Teaching Middle School ELA
Welcome to the Teaching Middle School ELA podcast, where we are dedicated to helping English Language Arts teachers create dynamic and engaging lessons for their students, while also managing the day-to-day responsibilities that come with being a Middle School ELA teacher.
As educators ourselves, we understand the challenges of finding a work-life balance that allows us to pursue our passion for teaching while also enjoying our personal lives. That's why each Tuesday, hosts Caitlin Mitchell and Jessica Cannata share practical and innovative solutions for managing your workload and staying inspired in your teaching practice.
Whether you are looking for fresh ideas to inspire your students, strategies for improving your writing instruction, or tips for managing your time more effectively, this podcast is designed to provide you with the tools you need to thrive as a Middle School ELA teacher.
Join us each week for curriculum and lesson ideas, classroom stories, and interviews with fellow educators who are experts in the field. We believe that with the right support and resources, you can create a classroom environment that encourages students to become strong and passionate learners.
If you teach reading and writing to middle schoolers and want to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in ELA education, then this is the podcast for you! Tune in every week and let us help you make a difference in the lives of your students and in your own teaching career.
Teaching Middle School ELA
Episode 296: Back To School Mini-Series| Blindfold Puzzles : A BTS Activity to Gain Info About Your Students Right from the Get-Go!
On this episode of The Teaching Middle School ELA Podcast, join host Megan Wyant and special guest, EB Team Member, Sarah Lang for an exciting jump start to our Back-to-School Mini-Series. They're unveiling a unique, collaborative puzzle challenge perfect for fostering communication, teamwork, and excitement among students on those first days back in your middle school ELA classroom. It's a fresh take on breaking the ice with your more reserved students, plus you'll learn practical tips for accommodating various student needs and managing group dynamics effectively.
In their discussion, they spend time emphasizing the importance of starting the school year with activities that not only captivate students but also establish classroom norms and routines. Sarah dives into the significance of linking these early activities to future projects and reflecting on their outcomes to reinforce essential skills like problem-solving and collaboration. By integrating such active learning experiences into your classroom, you will create a supportive classroom environment that resonates with students and parents alike. Don’t miss out on your chance to set the tone for a connected, collaborative, and memorable school year! Grab your flair pen and sticky notes then tune in today!
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Hey everybody and welcome back to another episode of the Teaching Middle School ELA podcast. It's Megan here with you all today and I am kicking off August on the podcast with a super fun episode all about going back to school. So, as you're kind of creating those back-to-school plans, I have a super fun activity for you today and I actually have a very special guest with me to introduce this activity.
Speaker 1:Sarah Lang from our own Team EB is here with me, and if you have been a part of the EB world for any amount of time, you probably recognize Sarah from her support within the EB teacher community, and when I say support, sarah is awesome in that community. She truly knows EB resources inside and out because she used them for years with her own students. But she's also been a part of Team EB for several years, and so Sarah has supported teachers as they implement lessons in the classroom and just helped guide teachers that are new to the community so that they can really seamlessly navigate all of our resources. And, in fact, sarah just recently left the classroom at the end of this school year and we are super pumped because she has just joined us full time at EB and we couldn't be more excited or grateful. So, sarah, without further ado, how are you? Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2:I'm so good. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:You are so welcome. It's great to have you here. Tell us a little bit, Sarah, about your time in the classroom and just give our listeners a little bit of background about, like, how long you taught what you taught all of the things, Sarah.
Speaker 2:Sure, yeah. So I taught eighth grade language arts for 14 years before recently transitioning this summer into my full-time role with EB, and I used EB's curriculum in my classroom 100% of the time for the last four years, while being on the team part-time as a community manager in the EB teacher community, and so that was super special for me to be able to do both of those things together simultaneously. But now full-time, I wear a few different EB hats, so I still help manage the community. I'm the customer experience manager and I also work on the school's team as the school's success manager. So basically, I am the curriculum and professional development specialist who works directly with our schools and teachers who hold our all access license.
Speaker 1:Yes, and you do a fantastic job with all of the things Like and I just say that you are in many different places, but Sarah is just like that person that if you need something, you go to Sarah because she'll help you and she's positive about it.
Speaker 1:So we're just so glad you're here, sarah, and, as I mentioned to all of our listeners, we have an exciting, very special activity to share, and so I got to tell everybody how this podcast came about.
