TEACHERS

Middle School

7th and 8th Grade

You know the old adage about the middle child always getting forgotten? When it comes to paving the way for success in high school and beyond, the middle school period couldn’t be more important, and it definitely shouldn’t be overlooked.

If you haven’t downloaded it yet, we suggest you check out our Middle School Family Guide. For parents and guardians of middle school students, this guide can be a huge asset that keeps students and parents on track and in communication with their counselors and teachers.

It’s important for students to really take a deep dive into understanding which endorsement pathway is right for them. Read on for more details on how Texas OnCourse’s Middle School Resources (free for all and available for immediate registration/download) can help them do just that. And once you’re ready, we challenge you to join us by having your students register for MiddleGalaxy and MapMyGrad.

This webinar walks you through using MapMyGrad, Texas OnCourse's interactive website, for endorsement selection and graduation planning. It starts with a simple quiz for your students that reveals their passions, leads to an endorsement, and ends with suggested courses at your actual school! We'll also discuss suggestions for implementing the tool in the classroom and point out some helpful lesson plans that integrate MapMyGrad.

In my experience, using MapMyGrad in the classroom has been a game changer. Students are engaged in their futures, and counselors find it easier to guide students toward their desired futures. The best part? MapMyGrad is only part of a portfolio of middle school resources from Texas OnCourse designed to help educators ensure college and career readiness for all students.

This webinar will walk you through setting up and playing MiddleGalaxy, Texas OnCourse's space-themed career exploration game. We'll also discuss suggestions for implementing the game in the classroom and point out some helpful lesson plans that incorporate the game.

If you’re a Texas middle school teacher or counselor, asking your eighth- grade students to choose an academic path can seem like a demanding task. Thankfully, Texas OnCourse will get you up to the challenge! We have many free tools designed to demystify endorsement selection and position career exploration as an engaging adventure for students. After all, who doesn’t love a space-themed career exploration game? That’s where MiddleGalaxy comes in!

Find out everything you need to know about effective course planning and endorsement selections for your students. We'll hear from professionals from Keller ISD about their proven best practices in these areas.

The High School Readiness Report presents benchmark data from Texas OnCourse regarding middle school students’ knowledge and awareness about endorsements and graduation planning. In general, the findings from this report suggest that students lack knowledge on these topics. Texas OnCourse seeks to bridge this gap.

Exploring your passions in middle and high school is key to making your future plans. In this video, understand how to choose classes for high school, and what the word "endorsement" means for your studies.

What are the differences between Career Clusters and Endorsements, and how do they hang together?
This is the second in a series of posts on high school endorsements.

What are endorsements? For parents and guardians, hearing that their eighth grader will have to select an endorsement can be confusing. After all, when today’s adults were in school, such a thing didn’t exist!

Lead a space voyage in this web and mobile game exploring the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for a variety of careers.

Texas OnCourse Academy provides comprehensive learning on college and career advising to educators.

Prepare students to select high school endorsements with labor market and career information.

This guide includes lesson plans aligned to TEKS for college and career readiness and investigating careers. 

Students who move frequently, including children of military families or migrant workers, face unique needs and challenges. In this webinar, we walk you through our free online module to help you advise and support highly mobile students all over the U.S.

We’ve all been there. No matter our education, experience, or awards, starting over and being "the new kid" has its challenges. Read on for tips on how educators can best welcome and serve highly mobile students, or students that move more than six times in their K–12 career.

Do you have highly mobile students? Texas OnCourse has the resources to help you best serve this unique group.

Migrant students (not to be confused with immigrant students) are highly mobile children and youth whose families work in agriculture or in fishing. Do you know how to properly advise them?

Exploring your passions in middle and high school is key to making your future plans. In this video, understand how to choose classes for high school, and what the word "endorsement" means for your studies.

What are the differences between Career Clusters and Endorsements, and how do they hang together?
This is the second in a series of posts on high school endorsements.

What are endorsements? For parents and guardians, hearing that their eighth grader will have to select an endorsement can be confusing. After all, when today’s adults were in school, such a thing didn’t exist!

Texas OnCourse Academy provides comprehensive learning on college and career advising to educators.

Prepare students to select high school endorsements with labor market and career information.

This guide includes lesson plans aligned to TEKS for college and career readiness and investigating careers. 

In March, our career focus is architecture and construction along with hospitality and tourism! We look to educators like you to help us collect stories for Share Your Road based on these specific career clusters. Do you know any fellow Texans working in these fields?

In addition to giving students a better understanding of various careers, a middle school career fair can show how specific careers fit with each of the five endorsements offered in high school. If you've decided to plan a career fair, Texas OnCourse has a new resource to help! The Middle School Career Fair Toolkit will guide you in coordinating this event.  

In this webinar, we explore resources to support instruction on career clusters. Lori Knight of the Texas Workforce Commission discusses helping students research and select career pathways.

In February, our career focus is Manufacturing and Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics! We look to educators like you to help us collect stories for Share Your Road based on these specific career clusters. Do you know any fellow Texans working in these fields?

We’re just a few short days away from February and the kickoff of CTE Month! Career and technical education pathways are so important for Texas students because they prepare them for high-wage, in-demand careers. CTE Month is a way to raise awareness of the values of career and technical education and celebrate the achievements of CTE programs nationwide.

If you find yourself with some extra time this holiday season, we recommend getting comfy, preparing a hot drink, and settling down with your laptop -- this could be a great time to earn up to $450 and complete CPE credits with the Texas OnCourse Academy!

