This is Jennifer Gonzalez welcoming you to episode 93 of the Cult of Pedagogy Podcast.

In this episode, I'm going to talk about eight things I know for sure about middle school

kids.

I never planned to teach middle school.

When I got my teaching degree, I was set on teaching high school English, but the only

open position I found was in a middle school.

So I took it, planning to move up as soon as possible.

Well, I never looked back.

Something about that age just got me.

And over the eight years I worked with this age group, I became kind of an expert on the

idiosyncrasies of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders.

I figured out how to make the most of their special qualities.

If you recently started teaching middle school or you have a child this age, you've probably

discovered these things too.

In this episode, I'm going to list eight traits of middle school kids that can make them

interesting and challenging to work with.

Plus the approaches I ultimately took to make the most of those traits.

Before we get started, I'd like to thank our sponsor, My Simple Show.

My Simple Show is this really cool online tool that allows you to create your own animated

videos for free.

It's really easy and fast.

You just write your script or upload a PowerPoint.

...