Speaker 1:Because Sarah, a couple of years in the community, shared this post about a back to school activity she had used with her students, and this was when I was still in the classroom I hadn't joined Team EB. At this point, I read the post about this activity and I was like, oh my gosh, this is brilliant. And, just to give our listeners like a clue, it involves students, obviously, blindfolds and puzzles. So she's going to tell more about this. But that's kind of how this podcast came about, because I used it with my eighth graders. They loved it, they raved about it, and so I said we should have Sarah on the podcast to discuss this activity. But before we dive into this specific activity that involves blindfolds and puzzles, I just want to know your thoughts, sarah, on why you think a back-to-school activity that is not so academically rigorous is maybe important or useful in your classroom as you're going back to school.
Speaker 2:Totally so. I try to think about, especially in the middle school, how students will travel throughout the day and they'll have, you know, four or five or so different classes and each of those teachers can start their class their year off however they see fit, and it's whatever works best for their classroom. And I think that we do have some of our, our friends and colleagues who tend to just lecture all day long, and so I've never been the teacher who really just likes to talk at students a lot on the first day. I prefer to try to organically build in my routines and my procedures and expectations throughout the first week in a variety of ways, like using scavenger hunts or inferencing activities or fun little competitions that really get students talking to one another, working together or just solving challenges.
Speaker 1:I love it. I was the same in the classroom, right Like routines and procedures are absolutely so necessary to go over with students. But it's also part of building a community that you know you have kids collaborating and you're getting to know them and their personalities, and they're getting to know you too. So that kind of leads us to this blindfold puzzle activity. Tell me how you came up with it, where it came from, give me, give us the basics, sarah.
Speaker 2:Okay. So, honestly, a couple of summers ago I saw a version of like a puzzle race activity while scrolling through TikTok and I decided to adapt it for my eighth grade classroom, with my main goal being that I immediately wanted to be able to observe group dynamics, individual personality traits and communication and collaboration skills, which I think are all such valid, valuable things for a teacher to grab immediately. Absolutely yeah. So you, basically you want to take? Is it okay if I talk about the process? Please, yes, go, go ahead. Is it okay if I talk about the process? Please, yes, go ahead. Perfect, you want to take small, like 20 to 24 piece puzzles? I purchased mine in packs of six on Amazon for, I think, less than like $10, but you can find puzzles at the dollar store and put students in groups of three to four. Partners can work too, but I have had large class sizes the last few years and I actually find that groups of three to four work best to really test that teamwork. And so, once they're in their groups, you pass out the puzzles and you just tell students that they're going to compete to see which group can put the puzzle together the fastest, and usually students just start to laugh or roll their eyes, or they, you know, project that confidence that we know only an unsuspecting 13 year old can, especially when they're looking at a puzzle that's made for a preschooler or a kindergartner, and so that's. That's hilarious, because it's at that time that you would want to release the rules of the competition, slowly and one by one. So they kind of like build right. So you're just like okay, step one, it's going to be the team that can put the puzzle back together the fastest they went. And once they settle down from like okay, that's it, like that's easy.
Speaker 2:You say, oh, but only one person can touch the puzzle pieces. The other members of the group just have to watch and help verbally. And this usually leads to one to two students arguing about who's going to touch the puzzle, one outgoing student with leadership tendencies who's taking charge and telling everyone else at the table how this is going to go. You have at least one table of students who are like I'm not doing it. Well, I'm not doing it. Well, I'm not doing it, you know. And then you have those few pockets of students who just sit there quietly, silent as mice, letting the other members figure out a plan. So that is kind of a funny moment. And once they come down from that rule you say oh, and the person touching the puzzle piece has to close their eyes or be blindfolded. And this is usually met with hands on top of heads, giggling and that rogue, odd scream that can sometimes emanate from a middle school classroom from time to time.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Oh yes. So then you just kind of have to reiterate the last rule, that the other group members not only can't they touch the puzzle pieces, but they also can't touch the blindfolded teammate who's completing the puzzle. Again, you just have to reiterate that they simply are verbally directing the puzzle doer and then you say go, and it's just really funny to watch. So you say go. You circulate, you observe, looking for groups who might be cheating or congratulating groups who have found that method to the madness that's working for them, or, you know, really cheerleading or coaxing groups that want to give up, and especially making mental notes on who does and does not work well together. On average it takes about 15 to 20 minutes before a group can complete the task, but I feel like teachers can really always adjust the time they allot based on the individual needs of their classroom.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure I'm like having flashbacks to when I did this with my eighth graders and I have pictures of when I did it on that first day because it was just the neatest thing to watch. And you know, and I had worked in the school and had heard and you never want to be that teacher that like hears about kids and makes any kind of you know prejudgment in your mind, but you do a little bit, you know, and so I was kind of like monitoring, like who I thought were going to be the leaders and they really sometimes surprise you because it's such a hands-on activity and yet they have to be really verbally literate I guess is the only way to put it you know, and figure out how they're going to really organize things. So it's fascinating to watch unfold. And then, just as a funny aside, I love that you brought the idea of like using like a dollar store to get the puzzles.
