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Using Stations in Middle School
As students get older, lesson plans tend to stray away from hands-on learning and group activities. They tend to lean towards more lecture-based lessons, sitting and doing paper and pencil work. But, are students really past the age where learning stations are beneficial? No! Movement When you teach with learning stations, students are given movement breaks during the lesson. Although middle school students can sit for longer periods of time; sitting for a whole class period is still difficult for most of them. Middle school students still are young enough that they benefit from the ability to get up and move during a lesson. Heck, I’m an adult, and I…
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When Should You Let Students Use A Calculator
Which accommodations we should and should not let students use can be a hot topic. When it comes to math, the one I find the most prominent argument about is the calculator accommodation. In what situations should a student be allowed to use a calculator? When Students are Significantly Behind Not all of your students need the calculator accommodation. Yes, there are times when you let all of your math students use a calculator, but this is not what I’m referring to. The students who need a calculator on their math assignments are your students who struggle with basic integer operations. A calculator accommodation should not be considered for a student…
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Why You Need to Flip Your Classroom Now!
What does is the flipped classroom? The flipped classroom is when you take the types of activities that would typically be assigned for homework, and make them classwork. While doing this, you take the activities that would generally be done in class and assign them for homework. In a typical middle school math class, the teacher explains a new concept to the class. She explains the concept while writing on the board and describing the examples. After the teacher is done with this “lecture” type math lesson, the students do practice activities. And then they are assigned additional practice for homework. What’s wrong with that? This type of lesson has…
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Pros and Cons of Assigning Homework
Whether or not students should be receiving homework is a hot topic right now in education. As a special education teacher, I have to be honest; I really can see both sides of the argument, and I don’t know yet on which side I fall. Pro: Additional Practice Homework provides your students with additional practice in the lessons that you are teaching in school. It seems like every year the curriculum gets more and more difficult. That every year we are required to cover even more, yet if we get rid of homework how are we expected to cover it all? In math especially, homework allows the students to get additional practice with…
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Why You Should Be Using Exit Tickets in Your Classroom
What are Exit Tickets? An exit ticket is when you have the students respond to a prompt, answer a question, solve a problem, some activity that you have students do and pass in to be able to leave at the end of class. An exit ticket is a great way to get an on the spot assessment of how the students are doing, or for the students to reflect on their learning. Exit Tickets for Assessment Exit tickets are a great way to get a sense of how your class is doing. What was the objective of your lesson? If you wanted to make sure that the students knew how…
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Books for your Middle School Library
I currently teach inclusion special education in the eighth grade. When I am picking books for my classroom library, I always want to make sure I’m picking books that suit the needs of my students. Many of my students have difficulties with reading. Because of that, when I am looking for books for my classroom I like to make sure that I have books that are high-interest and 5-6 grade reading level. I do also keep books that are on grade level because I do have students who are reading on grade level. These books I have listed are high interest, but lower than eighth-grade difficulty. Harry Potter Box Set by…
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Benefits of Color-Coding for your Middle School Students
Do I show signs of OCD because I’m a teacher, or am I a teacher because I show signs of OCD? Really it’s the chicken-or-the-egg debate all over again. But, to get down to business, I color-code EVERYTHING! Color-Coding Color-coding is a tool that adults use to keep themselves organized. If this works so well for us, why don’t we use this tool for our students too? Color-Coding in Math I use color-coding when teaching multi-step equations. I will update this post with a picture to illustrate this but I am writing this post from home. We teach the students to use “DCVS” when solving multi-step equations. DCVS stands for…
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Why I Email Parents Everyday
In the past, I have shared other posts about parent communication (see: 5 Things to Remember when Talking to Parents and Using Social Media for Parent Communication. To have a successful special education classroom or any classroom for that matter. Having a positive relationship with parents is so important. So I am going to tell you why I email parents EVERY DAY! That’s too much! I know, it sounds crazy to email parents every day, but it is a simple email every afternoon. I send home a mass email with all of the need to know information. Every day, I send home an email with that day’s homework and any other valuable information. …
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Special Education – Providing Services Discreetly
I am an eighth-grade special education teacher. One of the more difficult parts of my job is finding ways to provide my students with their accommodations, without making them self-conscious. Working in a middle school, often the students’ main priority is being cool and fitting in. The last thing that they want is to be identified as someone with a disability, or to have their friends think that they’re “stupid” (their word, not mine!) Constantly getting extra attention from teachers, or being pulled out of the classroom is a definite way to put a target on students’ backs. I work hard to give my students all the help that they…
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Fidget Toys for Middle School
Fidget Toys? When kids are little, their lessons tend to be highly interactive. We build time into our lessons to let them get up, move around, and burn off some energy. In elementary school, students are given recess where they get to go outside and play for a while after lunch. But, once students get into middle school, they are often expected to sit down and focus for longer periods of time. A fidget toy can help! As middle school teachers, we work hard to keep our lessons interesting and interactive, but there is so much content that we have to get through that it can be difficult. These long…
