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10 Back to School Learning Station Ideas for Middle and High School
One of the best ways to start your back to school lesson planning is with a stations activity. Gone are the days of reading the syllabus out loud, and right in front of us are the days of interactive, meaningful, and focused activities. Get your students started in groups and take them through an orientation to your room, your expectations, and the school year ahead. Here are 10 ideas to get you started.
10 Back to School Learning Station Ideas for Middle and High School
For several years now, teachers have joined the mission to intentionally create a first day and first week of school that are reflective of the kind of classroom culture and environment that they want to create for the whole school year. Gone are the days of reading the syllabus aloud to students and droning on for days at a time. And one of the most popular ideas that has grown to replace these teacher-centered practices is the use of back to school STATIONS. It’s been a cornerstone lesson in my First Ten Days of School practice for the last decade.
Stations as an instructional strategy is relatively straightforward. A certain number of tasks that take a similar amount of time to complete are predetermined by the teacher and become the “stations”. Then, students are broken up into the same number of groups as there are stations. Using a timer, students work at their assigned station for the allotted time, then with the timer, switch to the next station for the next task. This is a great way to begin the process of teaching your routines around this instructional strategy -- trust me, your October self will thank you for starting routine practice early and often!
With back to school season always having a slew of odd ball housekeeping tasks to accomplish, stations is a great way to keep the pace of class moving, get students out of their seats, and begin the process of getting to know each other based on the small group they’re moving.
Syllabus & Questions for My Teacher
After making the switch from a paper to a digital syllabus, I’ve been able to navigate getting the important information it includes in front of both students and parents. With a digital syllabus, I can “assign” looking through it the night before stations, and then, in this station, ask students to revisit the syllabus and on an index card, leave questions and comments for me at the station that I can answer FAQ style in upcoming days. You could also give the students at this station a syllabus “quiz” in the style of true/false or multiple choice.
A copy of my digital syllabus template is available inside my exclusive course for teachers: The First 10 Days: The Complete Back to School Toolkit.
Establish a “Brave Space”
Station time is also a wonderful opportunity to set up intentional experiences for students to see and participate in your classroom expectations. One simple, yet powerful, station idea is to use a section of your room close to a whiteboard (using my FAVE markers) or giant post-it, and write on the board BRAVE SPACE. Explain in the directions for students to write around the word with definitions and examples of what a “Brave Space” should look and feel like in the classroom. I make sure to take a picture of each class period’s answers to use later for debriefing and adding to my digital syllabus under my “Expectations” tab.
FAQ QR Code Classroom Management System
Another way to use your stations activity is to introduce your students to various functional spaces in your classroom and give them a chance to be oriented to how they work, I speak about this at length in episode 58 of the Brave New Teaching podcast as we discuss the importance of functional classroom decor. For me, one of the most important spaces in my room is my FAQ QR Station. This is the place in my room where students come to get their frequently asked questions answered…by a video, not by me. Because we can answer questions about late homework, going to the bathroom, and other policies for only so long before we want to pull our hair out, right? So instead of answering these questions again and again (in October and November, especially), the QR code does all the work for me! This is how I prioritize functional classroom design over splurging at the Target Dollar Spot all summer long..
All About Me Student Survey
At the start of the school year, there’s quite a bit of information that I want to know about my students. Some I want to learn through conversation, but much of it I want to have to refer back to as the year progresses and I see where students are finding strength and struggle. I designed an All About Me Student Survey using Google Forms that I’ve used for years and I use this station to give students time to fill it out rather than making it “homework”.
Student-Created Classroom Decor
Typically each year I try to make one of my stations artsy crafty. The quick little project is usually connected somehow to one or more of the following: my classroom theme, something bookish and Englishy, something connected to authors we’ll study, etc. I love doing these things, but don’t have a lot of original ideas of my own, so I scour the internet for ideas! Here are a few things I’ve done in the past that have been fun and great for a quick station:
Blackout poetry on a random dictionary page: cut into triangles and closepin them to twine for a classroom banner
Contributions to a door decoration
This wreath but with different clipart
A collaborative poster of different sorts
Six Word Memoir
These can be used ANY time of year, but at the beginning of the year, six word memoirs serve as a quick and easy way to get to know students AND see how their writing brains work. Narrowing down their life story to only six words offers powerful insight into how they see themselves and how they creatively and critically approach the writing process. Since the station time might be too short to fully think this out, you might ask for a draft at this station and revisit them for a final revision later in the week.