Speaker 1:I went on this like rabbit hunt for like the puzzles that I wanted to use and I I found these trolls like puzzles that were appropriate for like taught you know, toddler age puzzles, but they were hilarious, like with the troll hair and the yes. So anyway, that's what I geriatric millennial here I was like, yes, I'm going to buy the trolls puzzle. That's what we're doing.
Speaker 2:So I'm in that camp also.
Speaker 1:Total aside. But if you would, sarah, so I you know that's how I kind of laid out things in my own classroom too, but I'd love it you could just share with teachers some strategies who want to implement this like step one. What do they do? Maybe they go on a rabbit hunt for the Trolls puzzles, maybe not. But give us those strategies to implement this.
Speaker 2:Sure. So I like to keep things sweet and simple for myself, even if it costs me a couple dollars. So I'm I'm the Amazon girl, I'm just going to Amazon it, right? So I'm just going to. You just want to grab enough 20 to 24 piece puzzles and blindfolds for your groups of three to four. Buy a few extra just in case they're damages, lost pieces.
Speaker 2:You know middle schoolers, I'm sure a puzzle piece is going to go missing or, you know, be destroyed. But also in case you have an odd number of students, you can cover everybody. But if buying puzzles is a challenge or something that you're not interested in, teachers could totally make their own puzzles. We've got some really creative people out there, so making your own puzzles is an option. You can also use an online puzzle generator and simply print and cut and laminate to keep them for multiple years. That's super easy. And my favorite part is, if you don't want to or you can't purchase blindfolds, which also come in mass packs on Amazon, I have noticed over my 14 years as an educator in middle school that a standard teen wardrobe staple seems to be the hoodie, even in 90 degree weather, and a lot of my students, I found, would just put their hoodies on backwards and their friend would tie it around the back and they thought that was silly and fun and hilarious and there was enough hoodies for the puzzle doers to have on their group.
Speaker 2:So that's a free and effective question and if nothing else, just tell them to close their eyes tight and watch the best you can. I have found that the sweet and honest students around the room will call out the peekers and it's just part of the fun and observation of those classroom dynamics and those personality traits. Really I'm like, oh, you're going to cheat all the time, you know, and so I've just, I've always done it. I've done it all of those different ways and it's always been fun and productive, regardless. And if you can swing it, it's always fun to have a little prize for your winning team. I love that idea.
Speaker 1:Yeah, at different times I would do a little different conversations, and it's even fun to just like take their picture and post it somewhere. You know what I mean, like they were the winning puzzle team.
Speaker 2:So that's, that's I imagine that would be awesome to send home on the first day of school to your parents.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and I think it's a cool activity to share because it's one that I had not personally seen done before, so I love that idea. It's so cool. So in your experience, saria, is this activity best done on the very first day of school, or would you wait to maybe a little later in the week, that first week of school?
Speaker 2:I love the surprise and delight element of doing it the first day of school, because a lot of middle schoolers come in and really think that they're just going to sit there in their rows and stare at you and half listen.
Speaker 2:And if you're just like, oh, you're going to do this, you're going to talk to people and you're going to do this puzzle, challenge it like really like shakes them up.
Speaker 2:So I prefer on the first day of school, but it can definitely be used anytime during the school year, like if you want to wait a week or two until students settle in, or use it as a brain break activity right before that hairy, scary holiday time. During the holiday season, even in the spring, when you're on an alternative schedule for an afternoon assembly, it would just be fun to really change up the groups or get creative with the rules, or even print blank puzzle templates that students can work together to design first. So there's a lot of ways and times that this can be used. It's totally one of those activities that your students are going to ask to do over and over to see if they can beat their time or their progress, and I actually had individual students who were like I'm done with all my work, can I put my hoodie on backwards and try to put this puzzle together, blindfolded, you know, during study hall, and I'm like sure, go go for it, I do love the flexibility of it.
Speaker 1:I think that's what's one of the things that makes it so great, cause I will say I had it planned for my first day of school and like we had a half day the first day of school and you know how like it's just absolutely insane that first day school and you know how like it's just absolutely insane that first day, and it ended up getting shoved back to my second day of school and it was still I love the words you use surprise and delight, like they loved it, you know. So I think it's it's brilliant in that it's flexible and it gives that element and I think sets the tone for the classroom that like we are going to be working together and doing it well in here. You know, yeah, totally yeah, I love that. So, sarah, tell us if you think there might be some like sticking points in this activity and how teachers might resolve those sticking points if they, if they come across them.
