In today's Teaching Middle School ELA podcast, We share a practical before-during-after feedback framework built from real teacher tips across our staff. Before grading, we require a structured self-assessment using a rubric and checklist, plus simple labeling or colour coding so students prove where the claim, evidence, and justification live. That one shift removes a huge chunk of surface-level comments and lets us respond to the thinking, not the scavenger hunt.

If you want a grading system that is sustainable and still improves writing instruction, hit play, try one phase this week, and then subscribe, share with a teacher friend, and leave a quick review with what strategy you are starting with.

You can look fine on the outside and still feel alone on the inside and that gap can get painfully wide when you’re a teacher expected to carry everyone else. Today’s Monday Mindset is a short reset built around a simple truth: you’re not the only one quietly struggling, even if it looks like everyone else has it figured out. We start with the idea of “three hearts” the self the world sees, the self close people see, and the self only you see and why the hidden parts of us can become the home of loneliness.

If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a teacher friend, and leave a review so more educators can find these Monday Mindsets.

April makes it hard to keep essay writing rigorous without burying ourselves in grading. We use graphic group essays to help students practise claims, evidence, and justification through a visual, collaborative process that keeps writing engaging and low stakes.

• why April is the perfect time for a lighter essay structure
• what a graphic group essay is and how it combines visual planning with group writing
• using the strategy to replace a standard essay or prep for a formal draft
• how collaboration boosts thinking beyond a single student perspective
• choosing prompts with complexity so students can defend multiple answers
• ideal group size and optional roles to build individual accountability
• building the graphic essay on paper, with cards, or digitally while keeping core essay parts
• coaching student reasoning in real time instead of only through grading
• adding presentations for speaking and listening plus revision opportunities

If you do try this in with it in your classroom with your students, let me know over in our Facebook group if you are a part of our membership and you're an EB teacher, or if you're not, head over to our Instagram at ebacademics, send me a direct message, and I would love to read about how this goes with your students.