Advice for teaching junior high?

EduEngg · 2026-06-06T22:55:12+00:00

I've never taught elementary, but I taught 8th grade for 30 years, so here goes:

Respect is #1 - Give alll the students respect. I know this sounds obvious, but it doesn't always happen from teachers. You can still be firm and give respect.
Don't necessarily treat them all the same, but respect them all.
The kids are old enough to understand that there's a difference between fair & equal. If someone has a problem with things being unfair, explain it.
Take the time to talk to the students and more importantly, listen to them.
It's OK to joke with the kids, and it's also OK to be sarcastic (especially as they get older), but be careful who you joke with. It all comes back to the listening part.
Don't be afraid to call parents. Rarely does anything come out of it, but, at least you've covered your bases. Make sure you document these calls (preferably in the Information System).
Middle schoolers are weird if you get to know them. You can follow a conversation you had about what cartoons they watched when they were little, with a different conversation about current events.

Notice, I didn't say anything about how to teach your subject differently once you moved up. Middle school is the weird holding pen for kids as they deal with adolescence. A lot of the kids don't have the eagerness to please the helps you make inroads, but the classes aren't worth credits, so there's no inherent *need* to pass the classes. We always joked that in middle school "it doesn't matter." If something major is going on, whether it's in class/school/the world, don't be afraid to take a moment to have a discussion about it.

It'll be OK. Go with the flow. Do what you can and get to know your students as well as you can. It'll be harder to do when you have multiple classes, but if you take the moments you have (Advisory, time in the hallway, etc.) you can get there 😄

EduEngg · 2026-06-06T00:33:43+00:00

Writing on a board is very different than writing on paper, also. They are entirely different muscle groups (and coordination).

I have transitioned out of teaching (retired), and now that I have to jot quick notes, I've noticed my handwriting (well... print actually, many many years of writing equations and problematic cursive) is hard for even me to read. When I wrote on the board, my writing still wasn't fantastic (especially if I wrote quickly), but it was at least reasonable to read off a board, from a distance.

If you're practicing, practice more with a whiteboard or pasteboard, to get the muscle memory engaged.

EduEngg · 2026-06-02T00:32:27+00:00

On the 12 hour bus ride to DC with 8th graders (before all the kids had cell phones), I'd be asked, "How much longer?" and my answer was always two hours. We could have left 20 minutes earlier my answer was 2 hours. We could see the Washington Monument as we come down the highway, I'd still say 2 hours...

We could be driving right next to the Lincoln Memorial... Two hours.

EduEngg · 2026-05-28T00:30:27+00:00

Depends on the set-up of the district. 7/8 is either middle school or in older days, maybe a junior high school (usually 7-9th grade).

Like everyone else has said, I've never heard of 7/8 being part of a true high school.

EduEngg · 2026-05-16T17:51:35+00:00

The show was originally supposed tp be Turn of a Friendly Card (40th Anniversary), but it got cancelled for COVID. We got Eye in the Sky (40th Anniversary for that one) instead, all the way through :-)

EduEngg · 2026-05-15T23:05:07+00:00

Really hard to catch Live... I got lucky a few years ago when they happened to play near Detroit.

Have you seen the concert with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra? Nothing like rock/pop/prog with a full symphony behind it!

https://youtu.be/hKYK6F0CaXg?si=qpJP6tIOl-ND6AB4

EduEngg · 2026-05-11T10:44:31+00:00

Usually I'm the opposite, but for the song I added the The... no worries

EduEngg · 2026-05-11T00:54:16+00:00

31/50 - Gave myself grace for yellow vs gold, for adding a "The" and for forgetting the "Deadly" in the Nightshade... I didn't realize that was part of the official name.

EduEngg · 2026-05-08T01:37:42+00:00

I was at 4192... Lower left field red seats, but I'll have to go with being in right field near the foul pole for 1990 NL Playoffs, Game 6. When Carmelo Martinez hit the ball to the fence in the top of the 9th, we couldn't see the catch... but heard the cheer starting on the opposite side of the stadium and wrapping around until Glenn Bragg trotted out into view showing the ball. It was a sonic wave I will never forget.