Create a name plate/Name voice recording
Learning student names is a paramount priority when beginning the school year, but also something that can be very boing for other students to watch us struggle through. Instead of going through the attendance roster every day trying to learn names, use a station to have students create name places and even record a sound bite of their accurate name pronunciation! I show you how to easily do this in this blog post. All you’ll need for the station is paper and markers for the name plate and a few chrome books with tabs open to Vocaroo.com.
Classroom Library Tour
If you are an ELA teacher, another classroom space that you most likely need to share with your students is your classroom library. If you have a system for checkout and returns, if you have a routine associated with first chapter Friday, or just generally want students to begin perusing teh books on your shelves, make this an exploratory station! My classroom library is on a rolling cart: it’s a rotating “best of the best” system and the majority of my books are housed on a database that students access through QR code. Using this as a station during back to school give students a chance to explore that without a time-consuming overview from me and puts the ownership and focus back on the students as they begin that exploration on their own.
Take What You Need Station
Another classroom space that matters to me in the classroom is my Take What You Need station. This is an area by the front of the room that houses all of the little odds and ends of things that students are always asking for: breath mints, hand lotion, dry shampoo, gold star stickers, and more. I keep some coloring pages for students who need time to unwind when they’re feeling stressed, blank note cars to write a hand-written note to a friend, and more rotating goodies as needed.
Goal Setting
Fresh starts with a new semester are the perfect time for students to do some serious and some light hearted goal setting. I like using these one-pager templates as a station where students can do fun goal setting and add to the page as the semester continues. I have them choose three sections that are together, record the date, and share the goal. They can illustrate them as they like! As we move through the year, we revisit this template and add more and reflect on the things written at earlier stages in the semester.
I hope this year, back to school learning stations hit the trifecta for you: establishing routines, building relationships, and setting the bar for rigor. I’d love to take you through my full first ten days of school in my course when you’re ready. I’ve got every lesson, the philosophy behind each step, and a digital drop down lesson planning calendar all inside just waiting for you! Take a peek inside right here…
Happy back to school, everyone!
Getting Books with LGBTQ+ Protagonists into the Hands of All Students
Having your shelves stocked with LGBTQ+ protagonists and stories is great, but if students don’t know they’re available, don’t have a safe time to check them out, are intimidated by the cover, or simply don’t feel comfortable checking the books out, then the diversity of the library doesn’t really matter! Here are five steps to take to make sure those wonderful books actually make it into the hands that want them and need them.
This is a post from guest teacher-author John Rodney.
Getting Books with LGBTQ+ Protagonists into the Hands of All Students
Many teachers are creating LGBTQ+ inclusive classroom libraries that speak to the many identities of their LGBTQ+ students. Teachers are seeking out stories that feature LGBTQ+ protagonists in diverse storylines across genres. They are choosing stories with care to ensure that restrictive gender stereotypes are not reinforced and that intersectional identities are represented. They are putting stories that move past LGBTQ+ trauma on their classroom bookshelves.
Teachers are doing all this amazing work, and yet, despite all of this, the books remain on the shelves untouched. There are many potential reasons why students are lining up to check out these books. I want to give some steps that teachers can take to help get books into the hands of students which is exactly where we want them!
Guest blogger John Rodney shows us just one of many books to consider adding to your classroom library.
#1: Advertise. Advertise. Advertise.
Books featuring LGBTQ+ protagonists should not be separated from other books. They should be put alongside all the other books for young readers, LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+, to discover and enjoy. They should be organized however that teacher may organize their library: by genre, alphabetically, etc.. This is an important symbol to students that these characters and storylines are just like every other character and storyline and deserve to be read and enjoyed. This seems like a great idea, doesn’t it? It is! Now, why might this be preventing students from reading these books? One of the issues is that the students who may be impacted the most by these books don’t know they exist. They don’t know that your bookshelves are ones that have stories that feature LGBTQ+ characters in them. One way to solve this is to step up advertising of these stories and let kids know where they are if they wish to read them. Advertising is not a one-time thing. It needs to be done repeatedly throughout the school year so that when students are finally ready to hear you, they know they have options in your classroom library to explore. When you think you’ve done enough, do a little more.