Speaker 2:So we all know that it can be tricky sometimes to engage every student in a group activity due to a variety of personal or social reasons, and you know whatever they carry into the classroom on a given day. So having a backup way for your student who struggles with loud noises or chaos or your lone wolf who would rather work alone is always good. Alone is always good. One year I actually had a sweet one who fit those categories and I just asked him to be my second pair of eyes and take notes on what he observed because I could just tell like if I was going to force a group it was just not going to be a good first day of school for him. So I'm like, okay, teacher's helper, like we got this and that was that was super fun for him. I think teachers will have to decide if assigning groups to students is best or if letting students pick their own groups works better for their classroom. I find that allowing students in the first week to choose who they work with tells me a lot about who works well together and who doesn't, and who might just need a little extra TLC in connecting with peers. Then I'm one of those teachers, after the fact, after those first couple weeks I really do assign purposeful groups the rest of the year. So getting that data, that immediate feedback, tells me a lot of what I need to know. But you can always assign groups from day one and then students really might struggle to communicate. So, as the teacher circulating the room, you know you really want to be able to support students with phrases or vocabulary needed to guide the puzzle doer. You know you might hear a lot of that one, no, that one over there and it's like they can't see you. What one are you talking about? So you know reminding them of words like rotate that piece to the right. Know your other right you know, or feel for the corner. Switch the pieces in your hands. Your other right, you know, or feel for the corner. Switch the pieces in your hands. So supporting students with that, those phrases and vocabulary to help them be successful, is something that you can do and then just be ready to support the students who want to throw in the towel or get frustrated with each other. This is kind of a productive struggle activity. A lot of our students don't do that well or don't do that at all, even over the summer, right, and so never hurts to help them, along with a piece or two if they're really struggling, or point out to them what's working well in their group, like look, you already have a whole row. How did you get that? Keep trying what you what you did to get that whole row of the puzzle. Get that, keep trying what you, what you did to get that whole row of the puzzle.
Speaker 2:For younger students or those who might need a little extra support, teachers could definitely offer students to open their eyes and put their hands in the sky so no one's touching anything and have a quick 60 seconds to do their progress, take inventory of the pieces and then close their eyes before beginning again. And another option is to pause and switch roles within the group so you could have a different puzzle doer. And there are a lot of ways to approach and adapt this activity. And while I was kind of thinking through our notes on this, megan, I was thinking how fun it would be to make it even more challenging and promote group inter group conversation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, teachers could switch two to three pieces with another group and then you designate one group member to be the liaison to approach other groups and negotiate a trade or return of the correct pieces. That might be a little ambitious on the first day of school, but I mean, if you have older students or students who know each other really well, that could be a fun way to make it more challenging. Because I mean, if you have older students or students who know each other really well, that could be a fun way to make it more challenging. Because I mean, some of these puzzles look very similar, so it's like I think that's our piece. No, it's not. And then you've got some of that conversation happening too.
Speaker 1:That's a brilliant idea and, to your point, I worked in a K-3A Catholic school, so these kids had been together for you know, for most of their lives, and so that would have been a really good idea because I think they could have done that, you know, and approached each other, and just as you're talking about all of these things that you're looking for and you're supporting kids with, this activity is really about social emotional learning. If you come down to the heart of it, that's what it is, and our kids are at a point we know that they need support with that, you know, and so I just love everything you just stated there. So that's fantastic. So, sarah, tell us a little bit about how you kind of balance these fun whether you want to call them icebreaker social emotional learning activities with the need to set that tone of respect and focus in your classroom from the very beginning.
Speaker 2:Totally so.
Speaker 2:Teachers should definitely take time to explain the purpose of the activity right, linking it back to observing, communication, collaboration, problem solving, more working as a team, and they can connect that to what that is going to look like as their year progresses and maybe some of the units or projects that they'll be working on, and so holding a classroom discussion real quickly about what went well, what challenges that they faced or what skills they needed to be successful can really easily link all of those soft skills and class norms that we want to instill in our students at the beginning of the year.
Speaker 2:Another thing sometimes I do like to do on the first day of school is to grab a small writing, immediate writing sample, and so you could easily turn that class discussion into some reflection questions, which is a really nice calm, quiet wrap up to this really super loud but active and productive activity.
