Maniacs in the Middle - Page 4 of 4 - A Teaching Blog by Josie Bensko

Josie January 29, 2019

Get to Know Me Q&A!

What’s up, teacher-friends?! Long time, no post! When I first made this blog, I had such high expectations for myself. Well, reality set in REAL quick & I abandoned this blog. People frequently ask, “How do you do it all?” Reality is that I don’t. I am really good at saying “yes” to everything & I constantly have a new project I’m working on. (Everyone has their flaws, right?!) This school year has also been super challenging for me with all new curriculum. My number one focus has been on my classroom and my students. Unfortunately, that means that my…

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Josie April 1, 2018

Classroom Tour

I walked into my classroom almost three years ago and immediately wanted to walk back out!! I HATED it! Our school was a high school in the past and was converted into a middle school, so our school is old. The layout is weird, there are random knobs everywhere, and I have no windows. It was dark. It was dreary. I knew I had to do a lot of work to add some life to this classroom! This is nowhere near what my room looked like during my first year of teaching. You add items as you go and your…

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Josie April 1, 2018

Skate Park Energy Unit

I have had many questions on the Skate Park project I have been doing in my classroom! In short, the students create a skate park completely out of cardboard that a marble “skater” goes down to investigate kinetic and potential energy! Their marble has to go from start to finish without touching it! To see videos, check out my “Science” story highlight on Instagram! *The original idea for this project came from here. Here is a sample. My district purchased this project and we have since adapted it for our students.* The Skate Park project that we do in 6th…

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Josie March 22, 2018

Middle School Read Alouds

For those of you that don’t know, I teach one section of Lit/Comp along with Science. Growing up, class read alouds were one of my favorite things we used to do! I remember my teachers reading Charlotte’s Web, Hoot, The Lottery Rose, and many more! Read alouds are thought to be primarily for elementary aged students, but I have found great success in read-alouds in middle school! My district and librarian do a wonderful job at getting authors to come and visit our schools. Last year we had Roland Smith come to our school and this year Margaret Peterson Haddix…

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Josie March 21, 2018

Classroom Playlists

If you were to walk into my classroom, there is a very good chance that music will be playing. Whether that be as background noise or as a classroom management tool, I cannot go without music in my classroom! Click HERE for all of my school appropriate playlists! Our kids now are stimulated 24/7 by all of the technology at their fingertips. They are watching Netflix, while Snapchatting, while playing a video game all at the same time! They go from an overstimulated environment at home, to school where they are expected to be quiet the majority of their day…

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