r/MiddleSchoolTeacher

Here is the bind we're in with keyboarding in middle school and I want someone to tell me I'm wrong because I've been sitting with this for a while.

Elementary says middle school will handle it. Middle school says elementary should have handled it. High school says they can't believe neither of the others handled it. And the kid in the middle of all of this is hunting and pecking their way through a timed essay in eighth grade while we all look at each other and shrug.

The "too early" argument is that seven year olds don't have the fine motor development for serious keyboarding instruction and you'll just build frustration. The "too late" argument is that by middle school students have already developed bad habits so deeply ingrained that retraining them takes longer than teaching it from scratch would have.

Both of those things can be true simultaneously and they both conveniently mean it's someone else's problem.

What actually happens in middle school is that teachers have thirty other curriculum priorities, keyboarding doesn't have a grade attached to it, nobody is being evaluated on whether students can type, and so it just doesn't happen in any systematic way except maybe a two-week unit in sixth grade computer class that everyone forgets by March.

I'm not saying I have the answer. I'm saying we've collectively constructed a situation where nobody owns this skill and then we're surprised when students don't have it.

Hi everyone,

I started a long-term sub position at a new school 3 weeks ago. 6th grade homeroom and ELA. I have 11 years teaching experience but recently moved to a new country, so I’m still looking for a full time position.

Anyway, these kids are WAY behind other 6th graders I’ve taught before. Their behavior and maturity level is more like a 4th or 5th grader’s. There is constant bickering, finger pointing, name calling, arguing, etc. It’s a mad house. Add to that, they have no respect for any of their teachers.

I have been able to make progress with the bullying and bickering, but the respect just isn’t there. And no matter how many talks we have about their behavior, it never sticks and the next day (or sometimes the next hour) it’s back to not listening, not responding, not participating.

I did find out I am the THIRD teacher this group has had this year (I’m not sure of the circumstances that led to the other teachers leaving), so I’m sure that has a lot to do with their behavior. But I’m wondering if I can still get the principles of basic respect into their heads.

What strategies have you all used when trying to get your kids to get why respect of adults and each other is important in the classroom and in life.

Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

Somehow already exhausted

I teach middle school physics and kept running into the same problem:

I needed quick warm-up problems that don’t require prep. So I made a few simple tools for myself (calculators + quick tasks).

I’m curious — what do you all use for bell ringers or quick practice? If anyone wants to try what I made, I can share the link.

Anyone know of companies offering remote summer work? Ideally something asynchronous.