5 Ways to Set Up Students For Success and Save Your Sanity in Middle School ELA!

Welcome back to the whirlwind that is the back to school season! As middle school ELA teachers, diving into a new academic year can be both exhilarating and overwhelming. To help you navigate these exciting but hectic first weeks, I’ve compiled a survival guide with five essential tips. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a fresh face in the classroom, these strategies will set you up for success and help you kick off the year with confidence and enthusiasm.

Tip #1: Create a Well-Organized Classroom Routine

A well-organized classroom routine is the backbone of a successful school year. Middle school students thrive on structure and consistency, so start by clearly outlining your daily schedule and expectations. I create a daily PowerPoint that includes our agenda, warm-up, learning target, lesson breakdown, and end-of-class routine. This visual helps me easily present instructional content to students and helps guide students through the different parts of each class period. You can click here to see a sample lesson PowerPoint.

Before the back to school rush begins, consider how you will structure your class period with a set schedule that allows dedicated time for reading, writing, collaborating with a group, and working independently on tasks. This will allow students to engage in each activity effectively and make the most of their learning experience.

End of Class Routine

One of the most important parts of my classroom routine is the end-of-class routine. After a class period of thinking and collaborating, these few minutes can easily become overwhelming and chaotic, but I have the perfect solution for you. My students end every single class period with a short reflection time. I use a daily self-reflection question and an easy to understand self-reflection rating system to help my students learn how to reflect and share their level of understanding with me. Once students assess their learning, the rate themselves as either a Novice, Apprentice, Practitioner, or Expert in today’s lesson.

At dismissal time, students place their work for the day along with their reflection ticket in the appropriate basket that I have located in the front of my classroom. It’s a quick but effective end of class routine that allows me to tie up any loose ends and see how my students feel about the day’s learning.

You can grab a FREE copy of the self-assessment rating system signs here.

Consistency not only helps students feel secure but also minimizes classroom disruptions, allowing you to focus more on teaching and less on managing behavior.

Tip #2: Set Clear Expectations and Consequences

From day one, establish clear rules and expectations for behavior and academic performance. Make sure students understand the consequences of not adhering to these expectations. One way that I do this is by starting the year off with Back to School Learning Stations. These stations allow me to not only get to learn a little about my students and how they work together in groups but also allows me to share expectations and give my students a voice in that process. When students feel valued and understood, they are more likely to engage in class and put forth their best effort.

Set the Tone on Day 1 with Learning Stations

Students learn about classroom expectations, consequences, and other important classroom information at the Syllabus Scavenger Hunt station. At another station, students are given an opportunity to brainstorm what a great classroom looks, sounds, and feels like. We use this information to create a set of classroom, group, and individual norms that are used throughout the rest of the school year.

Here are my MUST-HAVE activities for Back to School Learning Stations:

1. Station #1: Get to Know Your Students Activity- Students could create a one pager, banner, or poster about themselves. These can become purposeful classroom decor to create a bulletin board or display.
2. Station #2: “What I Need” Gallery Walk- Create a gallery walk activity that includes opportunities for students to answer questions that describe what they need to be successful in your class this year. Students can write their responses directly on the posters or on sticky notes.
3. Station #3: Syllabus Scavenger Hunt- Students will work with a partner to read through and annotate the syllabus to gather information about the class, grading, expectations, etc.
4. Station #4: Goal Setting Activity- Students can create a SMART goal they want to achieve this school year. You can get students to create an action plan of steps that they will take to help them reach their goal.
5. Station #5: Creating a GREAT Classroom- Students will collaborate on what a great classroom looks, sounds, and feels like. This activity can be used to give student a voice in setting classroom norms and expectations.
6. Station #6: Investigate the Teacher!- Students work together to put together the clues you gave them to make inferences and draw conclusions about their new teacher.
7. Stations #7: Back to School Social Media- Students will create a social media template that contains their first impressions on this school year.
8. Station #8: Get Organized!- I use this station to help students get their supplies ready and organized for my class.

You can grab these back to school stations on TPT.

Not every classroom will have the same rules or expectations. You decide what is important in your classroom, but remember consistency is key. Be sure to enforce rules fairly and consistently to build trust and maintain order. Communicate your expectations to parents as well, so they can support their children’s success in your classroom.

Tip #3: Build Positive Relationships and Get to Know Your Students

The PERFECT Writing Activity for the First Week

This may be the most important back to school tip for middle school. Building strong, positive relationships with your students is crucial for a productive and positive classroom environment. Spend time during the first few weeks getting to know your students’ interests, strengths, and challenges. One of my essential activities during the first week of school is to have my students write a letter to me that introduces themselves and gives me the important information that they think I need to know about them.