Speaker 2:Students, through those discussion questions to justify their answers, can provide teachers with an understanding of how their students might justify claims and use evidence to support them when they're analyzing later on. And not to mention this class, this activity does not take a whole class period, so it can easily be paired with some of those back-to-school classroom business things that teachers want to make sure that they cover in day one and what I found is that teacher or students, excuse me tend to pick up on, like the call and responses a teacher will use to get their attention how teachers manage their class, what they can and cannot get away with, noise level preferences, through this activity too. So I think this is a really creative and intentional way to set some of those expectations and those boundaries and they get to see how the teacher is going to respond to these types of activities and already we're all learning about each other in this classroom community and how it's going to function.
Speaker 1:Yeah well, and it's so much easier to learn those things like routines and procedures when you're actually hearing them and doing them. You know, not against anybody. If you want to do it this way, that's fine. But standing up in front of a classroom with a slide and saying, when I need your attention, I'm going to do this, You're not learning a whole lot there because it's not an embodied experience, you know. And so I love that you're kind of wrapping in those procedures and those routines into an activity. That's just very smart. And I also think anytime you can get kids reflecting about something they've learned, something they've done, that just helps solidify everything they've learned, you know. So this is again, brilliant, it's just brilliant.
Speaker 2:Um, a side, a side note, I will say I've had a lot of parents email me after the first day of school and say this is what their student came home and talked about, and so that to me is like the biggest teacher win and I just loved when those emails came through. Or even even if I didn't get that parent recognition, you know a kid would tell me, even if it was the last day of school, hey, I remember that puzzle activity. I loved how we started the year. That is huge.
Speaker 1:So it's huge, yeah, yeah. Or they go talk to another teacher about it. You know, that's what I always loved and you're like, yes, that was my classroom. We did that today.
Speaker 2:I'll want, I'll one you up even better. You have kids that come in in your um your second period class or third, and they're like gee, I heard we're doing this blindfolded puzzle activity and I'm like, oh well, if the teenagers are talking about me in that way, this is a really big win. Bingo, yes, talking about this class. I have one day. The day is perfect.
Speaker 1:That's exactly right. That is exactly right. I love it, love it. So what strategies? And this, actually this question I'm going to ask you reminds me of my interview with Dr Deanna Smith, because when I interviewed her a few months ago, we discussed how classrooms are really ecosystems and that creating a positive ecosystem starts on day one, and then it's about being really intentional of continuing that throughout the rest of the school year, caring for each other, supporting each other. So what strategies did you use in your own classroom, sarah, to follow up on this type of icebreaker activity, to really maintain a positive and connected classroom throughout the entire school year?
Speaker 2:I think asking a really intentional, pointed question, asking students to share something helpful or positive or impressive that another one of their team members did or said during the challenge is definitely a highlight of this activity. So, even if you want to do the quiet reflection questions, just having an opportunity for students to say, hey, megan really was calm during this when I started to panic that we weren't winning you know that gives, that makes both of those people feel good. Yeah, and so giving time to do that, that leaving time to do that, is really fun and rewarding. Regularly giving students time to work in groups and collaborate will only strengthen these skills over time. So it's these type of activities that allow teachers to really help students with their conflict resolution and experience that productive struggle which can be so foreign to some of them, and then just to work on this collaboration and communication skills and build that classroom community toward that common goal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and by doing this type of activity at the front end of the school year, you're setting up those norms that allow you, as the teacher, and the kids to handle collaboration throughout the rest of the school year, and truly that's what our middle schoolers need right now. I mean and again Dionne, I keep talking about her, but she told us during batch planning over the winter, you know, the sit and get model doesn't work anymore, and it's because these kids need this type of collaboration, social, emotional support from each other. But we have to be the facilitators of that. So for sure, for sure. Anything else Sarah, you want to leave us with. This is just like so good. I think everybody in America is going to be doing the blindfold puzzle activity.
Speaker 2:I would love that. I mean, what a fun first day of school for you know, for our students. So I just I can't wait to hear the feedback. Yeah, back on our on our podcast about it. So if you try it, if your students love it, you know, find us on social media and tell us about it, and if you're an.
Speaker 2:EB teacher. You can definitely post about it in the EB teacher community. We'd love to celebrate it and hear about it. And yeah, I just can't wait to see some of those comments and things roll in. It'll be fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely, If you're an EB teacher, leave us comments, pictures in the community. If you're not an EB teacher, we would love to hear your feedback on Instagram, Facebook as well. That would be fantastic. So thank you again, Sarah, so much for joining us today. I know our teachers are going to love this episode. Thank you for having me. This was so fun. You're so welcome and listeners. We'll see you back next week on another episode of the Teaching Middle School ELA.