There is some debate amongst teachers that perhaps there should be identifiers of the LGBTQ+ books on the bookshelves like putting rainbow stickers on the bindings, so students may find them more easily or to separate the books entirely into their own section, so students would know where to find them. I totally get this and have contemplated it in the past myself; however, in the next section, you’ll find why making an identifiable marker for LGBTQ+ books that is recognized class-wide may negatively impact the students you are trying to help.
#2: Judge the risk by the cover.
Teachers want their students to be their authentic selves. They want students to feel an immense sense of pride in who they are; however, coming out (the act of publicly identifying yourself as a member of the LGBTQ+ community) can be a very difficult experience for young people in middle and high school. In many student’s experiences there is constant taunting and teasing for those who may not fit into what is characteristically considered masculine or feminine. The straying from norms places a target on them for harsh ridicule. A student does not actually need to be part of the LGBTQ+ community to be targeted, they just need to be perceived as one.
If students are looking to explore their identity through literature, through the books on your classroom bookshelves, it needs to feel safe to them. This is where covers of books need to be considered. For a student who is just beginning to understand who they are and wishes to read about LGBTQ+ characters or for a non-LGBTQ+ student who wants to read a good book that features an LGBTQ+ protagonist, having a book with rainbows (symbol of the LGBTQ+ community), characters breaking stereotypical appearance gender norms, or characters expressing same-gender affection on the cover can feel extremely dangerous. A book with a cover that represents an LGBTQ+ protagonist could out a child (reveal their identity as a member of the LGBTQ+ community) or have their sexuality/identity questioned. They may face severe social and physical consequences from friends and family. Be aware of the risks a child is taking to pick up that book from your classroom bookshelf when selecting which books you’ll offer.
#3: Set aside time for student to check out books when there isn’t an audience.
When some students are choosing books that feature LGBTQ+ protagonists/storylines during class, they feel like the whole world is watching them. They feel like the second they touch the book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist, a siren will go off, a spotlight will be put on them, and they will be outed or have their identity questioned and ridiculed. Why would they risk it? Many times, they don’t, and the book that could really benefit them is left on the shelf unread. Building in time during the day or the week for students to come in when others are not present is something that could get a book into the hands of a student who needs it most. This should be a part of the schedule that you create for your students so that any student can take up this opportunity.
#4: Celebrate LGBTQ+ characters, storylines, and authors.
John’s Instagram and TikTok are a wonderful source of recommendations, ideas and support for building your classroom library! Check him out!
Many ELA teachers find ways to try to engage students to inspire a life-long love of reading. They find ways to expose students to stories and genres that they normally would not gravitate to and create a curiosity within them to read. Be deliberate with the books that you are choosing for these activities; include LGBTQ+ protagonists and authors.
If you are performing “First Chapter Fridays” in your classroom, choose a book that features an LGBTQ+ protagonist. Project the cover of the book for the students to see along with a picture and brief biography of the author. Make sure to identify the LGBTQ+ identity of the author, so students understand this part of their identity.
If you are doing a “Book Tasting,” include a variety of books featuring LGBTQ+ characters and storylines across genres for the students to read and try out.
These types of activities give LGBTQ+ students and non-LGBTQ+ students opportunities to discover stories they may want to read, and it gives them a sense of pride seeing storylines fromt communities they, friends, or family members are a part of. This could make kids aware of stories open up their minds, and increase the rates at which books are checked out.
#5: Normalize the reading of LGBTQ+ books by non-LGBTQ+ students through classroom activities.
An idea that many young people have is that if a student reads books with an LGBTQ+ protagonist, the student must be queer. They ask themselves:
Why would a student read a book about a queer/gay/transgender person saving the world in a science fiction book when they could just read a “normal story” with a straight person doing it?
Why would a young person read a same gender love story when you could just read a “normal love story”?
Why read an autobiography about a LGBTQ+ person when you could read about a straight person?
