Middle School Café – Strategies & Support for Middle School ELA Teachers
Are you a middle school ELA teacher looking for practical, proven strategies to help your students grow as confident readers and writers? Middle School Café is your go-to podcast for engaging teaching ideas, classroom-tested tools, and real talk about what works in today’s ELA classroom.
Each episode delivers actionable tips to help you close reading gaps, build student ownership, and create a classroom culture where literacy thrives. Whether you're navigating a curriculum, supporting struggling readers, or just looking for fresh ways to inspire your students, you'll find support, strategy, and a sense of community right here.
Join a community of passionate middle school ELA teachers working to build confident, engaged readers. Visit www.middleschoolcafe.com for classroom tools, podcast extras, and resources to support every student on their reading journey.
Middle School Café – Strategies & Support for Middle School ELA Teachers
Latest Episodes
Summer Book Study: Reflecting on Reading Instruction [Bonus]
In this special bonus episode, I'm sharing three key ideas from our summer book study of In the Best Interest of Students by Kelly Gallagher. Whether you're reading the book along with us or hearing about it for the first time, you'll come away...
Creating Readers Requires More Than Reading Instruction [Ep. 79]
Creating readers is one of the most important goals of ELA instruction, but it's also one of the hardest things to measure. In this episode, I explore the difference between reading instruction and reading practice and ask an important question...
Building Reading Culture Through Student Experience [Ep. 78]
What makes a classroom feel like a reading classroom? In this episode, we explore the difference between a classroom where reading is simply part of the curriculum and a classroom where reading becomes part of the culture. We'll discuss what st...
End-of-Year Teacher Reflections: What to Keep and What to Change [Ep. 77]
End of year teacher reflections can be easy to skip as you’re wrapping up your classroom and heading into summer, but taking a few minutes to pause can make a real difference in how you plan, prioritize, and start the next school year. In this ...
5 Student Reflection Strategies for the End of the Year [Ep. 76]
As the school year starts to wind down, this episode focuses on helping students recognize how much they’ve grown since the beginning of the year. Without time to reflect, a lot of that progress goes unnoticed. Today’s conversation looks ...