Being the crazy person that I am, I've been at school the last week and a half setting up my classroom even though I won't be returning until November because of my maternity leave. In between the hot gluing and book labeling, I met the person who will be filling in for me while I am out. She's fresh out of college, completed her student teaching, and came to meet me with a list of questions and color-coded notes. She was prepared ... and I was impressed!We got talking about the big…

The first week of school is a great time to build classroom culture, community, and teach class routines. Ideas for engaging first week of school activities to make it easy and fun!

Teaching vocabulary is important in every classroom with every subject, even in middle school. The most effective way to teach vocabulary in the middle school classroom is...

YES! You CAN integrate songs into the middle school science classroom! There are SO many popular songs that can be integrated into your middle school science activities. Check out this list for songs that can be used when teaching the periodic table to kids, when teaching middle school space lessons, physics or the human body systems! A great way to start virtual classroom meetings, for classroom transition ideas or as introduction to a science topic. samsonsshoppe.blogspot.com…

Movement in the classroom is beneficial for many reasons. First and foremost, getting up to move in the classroom might help anxious students relieve stress.

Brain breaks for middle school students are extremely important not only for everyone's sanity, but for their brain development.

Try one of these 16+ free engineering design challenges and engineering projects to get middle school students brainstorming, building, and innovating with the engineering design process!

There's something here to match every teacher personality, and most of them are easy enough for anyone to do.

My rule #1 in a series about bringing out the best behavior in middle school students, Helpful tips for managing adolescents effectively.

As a middle school teacher, it can be hard to manage difficult classes. But don't worry - help is here! Learn helpful classroom management tips and strategies to gain control in your 6th, 7th, or 8th grade classroom! You will be ready to start class and the year off on the right foot with these middle school classroom management ideas!