eb-teachers-club-waitlist-evergreen

https://ebacademics.mykajabi.com/eb-detective-free-lesson

Are you enjoying the podcast?
Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're listening to!

Make sure to Subscribe and leave us a Review!

Your review helps us reach even more middle school ELA teachers just like you! It would mean so much to us. To leave a review in iTunes, click HERE and scroll down to Rating and Reviews. Click on "Write a Review" and let us know how this podcast is helping you in your ELA classroom!

Other episodes you might enjoy:

One Teacher’s Thoughts About Writer’s Workshop - 118 May 03, 2021

Show notes

Today, we are interviewing teacher, writer, and podcaster Jacob Chastain, a middle school teacher who uses the writer’s workshop method every day in his classroom. He will discuss how this method benefits students, how he puts it into practice, and where you can find more information.

Links mentioned in this episode:

https://teachmeteacherpodcast.com/

https://www.facebook.com/teachmeteacher/

https://ebacademics.com

https://ebacademics.com/book

Are you enjoying the podcast?
Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're listening to!

Make sure to Subscribe and leave us a Review!

Your review helps us reach even more middle school ELA teachers just like you! It would mean so much to us. To leave a review in iTunes, click HERE and scroll down to Rating and Reviews. Click on "Write a Review" and let us know how this podcast is helping you in your ELA classroom!

Other episodes you might enjoy:

Confessions of a Principal - 117 Apr 27, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Meredith takes us back to the beginning of her career when she almost quit her seventh grade teaching position. She candidly shares what it took for her to survive some really challenging moments in the classroom, and she offers wisdom for teachers everywhere who are struggling to get by this year. Meredith brings honesty, humor, and compassion to the conversation as she pulls back the curtain on what life is now like as a principal, and she tells us all about her book, The Overly Honest Teacher.

Links mentioned in this episode:

https://www.overlyhonestteacher.com/

Are you enjoying the podcast?
Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're listening to!

Make sure to Subscribe and leave us a Review!

Your review helps us reach even more middle school ELA teachers just like you! It would mean so much to us. To leave a review in iTunes, click HERE and scroll down to Rating and Reviews. Click on "Write a Review" and let us know how this podcast is helping you in your ELA classroom!

Other episodes you might enjoy:

A Creative & Engaging Way to Assess Students at the End of Your Poetry Unit - 116 Apr 20, 2021

Show notes

Listen to this episode where we describe how to effectively assess students with shape, found, or blackout poetry. Better yet--give students a choice in their assessment to improve buy-in and enhance learning. Today, we share our best tips for making these assessments work in the classroom so that you can start planning your assessment today!

Links mentioned in this episode:

https://ebacademics.com/2017/01/found-poetry-activity.html

https://ebacademics.com/2016/01/two-poetry-activities-your-students.html

Are you enjoying the podcast?
Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're listening to!

Make sure to Subscribe and leave us a Review!

Your review helps us reach even more middle school ELA teachers just like you! It would mean so much to us. To leave a review in iTunes, click HERE and scroll down to Rating and Reviews. Click on "Write a Review" and let us know how this podcast is helping you in your ELA classroom!

Other episodes you might enjoy:

How to Combine Poetry and Research to Push Your Students’ Reading and Writing Skills - 115 Apr 13, 2021

Show notes

Today, we share our Elements of Poetry Mini Research Project so that you can consider including a research component in your next poetry unit. We explain the purpose and framework of the assignment, giving you the strategies and tools to do this project in your class with any poems of your choice!

Links mentioned in this episode:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Elements-of-Poetry-Poetry-Research-Project-PRINT-AND-DIGITAL-3124454

Are you enjoying the podcast?
Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're listening to!

Make sure to Subscribe and leave us a Review!

Your review helps us reach even more middle school ELA teachers just like you! It would mean so much to us. To leave a review in iTunes, click HERE and scroll down to Rating and Reviews. Click on "Write a Review" and let us know how this podcast is helping you in your ELA classroom!

Other episodes you might enjoy:

Stations Are the Key to Getting Your Students to Enjoy Poetry - 114 Apr 06, 2021

Show notes

Today, we walk you through our favorite poetry resource--poetry stations. In just five stations, we explain how to get every student analyzing word choice, rhyme scheme, theme, and more! You can say goodbye to class periods where students zone out and stay silent as you do the hard work of breaking down a poem. Listen in to hear how you can get students doing the thinking and talking about any poem in your curriculum.

Links mentioned in this episode:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Poetry-Activity-Poetry-Stations-for-Any-Poem-4493578

Are you enjoying the podcast?
Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're listening to!

Make sure to Subscribe and leave us a Review!

Your review helps us reach even more middle school ELA teachers just like you! It would mean so much to us. To leave a review in iTunes, click HERE and scroll down to Rating and Reviews. Click on "Write a Review" and let us know how this podcast is helping you in your ELA classroom!

Other episodes you might enjoy:

How to Make One-Pagers Rigorous and Meaningful - 113 Mar 30, 2021

Show notes

Through our own trial-and-error, we were able to create a rigorous one-pager assignment that gave students the opportunity to showcase their best thinking and creativity every time. Listen in to hear how we completely redesigned our one-pagers so that students could enjoy the task and teachers would be proud of the results.

Links mentioned in this episode:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/DIGITAL-and-PRINT-One-Pager-for-Reading-Activity-Choice-Board-Distance-Learning-4282241?utm_source=EB%20Blog&utm_campaign=One-Pager%20Blog%20Post

Are you enjoying the podcast?
Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're listening to!

Make sure to Subscribe and leave us a Review!

Your review helps us reach even more middle school ELA teachers just like you! It would mean so much to us. To leave a review in iTunes, click HERE and scroll down to Rating and Reviews. Click on "Write a Review" and let us know how this podcast is helping you in your ELA classroom!

Other episodes you might enjoy:

Are Your Assessments REALLY Assessing the Standards? - 112 Mar 23, 2021

Show notes

Today, we wrap up our three-week series on the EB lesson-planning framework and share how we create and assign end-of-unit “Beyond” lessons. Not only do we discuss why “Beyond” lessons are so simple to create, but we also give you our best strategies for assigning these lessons based on decades of trial-and-error. Listen in to reevaluate how you’re assessing your students.

Are you enjoying the podcast?
Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're listening to!

Make sure to Subscribe and leave us a Review!

Your review helps us reach even more middle school ELA teachers just like you! It would mean so much to us. To leave a review in iTunes, click HERE and scroll down to Rating and Reviews. Click on "Write a Review" and let us know how this podcast is helping you in your ELA classroom!

Other episodes you might enjoy:

Our Favorite Activities to Help Students Master ELA Standards - 111 Mar 16, 2021

Show notes

Today, we discuss how looking closely at the standards will provide you with the exact topics and framework for your lesson plans. We share specific lesson ideas and strategies for developing your lesson plans (that we refer to as “Through” lessons), and we offer practical tips for cutting down on time spent planning so that you can feel more confident and energized each day in the classroom.

Are you enjoying the podcast?
Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're listening to!

Make sure to Subscribe and leave us a Review!

Your review helps us reach even more middle school ELA teachers just like you! It would mean so much to us. To leave a review in iTunes, click HERE and scroll down to Rating and Reviews. Click on "Write a Review" and let us know how this podcast is helping you in your ELA classroom!

Other episodes you might enjoy:

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