About Martina

I’M MARTINA!

Hi! I’m an upper elementary teacher turned middle school ELA teacher. The switch from self-contained fifth grade to departmentalized middle school ELA teacher rocked my world, so I began creating middle school ELA resources that helped teacher in these same scenarios. I’m glad you’re here, because I share all about how much I struggled in that big transition, but also how worked on controlling what I could control by making resources and implementing systems that worked. My hope is that my blog posts and resources are helpful so that you don’t make the same mistakes I did or to help you if you’re struggling with the exact same things I did. If you’re a middle school ELA teacher, or even an upper elementary teacher, and you’re looking for a teacher who keeps it real, gives practical ideas and strategies, shows you that middle schoolers are just really big kids, and provides inspiration, resources, and ideas that help with the good, the bad, and the ugly…. then you’re in the right place.

 

HERE IS WHAT YOU WILL FIND ON THE HUNGRY TEACHER BLOG…

  • Resources that use classroom tested and proven methods to get you results with your middle school students.
  • Complete middle school grammar curriculum that is engaging, authentic, and actually gets your students to apply their grammar knowledge to their writing.
  • Reading resources that help you implement the Socratic Seminar, student discussion, and get students writing complete and well-written reading responses.
  • Classroom resources that help you plan, prep, implement, and organize for reading, writing, and grammar instruction.
  • Easy to digest strategies and ideas for how to get all your grading, planning, and prepping done during class time or during your prep.
  • Upper elementary resources and strategies used in a middle school ELA classroom so you can do guiding reading, reading and writing conferences, and book clubs in your short class periods.

LET ME TELL YOU MY STORY…

I’m passionate about teaching middle school ELA. I did spend my first three years teaching fifth grade, but the following five years were spent teaching sixth, seventh, and eighth grade ELA.

When I was student teaching in fifth grade, my mentor teacher (the best ever) told me a little bit about a website called TeachersPayTeachers. I thought she was crazy. Then she told me about blogging. I looked at her like she had two heads. Ha! Soon after these conversations, I started creating some fun little resources to use in my fifth grade classroom.

Two years into teaching fifth grade, I worked all summer long on creating a complete reading curriculum that could be used in my classroom. I finished right before school started, and my husband got a job offer across the state.

THE SHIFT TO MIDDLE SCHOOL ELA…

I took the first job that came my way. It was a sixth grade ELA position (that I thought was sixth grade self-contained… also I was on my seventh “teaching partner,” or long term sub partner by December). Long story short, I started created the resources I NEEDED to make it to the end of the school year. I also started writing blog posts about the struggles and solutions I had that year.

It was genuinely the worst year of teaching, but it is honestly the best thing that ever happened to me. I learned to make resources that helped with classroom management in middle school, I created resources and systems that allowed me to have reading and writing conferences with all my students even during shorter class periods, and I began creating and implementing authentic grammar instruction that my students actually applied to their writing.

While teaching Middle School ELA I became passionate about creating middle school grammar, reading, and writing resources and that is where the bulk of my resources and ideas come from.

HERE IS WHAT I BELIEVE AND YOU’LL SEE THAT HERE…

  • I believe that even middle school ELA teachers can get all of their planning, prepping, and grading done during the school day, and that you shouldn’t have to bring work home.
  • I know that you can form strong relationships with ALL of your middle school ELA students, even though we often have 100s of students.
  • I believe that you don’t have to “know” everything you have to teach, and that it’s okay to learn with your students. It’s often makes us better teachers to do it exactly this way!
  • I believe that concepts like grammar and writing can be authentic and engaging for you and your students.
  • I believe that middle school students deserve to have fun while learning, but that same fun learning can also be rigorous enough to help them grow as readers and writers.

CONNECT WITH ME…

I love hearing from and getting to know teachers who are going through some of the same things I struggled with when I switched jobs. I really love hearing from teachers who use my resources and ideas to help them in their classrooms.

Become a Hungry Teacher Blog V.I.P. 

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Or feel free to just reach out to me through my email: martinagcahill@gmail.com. I love hearing from and helping teachers. 

FUN FACTS ABOUT MARTINA