Each month, we ask educators like you to recruit career stories for Share Your Road based on specific career clusters. This month’s career clusters are Arts, A/V Technology & Communications and Information Technology.

We’re excited to announce the premiere of Room to Grow, the Roadtrip Nation documentary fueled by Texas OnCourse. With four half-hour episodes, Room to Grow will air on public television throughout Texas starting in September.  

What are the differences between Career Clusters and Endorsements, and how do they hang together?
This is the second in a series of posts on high school endorsements.

Texas OnCourse administered a survey to K-12 counselors and advisers throughout Texas to better understand the state of college and career advising. Feedback from school counselors is crucial to maximizing the impact of our counseling and advising resources. Texas OnCourse is committed to using the data supplied in this survey to maximize the services we provide to our community.

For our Data Note No. 2, we investigated how college and employment outcomes vary based on whether students concentrated in CTE (defined as taking three or more courses in the same CTE subject) and in what discipline they concentrated.

Lead a space voyage in this web and mobile game exploring the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for a variety of careers.

Discover opportunities you never knew existed! Texans share their career journeys. Explore their stories and get inspired.

Texas OnCourse Academy provides comprehensive learning on college and career advising to educators.

Students travel across the nation to talk to their heroes and job crushes and understand college and career decisions along the way.

This guide includes lesson plans aligned to TEKS for college and career readiness and investigating careers. 

We know that the personal stories of our educational community – our teachers, parents, and students – are what matter most. That’s why we’re always happy to share a peek into academic life at public schools across the state! Please meet Ms. Kristian Spencer, a seventh-grade science teacher at Wylie Junior High School in Abilene Wylie ISD.

Register 30 new students for either MapMyGrad or MiddleGalaxy before March 31, snap a pic, share on Twitter, and you’ll be entered to win one of three $50 Amazon gift cards. If your class hasn’t used our products yet, now is the time! We challenge to you incorporate MiddleGalaxy or MapMyGrad into just one class period.

It’s important for students to really take a deep dive into understanding which endorsement pathway is right for them. Read on for more details on how Texas OnCourse’s Middle School Resources (free for all and available for immediate registration/download) can help them do just that. And once you’re ready, we challenge you to join us by having your students register for MiddleGalaxy and MapMyGrad.

In this webinar, we explore resources to support instruction on career clusters. Lori Knight of the Texas Workforce Commission discusses helping students research and select career pathways.

If you find yourself with some extra time this holiday season, we recommend getting comfy, preparing a hot drink, and settling down with your laptop -- this could be a great time to earn up to $450 and complete CPE credits with the Texas OnCourse Academy!

We’ve all been there. No matter our education, experience, or awards, starting over and being "the new kid" has its challenges. Read on for tips on how educators can best welcome and serve highly mobile students, or students that move more than six times in their K–12 career.

Migrant students (not to be confused with immigrant students) are highly mobile children and youth whose families work in agriculture or in fishing. Do you know how to properly advise them?

Did you know that February is Career and Technical Education Month? CTE Month is a public awareness campaign initiated by the Association for Career and Technical Education.

Prepare students to select high school endorsements with labor market and career information.

This guide includes lesson plans aligned to TEKS for college and career readiness and investigating careers. 

Eighth-grade students in schools across Texas are getting ready to choose their endorsements and the graduation plan they intend to pursue in high school. It’s an exciting time, even though these choices can feel daunting. Fortunately, Texas OnCourse has a number of resources, like MapMyGrad and the Grad Planner, to make the experience meaningful and engaging.

At Texas OnCourse, we love the new year as a time for reflection and intention setting. This doesn’t necessarily mean out with the old, in the with the new – rather, what’s been working well and what are some new things to try? With that in mind, we tapped our dedicated community of leader fellows to see what their visions are for themselves and their students in 2019.

With Thanksgiving around the corner, we’re mindful of all of the things we’re grateful for. In particular, we are thankful for you, Texas educators. As of last week, more than 10,000 of you have registered for the TexasOnCourse Academy, our free online resource offering premium content for educators. Thanks to you, countless students across the state are equipped to plan for success after high school.

Do you have highly mobile students? Texas OnCourse has the resources to help you best serve this unique group.

Migrant students (not to be confused with immigrant students) are highly mobile children and youth whose families work in agriculture or in fishing. Do you know how to properly advise them?

We’re excited to announce the premiere of Room to Grow, the Roadtrip Nation documentary fueled by Texas OnCourse. With four half-hour episodes, Room to Grow will air on public television throughout Texas starting in September.  

What are endorsements? For parents and guardians, hearing that their eighth grader will have to select an endorsement can be confusing. After all, when today’s adults were in school, such a thing didn’t exist!

Texas OnCourse administered a survey to K-12 counselors and advisers throughout Texas to better understand the state of college and career advising. Feedback from school counselors is crucial to maximizing the impact of our counseling and advising resources. Texas OnCourse is committed to using the data supplied in this survey to maximize the services we provide to our community.

Lead a space voyage in this web and mobile game exploring the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for a variety of careers.

Discover opportunities you never knew existed! Texans share their career journeys. Explore their stories and get inspired.

Texas OnCourse Academy provides comprehensive learning on college and career advising to educators.

Find out your options on how to pay for college education costs. Understand tuition and fees, financial aid, and scholarships and loans.

Students travel across the nation to talk to their heroes and job crushes and understand college and career decisions along the way.

This guide includes lesson plans aligned to TEKS for college and career readiness and investigating careers.