Mrs. Spangler in the Middle

Lately, all the rage has been on the Science of Reading. In Middle School, this means a focus on word parts - prefixes, suffixes, root words, and base words.  These are the critical components to making reading comprehension gains with our students, but let's be real - this is not the most ex…

When I first heard about the Science of Reading, I was sure it was some new-fangled way to box up my teaching as a middle school ELA teacher.   Then there was a required course from my district in order to maintain my certification.  I begrudgingly began the course but then my eyes were opened:  …

It was a new school year and I was beginning to realize that I had some students who were struggling to write sentences, some students who were struggling to write paragraphs, and some students who had never heard the word "essay" before.  And they were all in the same room at the same …

After 2020, I had classes that really seemed to struggle with knowing how to work well with others.  Slowly I realized - it needed to be explicitly taught!  As I began my research, I found something pretty amazing - Teams!  This is based on the work of Jon Davis from The Courageous Classroom. The…