Classroom Life

Being a teacher is not always easy- actually, it's almost never easy! Trying to hold the attention of 30 preteens all at the same time, when they are all intent on doing other things, can be quite the struggle. As this is my first year teaching, I have worked hard to find ways to catch their attention- and then keep it!

My classroom is a hub of student-centered learning. What that means is that instead of having a teacher (me!) lecturing in the front of the room, my students are given tasks to work on together.

Whoa whoa whoa, you may be saying! Are you crazy?!

Nope, not crazy! Ok well maybe just a little bit, but that's totally unrelated to my teaching method!

My kids are learning. They're teaching each other, and helping those that are struggling in class. Since the textbook that we use isn't always conducive to this kind of learning, I've developed a lot of my own resources over the last eight months!

Behold, Miss Kay's Science Spot on TeachersPayTeachers!

Here's my favorite item in action: an electricity review board game that has kids building circuits when they hit those "Challenge!" squares!

I tried this game out with my kids earlier this week, and they loved it! It harnessed that innate competitiveness that exists in that age group, and they were really driving home the key concepts at the same time! Definitely a win-win situation if you ask me :)

The best part? I'm currently grading the exams that they took after reviewing using my game, and the grades are the highest they've ever been!

Middle schoolers + hands-on activities = SUCCESS!

If you're interested, you can check out the listing for my game here!

Happy weekend, friends!

Miss Kay