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
Mindset Favorite: Seasons
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Life's seasons mirror our own cycles of growth and stillness. In this another past Monday Mindset episode, I share a personal story of navigating through busyness and loss, highlighting the value in both vibrant summers and quiet winters. As I reflect on my journey, I uncover the power of mourning, connecting, and finding purpose in every phase.
Join me as we explore how embracing vulnerability and sharing our stories can lead to healing and deeper connections. Whether you're in a season of growth or introspection, there's beauty in every moment. Tune in to find strength in each season of your life.
Here’s to another day of living intentionally.
Caitlin
Well, hello teachers, and welcome to your Monday Mindset podcast episode. These are short, little snippets of thoughts, reflections that I share with you on a weekly basis, that are focused around mindset things that we can do to live our best lives, to live an intentional life, and I invite you to not just listen to these for yourself and how they apply to you in your life, but consider sharing them with other people too. Consider sharing them with your students every Monday and having a conversation about it and doing a reflection together, because I think a lot of these thoughts, these topics, these questions are just a part of being human, and sometimes being human can feel lonely and to know that other people are struggling through some of the same challenges that you are and are benefiting from having these types of conversations is hugely powerful in allowing us to get to be the best version of ourselves, to take who we are and who we be and who we show up in the world as to that next level. So I really hope that you enjoy these Monday Mindsets and, if you do, let us know over on our Instagram at Evie Academics. Thanks so much for listening and let's dive into our Monday Mindset. So I just want to start by saying that I'm coming into a different season right now.
Speaker 1:Within the year and life is built really around these cadence of seasons. I mean, the universe is we have winter, spring, summer, fall. Mother Earth goes through the seasons and grows through the seasons and changes through the seasons, and really we are no different than that and there are times in our lives and seasons in our lives that are going to be very similar to what the earth goes through. There are going to be times in your lives that feel like winter, that feel barren and desolate and dark and cold or whatever association you might have with that, and perhaps we feel sad. And then there are going to be seasons of our lives, or of our years or even of our weeks, that are beautiful, that are expanding, that are growing, that are sunny, that are bright, that are warm, that feel good, and both of those are okay and so is everything in between. You know, I think so much. We see, right, think about what you consume. We see everybody's summer or spring, we see everybody's growth, we see everybody's expansion, and I think a lot of people don't really share the other part of that, the other side of the reality of life, of what we're actually going through, what's actually underneath us, what's actually behind the scenes, and so it doesn't feel normal, it doesn't feel normalized to feel that way or to go through those feelings, and that really doesn't serve us as human beings, because when we feel that way, I think a lot of us shrink into ourselves and we don't share, and when we don't share, we feel alone and we feel isolated and feeling this way. But nine times out of 10, there are other people around you who are feeling the same way too and who would benefit from your vulnerability and your connection of being with them, and I'll share a personal experience with this right now.
Speaker 1:You know, I was just in a very busy season of life at EB, where it's a lot of energy to hold and there's a lot of momentum and excitement, and during that time period I actually lost five people in my life that were very, very close to me my grandmother included, one of my cousins who was my age, a very good friend growing up who was my age, and it was really hard, but because I was so in the busyness and the doingness of this season of my life, I didn't have a moment to actually sit with the feelings that were coming up for me subconsciously in the face of all of that death. And then, as soon as that busy season ended, it was like I came down the other side of this mountain and I felt sad all of a sudden and I couldn't quite pinpoint my finger on what was going on until I realized, oh my gosh, I didn't have a moment to mourn, I didn't have a season to experience these feelings, and right now the universe is giving that to me without me being really fully aware of it, until that consciousness really came to mind. And so I just want to offer that to you that you are going to go through seasons and it's okay. And perhaps you're in a season that feels like what I just described, that maybe has sadness around it or a dark cloud over it or something like that that you're feeling or experiencing and that's normal. And on the other side of that is going to be the happiness, the okayness, the expansion-ness, all of those other things, and that's how life is going to be.
Speaker 1:We're going to swing through these ups and downs constantly and I think a lot of the times it's a disservice to not fully be present to experiencing them, and that's just something that I've really learned over, you know, the last couple of months and through this experience, and I just I hope that that serves you in some capacity and knowing that there are seasons in life and you might be in the goo right now, and on the other end of the goo is the butterfly right, is the beauty, is the um I don't want to use the word expansion again but the blossoming of self, and then that's what we go through always as humans. So I hope that that serves you in some capacity and I want to wish you a wonderful week of living, intentionally, as we wrap up September and head into the next season of fall.