Not only does this give me a unique way to learn about my students, but I also use this back to school activity as a writing pre-assessment. I am able to identify writing strengths and weaknesses right away and can use this to formulate my writing instruction. If you are looking for writing tools, you should check out my other blog series on how to improve student writing.

Icebreakers and Team-Building Activities

Another way to build positive relationships during back to school is to incorporate icebreaker activities and team-building exercises to foster a sense of community among your students. Here are just a few ideas that you can easily implement in your back to school routine:

1. Would You Rather?: Prepare a list of fun and thought-provoking “Would you rather?” questions, such as “Would you rather have the ability to fly or be invisible?” or “Would you rather read a book or watch a movie?” Read the questions aloud, and have students move to different sides of the room based on their answers. This activity helps students learn about each other’s preferences and can lead to interesting discussions.
2. Who Am I?: Write the names of famous people, characters, or animals on sticky notes, and place one on each student’s back. Students walk around the room asking yes or no questions to figure out who or what they are. This game encourages students to interact with many different classmates and can be a lot of fun.
3. Find Someone Who Game: Create a multi-box handout with different facts or characteristics in each square (e.g., has a pet, traveled to another country, plays a musical instrument). Students have to find classmates who match the descriptions and write their names in the squares. You can get a pre-designed game that comes with two different games and an editable template here.

These icebreakers are fun ways for middle school students to get to know each other and feel more comfortable in a new group setting.

Tip #4: Create an Inviting Classroom Environment

Your classroom environment plays a crucial role in how students perceive and engage with learning. Be sure that your back to school checklist includes making your classroom inviting and comfortable for your new students. Use bulletin boards to showcase student work and inspirational quotes from literature. An organized, clean, and aesthetically pleasing classroom can significantly impact students’ attitudes and behaviors.

Student Work Display Ideas

Showcase your students’ hard work by creating a “Wall of Fame” in your classroom. All you need is a poster or banner, wired ribbon, clothespins, a hot glue gun, and a little glitter if you want to make it sparkle. In addition to the “Wall of Fame”, I created a “Wall of Champions” display with bulletin board paper, colorful duct tape, and letters that I made in Powerpoint. My students used sticky notes to write down their successes and put on the “Wall of Champions”. This is a great motivator and reminder to students that no matter how big or small, their success were something to be celebrated.

Tip #5: Foster a Growth Mindset from the Beginning

Introducing growth mindset into my middle school classroom was one of the best decisions I ever made as a teacher. Words of wisdom and positive messaging have always been a big deal in my classroom. All you have to do is look at the walls of my classroom to see that. It’s so easy to display motivational quotes and affirmations around your classroom to reinforce this positive mindset. I’ve made it even easier by sharing a few of my favorite Growth Mindset posters here with you.

Growth Mindset Introduction Activity

Encourage a growth mindset in your classroom to inspire students to embrace challenges and view setbacks as opportunities for growth. I’ve created a FREE Growth Mindset Introduction activity that includes a pre-assessment, short activity, and video links. Click here to download my FREE Growth Mindset introduction lesson to use at the beginning of the new school year.

Growth Mindset Activity Ideas:

1. Share stories of famous authors and poets who faced rejection and adversity but persevered. Incorporate activities that promote resilience and the power of “yet” – the idea that students may not understand something yet, but with effort and persistence, they will.
2. Provide each student with a journal where they can reflect on their experiences and challenges. Encourage them to write about a time they faced a difficulty, how they approached it, and what they learned from the experience. Prompt them to use phrases like “I can improve,” “I’m learning,” and “I haven’t mastered it yet.” You can get a FREE sample of my year-long Growth Mindset Reflection Journal here.
3. Create a classroom culture that celebrates mistakes as learning opportunities. Each week, highlight a “Mistake of the Week” where a student or even the teacher shares a mistake they made and what they learned from it. This normalizes making mistakes and encourages a growth mindset.
4. Introduce students to positive affirmations and mantras that reinforce a growth mindset. Have them create their own personalized mantras and recite them daily. Examples include “I am capable of learning new things,” “Challenges help me grow,” and “My effort makes a difference.”

A growth mindset not only boosts student confidence but also enhances their willingness to take risks and try new things.

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Hopefully, this blog post helps you to stop the back to school stress and has given you plenty of ideas for the year. If you are looking to take the stress completely away from your back to school planning, I’ve got you covered. You can click here to grab all the back to school resources you need to make life easier!

Remember, starting a new school year is an exciting journey filled with opportunities for growth, learning, and connection. By establishing a strong routine and building positive relationships, you’ll set the stage for a successful and fulfilling year in your middle school ELA classroom. Here’s to a fantastic school year ahead – you’ve got this!