This mentality can be combatted by exposing and normalizing literature by LGBTQ+ authors featuring LGBTQ+ protagonists being read by every student in the classroom.
Identifying theme through picture books? Use one with an LGBTQ characters.
Reading circles? Provide options which feature LGBTQ+ protagonists.
Compare and Contrast Paragraph? Use a short story or film that features an LGBTQ+ character to serve as the basis for the assignment.
Biography Unit? Include options of LGBTQ+ people from your bookshelves for students to read and write about.
If every student in class is reading a short story or a book by an LGBTQ+ author which features an LGBTQ+ character, then it isn’t an LGBTQ+ thing. No one is a target. No one is ridiculed. It’s just normal. It’s what students in your class do. This will empower students to pick up these stories and books own their because that’s what students do in your class. They read all stories.
This list of ways to get LGBTQ+ stories into the hands of students has not been exhausted by any means. There are so many ways to thoughtfully set up systems and build classroom culture that normalizes getting books that feature LGBTQ protagonists and storylines into the hands of all students. That is where they will do their most important work. It is where they will have the most impact.
Check out some LGBTQ+ books to add to your classroom library.
The following are affiliate links from which the author will earn a small commission from your purchase
LGBTQ+ Children's Books: https://a.co/1HIU1lm
LGBTQ+ Middle Grade Books: https://a.co/geHRTkV
LGBTQ+ Young Adult Books: https://a.co/4GeELKK
MEET OUR GUEST CONTRIBUTOR:
John Rodney has been a secondary English educator for the past 15 years at both the middle and high school levels in Southern California. For inclusive practices, relatable experiences, classroom tips, and good laughs follow him on Instagram at @teachertoteacher, TikTok at @teachertoteacher, and Twitter at john_j_rodney. He would love to connect with you.
LGBTQ+ Stories Belong in Your Classroom Library
Each year teachers welcome new students to embark on amazing learning journeys in ELA classrooms. Teachers try as hard as they can to provide activities that engage students, introduce new skills, and create environments that are welcoming to all students. Here are five ways to make sure that happens for LGBTQ+ students…
This is a post from guest teacher-author John Rodney.
LGBTQ+ Stories Belong in Your Classroom Library
Each year teachers welcome new students to embark on amazing learning journeys in ELA classrooms. Teachers try as hard as they can to provide activities that engage students, introduce new skills, and create environments that are welcoming to all students.
In recent years, a question has been posed causing teachers to aim their critical eyes at their own practices, activities, and classroom environments: Is your classroom truly a place that celebrates the identities of ALL your students?
Teachers want to do what is best for all of their students, so they are reflecting more closely on what is going on in their own classrooms. They are
looking at the literature shared.
looking at the physical and culture created.
looking at the classroom library books offered.
looking at the materials prepared.
looking at the practices implemented.
Amazing teachers are thoughtfully reflecting on the question and readying themselves to take action to improve the validation of their LGBTQ+ students’ identities in their classrooms, and I’m here with your first step. There are so many ways to increase LGBTQ+ inclusivity in schools; however, I would like to provide a few steps that focus on one of the most treasured spaces in an ELA classroom: the classroom library.
When I speak to teachers about the diversity in a classroom library, they fall into two camps: ones that have LGBTQ+ books available to students and those that don’t. If you fall into the first camp, the following list is going to help you get started. If you are a person who already has LGBTQ+ books in the classroom, the list is going to help you be more conscious of the types of LGBTQ+ books you’re providing your students.
Let’s get started!
Guest blogger John Rodney shows us just one of many books to consider adding to your classroom library.
Step #1: Find books that include LGBTQ+ protagonists.
Perform a quick audit of your classroom library. If you were to randomly take 20 books off the shelf, how many of the protagonists would be members of the LGBTQ+ community? Often times, if there is an LGBTQ+ person in a story they are tokenized and used as a sidekick. Each year I commit to buying a certain number of books featuring LGBTQ+ protagonists to add to my classroom library. A diverse library doesn’t happen by accident. You must plan for it. Start researching middle grade and young adult lists that feature LGBTQ+ protagonists, read the synopses, and purchase ones for your students read and enjoy. Revisit these lists regularly for new additions.
