
Episode 396: Monday Mindset: What to Do When Everything Starts to Slip
From Teaching Middle School ELA by Caitlin Mitchell
March 23, 2026 · 9 min · Season 2 · Episode 396
About this episode
This episode discusses how to maintain structure in the classroom during the challenging months of March and April to prevent everything from slipping.
In today's Monday Mindset, March and April can feel like the point where everything starts slipping at once. You’re running on fumes, your students are restless, and the pull of summer makes every small task feel bigger than it should. We’re talking about that exact moment and the counterintuitive fix that actually makes the rest of the year easier: leaning into structure instead of letting it slide. We unpack why loosening routines, expectations, and boundaries doesn’t bring relief, it crea...
Topics covered
- mindset
- structure
- education
- student engagement
Keywords
- routines
- expectations
- boundaries
- summer break
More episodes of Teaching Middle School ELA
- Episode 404: Tips for Using Your Prep Period to Grade (Instead of Plan) · April 21, 2026 · 26 min
- Episode 403: The Feedback Framework That Cuts Grading Time in Half · April 14, 2026 · 18 min
- Episode 402: Monday Mindset: Margin for Magic · April 13, 2026 · 11 min
- Episode 401: Graphic Group Essays: A Writing Assignment Your Students Will Actually Like · April 7, 2026 · 14 min
- Episode 400: A Simple Hack for Helping Students Find the Main Idea in Informational Text · March 31, 2026 · 11 min
- Episode 399: Monday Mindset: The One Thing That Makes the End of the Year So Much Harder Than It Has to Be · March 30, 2026 · 6 min
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