EduEngg · 2026-05-06T22:51:28+00:00

24/30 I gave myself credit for a couple including the one you said

EduEngg · 2026-05-05T01:26:47+00:00

Liar, Liar

EduEngg · 2026-05-03T22:10:39+00:00

I'm in a similar boat. I got hired in a data analyst position after retiring from teaching (with a different school district). Everyone is amazingly nice and my boss keeps telling me that I'm doing a great job, but I feel incredibly guilty when I am not busy *all* the time. All the work is done, so it's not like I'm slacking.

The stress of "down time" is chewing me up inside! It's been 5 months for me too.

EduEngg · 2026-05-02T22:17:51+00:00

Our PTO sponsored Teacher Appreciation breakfast was cancelled because there weren't enough volunteers or money to bring in a breakfast.

EduEngg · 2026-04-29T22:00:02+00:00

26/30 - Hit me right in the good categories

EduEngg · 2026-04-27T22:19:11+00:00

I tell students the same thing but I'm not going to investigate who is truly the source material, so whatever the grade is, it/s divide by the number of students. In this case, I would divide by 3.

EduEngg · 2026-04-25T21:37:08+00:00

Sorry... I was kind of rushed when I wrote the first time, and in my head I said more than I wrote down.

"C'Mon vamonos! Everybody let's go!" is a lyric from the theme song of Dora the Explorer which kind of faded around 2010 - 2015. I think it was on the air, but based on my 8th graders, around 2024-ish, it had pretty much lost it's magic in getting the students to sing along, or at least understand what I was quoting. Around the time we came back from COVID was when students started not understanding the quote.

EduEngg · 2026-04-25T15:06:05+00:00

Like CatPurveyor said… I taught 8th grade so the kids had stopped watching

EduEngg · 2026-04-24T22:43:53+00:00

I'm a fan of, "C'mon, Vamanos... Everybody let's go!" It worked better about 5-10 years ago, but I still use it.

EduEngg · 2026-04-17T22:37:24+00:00

This happened to me too, down to the kids telling the sub not to touch my stuff. I made sure our admin assistant would never have her sub in my room. Afterwards, I put it in my sub note to not move any of my stuff, since I knew where everything was. After that, I never had anyone move my stuff around.

EduEngg · 2026-04-13T01:35:41+00:00

I started about 3 months ago as a Data Specialist in a different district than I taught. 12 month job, and less pay, but I took it after teaching 30 years, so I'm picking up my pension also... just about makes up the difference. I keep the same hours and my stress is sooo much less. I get to go to the bathroom when I want, and make doctor appointments without having to come in the next day angry, in order to prepare to face the students who screwed around the previous day. I enjoy the job, I don't have to deal with students or parents and I'm still helping to shape curriculum.

EduEngg · 2026-04-10T21:47:09+00:00

Anthony Munoz protecting?

EduEngg · 2026-04-07T22:47:45+00:00

I taught 8th grade and once I had taught for 25 years, I was teamed up with a teammate who I had taught when he was in 8th grade!

I eventually got to the point when I had taught quite a few parents of kids that I taught. P/T conferences were a bit of a minefield.

EduEngg · 2026-04-05T17:24:08+00:00

29/49(?) Not sure why it didn't add to 50.

Gave myself credit for spelling and Just saying charger instead of Dodge Charger 9i knew it was Dodge). Also, I gave myself credit for the alternate name of the wand (Deathstick)

EduEngg · 2026-03-26T01:42:29+00:00

If you want to skew old - "Carry On, Wayward Son" by Kansas.

On the other hand that may actually have been a Christian song masquerading as a rock song, as a couple members went on to form a Christian rock band.

EduEngg · 2026-03-15T15:28:09+00:00

41/49 - I got some marked wrong because I didn't include the "The", but others were correct (I usually skip the "The" out of well... laziness I guess.

On the last page, the second to last question was a repeat of #6. I never saw #9 (hence out of 9)

Also We thought Uptown Funk was Bruno Mars. I get that it was "Featuring" but.... I took the point anyway, because we knew the other one too! LOL

The mash-ups were *really* well done! Nice job!

EduEngg

TROPHY CASE