#2: Find narratives with LGBTQ+ characters that are plot diverse, not just ones about LGBTQ+ trauma.
There are so many stories to be shared in the LGBTQ+ community. Stocking bookshelves with one type of narrative does not support LGBTQ+ students and non-LGBTQ+ students who are looking to learn about the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community. Traditionally, stories of LGBTQ+ young adults are ones where they struggle to be their authentic selves, fear lack of acceptance of family and friends, and struggle with finding where they belong in the world. These are often stories of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual trauma.
While having some of these stories are important, having them be the only story shared on your shelves is dangerous as children come to attempt to understand who they are. LGBTQ+ protagonists deserve to fall in love, play sports, save the world, have loving families, etc. When doing your research of books featuring LGBTQ+ characters, find stories that will fill the hearts of LGBTQ+ readers and bring smiles to their faces.
#3: Find LGBTQ+ characters across all genres.
LGBTQ+ characters should be able to see this part of their identity across all genres.
They should be in faraway galaxies saving the universe.
They should be trying escape the ghosts in a haunted house.
They should be traveling back into time to keep the timeline intact.
They should have magical powers that are yielded to defeat villains.
They should be falling in love without issues of identity.
They should be helping their best friend win contests.
They should be on the courts or fields sinking the winning basket or throwing the game-winning touchdown.
They should be solving the mystery of who stole their best friend’s bike.
LGBTQ+ students should see their interests mirrored through the books we offer them in our classrooms and non-LGBTQ+ students should see LGBTQ+ characters normalized being present across genres.
#4: Find books that share the stories of all the letters of the LGBTQ+ community.
If you look at what LGBTQ+ middle grade and young adult literature is readily available for purchase, the narratives heavily center stories of young, cisgender gay males. Teachers need to offer these stories; however, they should deliberately seek out stories that share the experiences of young people who identify as queer, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, gender fluid, intersex, asexual, and questioning too. Every reader deserves to see themselves in a piece of literature.
#5: Find books that share the stories of intersecting identities.
Not only does middle grade and young adult literature center the young, cisgender gay male experience, but it also centers the Christian, white experience. It is so important for students to see that LGBTQ+ experiences span religion and skin colors. A young person can be a lesbian Muslim. A young person can be a non-binary Black person. A young person can be Asian and trans. An Indigenous person can be a bisexual young person. Teachers should seek out these middle grade and young adult stories which share the intersection of these identities. There’s no one LGBTQ+ story or experience. The more stories and experiences that can be shared, the better for all the student in the classroom.
Bonus Step (but an important one): Find books that don’t reinforce the binary/limits of gender or gender expression.
In middle and high school as students seek to explore what it means to be a young person; students often retreat into the strict ideas of girl and boy or masculine and feminine. For people who do not fall into this either or, it can be difficult to feel a sense of belonging. Find stories that feature protagonists that do not fall into these stereotypical/traditional behaviors of masculine and feminine. Find that protagonist that is unabashedly themselves in whatever gender expression they may exhibit who are leading awesome lives and kicking butt.
Building a classroom library that includes inclusive LGBTQ+ narratives will take time; however, these steps will get you started! If you are looking for a place to get started, check out the following link which has a variety of LGBTQ+ middle grade and YA stories for you to consider adding to your ELA classroom shelves.
Ready for the next step?
Click over here to read John’s next blog post that shows you HOW to get all of the great new books in your library actually into the hands of students that need to and want to read them…
Check out some LGBTQ+ books to add to your classroom library.
The following are affiliate links from which the author will earn a small commission from your purchase
LGBTQ+ Children's Books: https://a.co/1HIU1lm
LGBTQ+ Middle Grade Books: https://a.co/geHRTkV
LGBTQ+ Young Adult Books: https://a.co/4GeELKK
MEET OUR GUEST CONTRIBUTOR:
John Rodney has been a secondary English educator for the past 15 years at both the middle and high school levels in Southern California. For inclusive practices, relatable experiences, classroom tips, and good laughs follow him on Instagram at @teachertoteacher, TikTok at @teachertoteacher, and Twitter at john_j_rodney. He would love to connect with you.
