Teaching in a new content area

cm78523

Hi ladies,

I have been teaching social studies for the last seven years.  I am going to be teaching 7th grade English this fall.  I feel comfortable with classroom management and such but am interested in any advice concerning teaching English.  Since, it is my first time teaching this, I really want to establish good habits:)  Any websites you frequent?  Any tips for managing the grading work load? 

Thanks

sapphireb

One thing I wish I could do in my 6th grade language arts classroom is more writing. I have so much to cover that I don't get to do this, but if I were able to, I would have my students do a writing workshop every month.

erbear

I did this one year (English after being a SS teacher) and it was a disaster. I was great at teaching writing, grammar and vocab but I have no idea how to teach a novel. I'd suggest hitting up English teachers and getting ideas - it's not easy to switch from one discipline to another that you're not really trained in. The only thing that helped me not feel like a failure was to ask English teachers to sit in on my class and give me suggestions.

mcskatcat

Scholastic has a lot over all subjects, but for LA I love readwritethink.org.  

 As far as grading goes, just be sure to allot yourself plenty of time.  Don't rush it.  Block off a period of time and try to spend the same amount of time on each piece of work.