The first days of school are upon us! (If you haven’t already started teaching, make sure to check out our post on remote learning routines and procedures to teach your middle schoolers.) This post will answer the question: “What is a fun activity to start the year off with my students online this year?” Here are our top picks for back to school math digital activities Desmos Four ...
15 Remote Teaching Videos to Get You Started
The school year has either started or is about to start. No time to waste! Here are 15 remote teaching videos that will hopefully help you make some of this technology transition a little bit easier. Note: We receive questions about "how to do _____?" so frequently. Below are our most popular. We also have a video library for any other FAQs related to using our resources that you ...
Planning and Teaching During COVID
The beginning of the school year can be stressful. The beginning of THIS school year is stressful for many more reasons than usual! The good news is that you aren’t the only one in this boat. Teaching during COVID will require us to address some of these challenges together, and what you can do to make this year the best one yet! TEACHING & PLANNING During a Pandemic Challenge ...
Technology Routines and Procedures
When teachers were tasked with the huge responsibility of teaching students remotely, it was like the rug had been pulled out from under our feet. Many teachers had never taught remotely, and even the most tech savvy teachers experienced the pains of trying to hold the attention of an 11-year-old through a screen. Well, teachers and students (and parents!) came out on the other side, ...
The Flipped Classroom and Hybrid Learning
Hybrid learning - I had never heard this term until about a month ago, and now, it seems to be the type of learning environment that thousands, if not millions of teachers (and their students), are trying to navigate. The hybrid model functions both online and in the physical classroom. Students will be expected to complete some of their learning at home, some of their learning at ...
20 Must Teach Middle School Routines
With almost 30 years in the middle and high school classroom between the Maneuvering the Middle team, we have many thoughts on the routines and procedures necessary to run a successful classroom. This list is not exhaustive but will hopefully provide you with a place to start. One recommendation is to think backwards. Start by thinking about how you want your classroom to look ...
20 Technology Gadgets for Teachers
Teachers love school supplies! And we love technology gadgets. Basically, school supplies for the 21st century. When compiling this list, I asked myself, “What would make my job as a teacher easier?” If it runs on electricity and I answered “yes” to the above question, then on the list it went. 1. Hue Doc Cam Crystal clear picture and super easy to use. One cord to plug ...
Online Courses for Middle School Math
Even without the historical end to the 2019-2020 school year, I think teachers can agree that most students experience the ‘summer slide’ when they return to school in the fall which means there is a need for online math courses this summer. If you are not familiar with the term summer slide, here is Scholastic’s explanation: “The concept of the summer slide has been on researchers’ ...
Free Math Performance Tasks for Middle School
Middle School Math Teachers, we would love to give you THREE math tasks that you can use for the next school year! You can get them paper-based or digital! Click the link below, enter your email address and we send these right over to your email. Then, read below for different ways to incorporate them into your classroom! This is a thank you for all the hard work you have done during ...
Why You Should Use Exit Tickets
“You can’t correct what you can’t detect.” Have you ever been shocked by the results after a quiz or test? Was this also the first time you had gathered data from students on the given topic? Usually, that was the case for me. Teachers need to monitor how students are progressing daily to have a real understanding of whether or not they are ready to move on. I would fall into the ...