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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:

Episode 393: Monday Mindset: “March Is Not for Reinventing Yourself” Mar 02, 2026

Show notes

March is not the month for reinventing yourself. It's the month for trusting what's already working. The routines feel heavy, testing looms ahead, and suddenly the urge to reinvent your classroom creeps in. But what if this isn’t the season for drastic change? In today’s Monday Mindset, we’re talking about why March isn’t about starting over — it’s about staying steady. If you’ve been tempted to overhaul your systems or try something completely new, this episode is your reminder to trust what’s already working and finish the year with clarity and confidence.

Episode 392: The Easiest Way to Add Informational Texts Without Adding More Work Feb 24, 2026

Show notes

In today's Teaching Middle School ELA podcast episode, we break the myth that informational text requires a massive unit and replace it with a quiet, repeatable five-minute Friday habit. One short passage, one clear skill, four or five questions, and clean data you can act on without extra planning.
• Shifting from big nonfiction units to small weekly habits
• Five-minute Friday routine with single-skill passages
• Sources for short, skills-based informational texts
• Using repetition to build durable reading skills
• Collecting clean data to target instruction
• Keeping directions consistent to lower friction
• Balancing literature-heavy units with standards coverage
• One-month trial plan and quick adjustments

For any suggestions or comments, please follow and message us on Instagram @EBAcademics

BONUS: How to Run a March Madness Poetry Bracket in Any Classroom Feb 19, 2026

Show notes

March can bring some unpredictable classroom energy… but what if you could channel it into something that boosts engagement and hits reading, writing, and discussion standards all at once? In this week’s Teaching Middle school ELA podcast episode, we’re walking you through exactly how to run a March Madness Poetry Bracket in any classroom. From choosing poems and setting up your bracket to building powerful justification skills through authentic voting, this strategy turns poetry into something students actually look forward to. If you’ve ever wanted a way to make poetry feel exciting, competitive, and deeply instructional — this is it.

Resources Mentioned:

Poetry: A New Perspective YouTube Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhKSG3-joAw

January Bonus Podcast Episode: BONUS: How to Use EB Resources With Your District Curriculum (Without Getting Behind or Overwhelmed)

Episode 391: The Friday Whiteboard Planning System That Gives You Your Evenings Back Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

For today's Teaching Middle School ELA podcast episode, I share the Friday whiteboard planning system that moves next week’s decisions out of your head and onto a public board, cutting mental load and Sunday dread. A simple grid creates clarity, closure, and accountability for you and your students.
• naming the Friday whiteboard planning system
• why visibility beats memory for planning
• the grid setup across days and classes
• writing concise daily actions instead of full plans
• reducing student questions through public plans
• creating closure energy before leaving on Friday
• delegating board updates to students over time
• starting small and ignoring perfection
• three core benefits: clarity, closure, cognitive relief
Please take pictures of your Friday whiteboard, post them in the EB Teacher community if you’re an EB Teacher, or share them with us on Instagram @EBAcademics

Episode 390: Monday Mindset: The Real Reason Teachers Burn Out (And What You Can Do Today) Feb 16, 2026

Show notes

In today's Monday Mindset, We call out the myth that you must fill your cup before you care for others, and replace it with a practical plan to refill while you pour. Simple, repeatable habits make space for rest, boundaries, sleep, and help so you can show up steady and human.
• naming the soul-level exhaustion many teachers feel
• why “fill your cup first” becomes an impossible standard
• shifting the script from future okay to present okay
• designing micro-refills into the school day
• five minutes of silence to regulate your nervous system
• saying no to one nonessential task this week
• going to bed thirty minutes earlier for real recovery
• asking for help before crisis and normalising support
• building sustainability to increase patience and creativity
• picking one small practice to start today
Your challenge this week is to maybe just pick one of those things, one small way that you're gonna take care of yourself that is sustainable, that's not some crazy thing. Five minutes of silence, saying no to one thing, go to bed 30 minutes earlier, ask for help. Just pick one and just do it.

Episode 389: 5 Easy Steps to Create a Virtual Field Trip Feb 10, 2026

Show notes

Virtual field trips don’t need to be fancy to be powerful. In today’s Teaching Middle School ELA podcast episode, I have once again, Pat from Team EB, we're walking you through five simple steps for creating a virtual field trip that actually builds skills—using nothing more than a purposeful slide deck. We’ll talk about choosing a destination, pairing it with the right reading skill, keeping it manageable, and ending with meaningful student writing. Easy to plan, engaging for students, and perfect for building background before reading.

Episode 388: Two Grammar Games That Replace Worksheets Without Losing Rigor Feb 03, 2026

Show notes

Today’s Teaching Middle School ELA episode is all about grammar games that actually work. Not the chaotic, overcomplicated kind—but the print, pass out, play, done kind. I’m sharing two of my favorite low-prep grammar games that feel like recess to students while secretly delivering serious skill practice. Easy to reuse, simple to set up, and engaging enough that kids forget they’re doing grammar. Let’s go.

Episode 387: Monday Mindset: Trust Your Decisions (Even When Everyone Else Has Opinions) Feb 02, 2026

Show notes

Today's Monday Mindset episode, we explore how to quiet outside noise and trust our professional judgment, especially when admin directives and social media trends collide with what we know works. We share a simple pause-and-align framework, a real classroom example, and a weekly challenge to build self-trust.
• why trusting our own decisions matters
• how social media erodes confidence
• recognizing advice as context-bound opinion
• the pause, align, decide framework
• integrating mandates without losing your method
• using evidence from your own classroom
• the weekly challenge to notice second guessing
• living and teaching with alignment
Let us know over on our Instagram at @ebacademics

Episode 386: Forget Spiraling Everything: The One Skill Your Students Actually Need Before Testing Jan 27, 2026

Show notes

We trade cram-heavy test prep for a focused plan that teaches test literacy so students think clearly under pressure. You’ll learn how to coach two-part multiple choice, structure short answers with EBW, decode vocabulary in context, and spot direction and critical words that change meaning.
• why spiraling everything can backfire
• what test literacy is and why it matters
• two-part multiple choice feedback loop
• short answer structure using EBW
• vocabulary from context using cues
• direction words that define the task
• critical words that flip the question
• simple routines that lower stress
• resources to implement strategies fast

Test Prep Sweets Stations Activity: https://www.ebteacher.com/test-prep

Episode 385: A Test Prep Strategy Students Actually Enjoy (And You’ll Reuse Every Year) Jan 20, 2026

Show notes

We share a station-based routine that keeps rigor high, lowers stress, and makes ELA test prep engaging with short passages about sweets from around the world. Students rotate, gather evidence, and solve an acrostic puzzle using a traveling candy journal while we model test-aligned questions.
• why drill-and-kill test prep hurts engagement
• what students actually need for test readiness
• how Sweet Stations are set up and rotated
• using short informational texts with test-style stems
• building a candy journal for answers and keywords
• solving an acrostic puzzle to drive accuracy
• leveraging ChatGPT to draft passages and questions
• keeping pressure low while preserving rigor
• options to recreate or grab the done-for-you pack
• preview of next week’s skill-focused episode
Grab Sweet Stations at 40% off during testing season via this link: https://www.ebteacher.com/test-prep

If you try this with your students, tell us inside the EB Teacher community or message us on Instagram @EBAcademics

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